Insurance declarations

[stevemarl]

Interesting facts about what you do and do not, by law, need to declare to insurance companies, whatever they may say.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/per ... ivers.html

[andyd]

Interesting facts about what you do and do not, by law, need to declare to insurance companies, whatever they may say.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/per ... ivers.html

In my experience, they ask if you have had any accidents, claims or convictions in the last 5 years.

[stevemarl]

Thats the point - you do NOT have to declare expired convictions, and they are bending the rules by asking... Expired is expired.

[pbar]

Insurance companies have their own laws. They know that us mere mortals have little chance in contesting anything. And if you do then you usually have much grief and many months in front of you.

Adrian Flux are terrible for this.
Direct Line are superb, exceptional.
Coops seem very haphazard with little attention to correct details.
Lancaster appear great, so far.

Just my experiences with the above. Many insurers seem brilliant, until you need to use them, then the fun begins.

The whole system needs a complete overhaul.

[stevemarl]

Insurance companies have their own laws. They know that us mere mortals have little chance in contesting anything. And if you do then you usually have much grief and many months in front of you..

This is the thing, according to this, they`ve been robbing us illegally for years simply due to our being kept in the dark. Everybody with insurance should be made aware of this. (I assume `unspent` should read `spent` in 1st line):

" The Financial Ombudsman, the dispute resolution body, has said it will side with the customer if an insurer unfairly uses unspent convictions to give them less favourable terms than other policyholders, such as higher premiums.

"If firms insist on asking questions about spent convictions, then they must effectively ignore the answers they receive. Otherwise we are likely to consider they have breached their statutory duty," the Ombudsman said.

Similarly, if an insurer cancels someone's policy because they have a spent conviction they didn't disclose, a complaint will be upheld. "

So it seems they haven`t (had)a leg to stand on when it comes to spent convictions. One rule for them.... etc. What a scam, pure & simple!

Agree about coops, they were great to deal with, - but when the renewal forms came through I was absolutely shocked at how inaccurate the details were, as though they`d just guessed some of my details? Had i made a claim would THOSE have been assumed to be facts/lies stated by me???
Performance Direct now charge me more in their ``administration fee` than the premium paid to the actual insurer - how does that work? (Yet they were still lowest quote so I just renewed anyway, but it stinks )
Direct Line Ive used and found to be great for the daily: unfortunately they won`t cover learners, full stop. (as of last year antyway)

As you say the whole system needs overhauling.

[pbar]

So it seems they haven`t (had)a leg to stand on when it comes to spent convictions. One rule for them.... etc. What a scam, pure & simple!

Agree about coops, they were great to deal with, - but when the renewal forms came through I was absolutely shocked at how inaccurate the details were, as though they`d just guessed some of my details? Had i made a claim would THOSE have been assumed to be facts/lies stated by me???
Performance Direct now charge me more in their ``administration fee` than the premium paid to the actual insurer - how does that work? (Yet they were still lowest quote so I just renewed anyway, but it stinks )
Direct Line Ive used and found to be great for the daily: unfortunately they won`t cover learners, full stop. (as of last year antyway)

As you say the whole system needs overhauling.

Yes, I was quite alarmed by how little Coops asked when taking insurance out. And as you say it seems they just make up/guess the rest! Very inaccurate and that would be very worrying in the event of a claim, your insurance details are raked through with a fine tooth comb then. Coops were also very slow/unhelpful when asking for paperwork such as no claims proof.

As you say, Direct Line are exceptional, very quick, incredibly efficient in the event of a claim. But they are selective on who they will insure, but I would recommend anyone and everyone to give them a try and go with them if you can.

Adrian flux - Stay well clear.

Lancaster I have found to be quick and helpful, no problems at all yet with them, one of the few insurers I have repeatedly used.

Admiral I am with for another vehicle, and seem ok too.

Back to your initial point about insurers doing as they wish, it's the corporate way I'm afraid. The only thing mere mortals like us can do is contest it via a solicitor really. But that obviously comes at a price.

[Fordoholic Nick]

I did a speed awareness course just before Christmas and the teacher said to us dont declare unless you are specifically asked about the course, as it is not a conviction and it does not get endorssed on license so dont give them the excuse to put up your premium. Some insurers make a point of asking this but FJ thankfully did not. I paid the £100 for the course so did rightly get punished, even though it was one of those sneaky white vans trying to catch people out on a bend on a section of road that went from 50- 30- 40- 30 in about a mile !! It was in yorkshire and i thought it was 40 section so but it was 30. Was doing 38 so in my mind i was not speeding. Thing is we joked as we past the white van saying thats prob a sneaky speed trap....it was !!

[andyd]

My son is moving house but staying in the same village with the EX6 postcode.
His cheapest online insurance quotes are going up more than £200 over his current address just because of the postcode

It's a relatively new and bigger housing estate, so more people and cars there. Is that the reason
Even a local insurance broker is baffled by the cost.

If that is the case, then every motorist living there is paying well over the odds

[pbar]

His cheapest online insurance quotes

Forget that Andy, just phone them and haggle. Works every time for me.

