I just need a little advice if possible. The story so far.

I was woken at 4.30 am on Tuesday to find my car had been set alight by vandals, in fact they did this to another car round the corner. The car is a complete right off and the police had it towed into an official compound.

The insurance company were in touch with me by phone and almost immediately were trying to get me to forget about a claim because the car wasnt worth much more than £500. I was amazed. They say that after my £135 excess payment and the loss af a no claims bonus it just wouldnt be worth it.

All they seem bothered about is where the car is being kept because it apparently costs them a daily charge for as long as it is there.

Also, because I paid by monthly direct debit they will take from any subsequent claim the balance of the full years policy. Can they do this?

All in all, by the time they have finished I will be left with about £200 if I am lucky for my pride and joy which was worth at least £1200.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Hi

Im sorry to hear this as it isnt like it was even your fault.

They are however entitled to take the annual premium for the policy as the policy is an annual contract and the monthly payments are just a credit agreement between you and them.

You might be able to suspend the remainder of the policy so that when you get another car you can reactivate it, this way you shouldnt have to pay for the annual premium out of your claim as you will be continuing the insurance.

Hope it all works out for you.

Sorry but lindylou is right on one part but not correct on another. If you make a fault claim ie one where the insurer cannot claim the money back from someone else it goes against you. This then means that you are liable for the full years premium.

As for suspending the policy this is not possible. you can not suspend a policy if there is no vehicle. To supsend a policy you would need to normally keep the vehicle in a locked garage and it would have to be a minimum of 30 days. Then when you unsuspend it you normally get 75% of the premium back for the period suspended.

What car is it? What year? What mileage?

Thank you both so much for taking the trouble to reply.

I think I knew deep down that they could take the full years premium but I was just hoping that perhaps I was wrong.

The car was a Rover 420 SDLi Turbo; absolutely mint condition and my pride and joy. Mileage was 76000. It had my lifetime collection of music in it too. Irreplaceable,,,boo hoo.

Anyway, thats my little winge over with.

Many thanks again to you both for replying.

what year was it?

sorry,,,,1997

Well I hate to be the bearer of bad news but they are probably about right with £500. Have a look at this page :

http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/used-prices/Valuation.aspx?deriv=11421&plate=55&buysell=buy

The insurance company will always try and give you less. But don't accept the 1st offer, and if you think it is worth more then you have to prove its worth more. So buy an autotrader look on sites online and find examples of similar cars (colour doesnt matter) but model, mileage, condition etc and show that to your insurer.

Unfortunately after the demise of MG Rover a couple of years ago the prices of their motors have plummeted you can pick up a 2-3yr old mg zr for about 4grand now which would have been 13k new.

.

 

As for suspending the policy this is not possible. you can not suspend a policy if there is no vehicle. To supsend a policy you would need to normally keep the vehicle in a locked garage and it would have to be a minimum of 30 days. Then when you unsuspend it you normally get 75% of the premium back for the period suspended.

 

Actually thats not strictly true, depending which company you are insured with, you CAN suspend your policy after a total loss claim (in fact its standard practice) if you decide not to claim then you will usually get back a pro-rata amount of the days not used, however, if you go ahead with the claim then you would not get anything back from suspending the policy as a fault claim would have been made during the contractual year.

remember as well you are entitled to claim for personal possessions in the vehicle (CD's Tapes etc) up to £100) - stuff that NEEDS TO BE IN THE BOOT/GLOVE COMPARTMENT. What I also suggest is that you take a look on AutoTraders Website for other vehicles in your area to check values and then negotiate with the insurance company as they will just initially offer you the market value of your car from the Glasses Guide.

Actually thats not strictly true, depending which company you are insured with, you CAN suspend your policy after a total loss claim (in fact its standard practice) if you decide not to claim then you will usually get back a pro-rata amount of the days not used, however, if you go ahead with the claim then you would not get anything back from suspending the policy as a fault claim would have been made during the contractual year.

Nonsense you cannot suspend a policy when there is no vehicle. You will not get a refund on a fault claim.

Do you work in the industry darkangelsdelite? I doubt it do a quick search on google under something like suspend motor insurance policy.

RAC, Prudential, Direct line, Nationwide mirror what I said.

i can provide links if you need them to substantiate it.

Nonsense you cannot suspend a policy when there is no vehicle. You will not get a refund on a fault claim.