But I think the reason for differences in cost has to do with claims made. If there were a lot of claims in that postcode last year then it will have higher premiums. Insurance is the luck of the draw a lot of the time, shouldn't be that way though, your son has done nothing wrong but may still get penalised. Wouldn't it be refreshing though if you made a change in circumstances and the premium actually went down - but that never happens!

[andyd]

His cheapest online insurance quotes

Forget that Andy, just phone them and haggle. Works every time for me.

But I think the reason for differences in cost has to do with claims made. If there were a lot of claims in that postcode last year then it will have higher premiums. Insurance is the luck of the draw a lot of the time, shouldn't be that way though, your son has done nothing wrong but may still get penalised. Wouldn't it be refreshing though if you made a change in circumstances and the premium actually went down - but that never happens!

Hi Paul,
Yes I told him to call his current insurer (who has increased his renewal £30 on last years premium although he has another years ncd), and give them his new address and if/when they give him a much higher price ask them why.

Be it motor, home, or contents, all insurance policies are a licence to print money. I can see why many don't bother....

[pbar]

Yes phoning them gets the best results. I insured two vehicles very recently with different insurers. I asked for £40 off one and £50 off the other. And they obliged with both, that's a lot of money for a few seconds of asking the question.

Do the same thing every year.

[stevemarl]

Vaguely `on topic` but last October Plusnet doubled my broadband charges (because I`d been on an introductory offer, of which I had no idea) so I rang them and said basically put it back to what it was or I`ll go elsewhere.... They quite easily agreed that, in fact they went further and stopped billing me altogether! After 4 months I thought I`d better let ghem know so called them: "ah yes, we`ve identified this, it`s a glitch, we`ll speak to you next week and sort it" Now 6 months and still nothing, absoliutely shambolic. And don`t get me started on Virgin....

[pbar]

I've done the same Steve, several times (including recently) with broadband/phone providers. Just rang them (or used online chat on occasion too) and asked for money off. Again, they oblige. A few seconds to ask the question gives a lower monthly cost for 18 months. So, why not?!

[tejb1]

I am with FJ - when my renewal came through last year I tried to get a quote from Adrian Flux for comparison. Filled in the online form but got nothing back from them for two weeks, by which time I had renewed with FJ anyway. The sales guy was really pushy and saying he could do a great deal and I could cancel my FJ policy etc... I asked, if it took 2 weeks to call a potential customer who's interested in giving you money, how long it'd take to call if I was to make a claim... he couldn't really answer!

[andyd]

I am with FJ - when my renewal came through last year I tried to get a quote from Adrian Flux for comparison. Filled in the online form but got nothing back from them for two weeks, by which time I had renewed with FJ anyway. The sales guy was really pushy and saying he could do a great deal and I could cancel my FJ policy etc... I asked, if it took 2 weeks to call a potential customer who's interested in giving you money, how long it'd take to call if I was to make a claim... he couldn't really answer!

Not a fan of Flux either!

[tejb1]

I've read that they can have wildly strict interpretations of the garage clause, and if you park elsewhere overnight (even if in another town) they consider you uninsured. At least FJ specify it has to be parked overnight either in the garage or anywhere more than 5 miles away.

[pbar]

I've read that they can have wildly strict interpretations of the garage clause, and if you park elsewhere overnight (even if in another town) they consider you uninsured. At least FJ specify it has to be parked overnight either in the garage or anywhere more than 5 miles away.

Yes, that's correct, and not many people are aware. This has been talked about a lot in other threads. It seems that typically with many classic insurers (in my experience, FJ seem slightly different as you have described), the clause is that there is a 10.00pm curfew where your car must be parked where you stated it would be overnight (so that would be your garage, your drive, wherever you stated), unless it's more than a mile from home.

So in essence if you popped to the local shops at 10.05pm in your car, it would not be insured, similarly if you went to your friends down the street in the car, the same would apply, and so on.

Very dodgy some of these insurance clauses are.

[Paul G]

I think it's high time that either the Government or the Insurance Ombudsman had a real good look at the way Insurance companies and comparison sites (Go Compare et al) carry on.

Back in the dim and distant (1979) when I got my first car (a MK1 850cc Mini) I had the Co op agent call round and he had a large sheet to fill in asking me all my details and these details were rated on a fixed points score eg Mini - grade 1 insurance - 1 point out of ten, driver 17 years old ten points out of ten etc. When he had finished asking the fixed questions he totted up the points score and had a chart saying the premium for each fixed score - and that was that. My mini was £84 for me third party fire and theft.

I feel something like this would still be fairer and more appropriate rather than some random figure spat out by a computer not fully taking into account all facts and asking for details that are irrelevant and illegal to ask. A pox on all their house!

[pbar]

That's exactly it Paul, the insurance grade as you mention, the fact that the premium would lower each year without a claim and so on, meant that you had a finite way of determining what you should be paying and how to scale it.

But now it's all so random.

[andyd]

1986/87 my girlfriend at the time her parents and brother used the Co op method as Paul G mentioned. I remember thinking this is a strange way of getting an insurance quote, but as you say it worked fairly.

At the time I was with a local broker my parents used. Turned out he was a total
When Mum said she was going elsewhere he replied, "Well I don't want to drive around in a Mini Metro" IIRC he had a Merc.

Now the whole system is a total bag of crap!