I'm afraid Darkangels and Lindylou are correct (at least with most insurers.) NU, RAC Direct, and majority of Companies underwritten by NU do offer suspension of a policy until renewal when there is no risk to insure.

Where you mention a vehicle being kept in a garage then this is known as 'laid up' cover and the insurer would reduce cover from Comprehensive to 3rd party fire/theft as long as the vehicle is unused on the public highway. (not applicable to fire & theft policies)

In both cases, premiums still need to be paid monthly and then a refund is made when you re-instate cover on a new vehicle or at policy end. This would then take into account the claim if you have not re-instated cover on a replacement vehicle.

Just a point................If laid up the vehicle will have to be SORN registered

Basic insurance principles.

To insure something you have to have an insurable interest. If you do not own it you have no interest in it therefore you cant insure it.

Same reason you cant add a car onto your policy to be covered for a test drive, or you can't insure a car that someone else owns (apart from where it belongs to spouse).

What school of finance did you study? You cannot insure something that doesnt exist. Unless you can prove otherwise of course?

Oh dear! Sorry mate but your wrong....You CAN insure a car you don't own. You can insure a car you are test driving...also you CAN insure a car which you don't own but have hired...........I'm due to pick up a loan vehicle on Monday, whilst mine is being repaired, which I'm insuring as the dealers insurance wants a few hundred excess paid up front (to be refunded) before loaning it...........My own insurer will charge me about £25 document fee & fax a copy of the cover note to the garage for the privilege

The fact that the vehicle IS lawfully in your possession means you DO have an insurable interest if you own it or not.......In fact unless your covered by the existing insurance.....if you failed to insure it & something happened you could be sued for compensation by the owner/garage etc...Most comp policies (& some 3rd paty) expressly allow you to drive another persons vehicle on your own policy provided it is not owned by you or on HP to you......What school of finance did YOU study?

Ditto.....

We always hire vehicles and cover them on our own insurance.

Courtesy cars are the exception. 9/10 insurers will not insure you if you ring them up and tell them you want to cover a test drive for the weekend. They will tell you to get the garage to insure you. They do not like to touch this with a barge pole.

Phone up your insurance company and ask them if you can insure a car that is registered in your mates name and he has it insured elsewhere. They will tell you that you can't insure it as it is not yours and it is insured elsewhere and if you want to be covered to drive it then you can use the DOC(driving other cars) benefit if you have it on your policy for emergency use third party only or you would have to get your mate to add you on to his policy as a temporary or permanent additional driver.

Do any of you work in the industry?

Sorry but lindylou is right on one part but not correct on another. If you make a fault claim ie one where the insurer cannot claim the money back from someone else it goes against you. This then means that you are liable for the full years premium.

 

As for suspending the policy this is not possible. you can not suspend a policy if there is no vehicle. To supsend a policy you would need to normally keep the vehicle in a locked garage and it would have to be a minimum of 30 days. Then when you unsuspend it you normally get 75% of the premium back for the period suspended.

 

What car is it? What year? What mileage?

Actually some insurance companies do this Norwich Union for one I know they do as we did this when our Citroen ZX was written of by a stupid motorcyclist who wanted to learn to fly

Wrong Shastie. I took a new disco III for an all day test drive..........I phoned my insurer told them I was taking it for a test drive & needed cover & they issued cover there & then...........Also when I wanted to test drive a privately owned car that was for sale which I was thinking of buying for my daughter I did the same again.

Courtesy cars are the exception. 9/10 insurers will not insure you if you ring them up and tell them you want to cover a test drive for the weekend. They will tell you to get the garage to insure you. They do not like to touch this with a barge pole.

 

Phone up your insurance company and ask them if you can insure a car that is registered in your mates name and he has it insured elsewhere. They will tell you that you can't insure it as it is not yours and it is insured elsewhere and if you want to be covered to drive it then you can use the DOC(driving other cars) benefit if you have it on your policy for emergency use third party only or you would have to get your mate to add you on to his policy as a temporary or permanent additional driver.

 

Do any of you work in the industry?

No but then that explains a lot as you must..........you don't understand the meaning of insurable risk...........you just think you do

Many thanks to all of you for your comments , feedback and help; it is so much appreciated. Thanks also for the link shastie.

I guess eventually I will have to suck it for the insurance company but I will take all the advice offered and also make sure I refuse the first offer.

Many thanks again

Do you work in the industry darkangelsdelite? I doubt it do a quick search on google under something like suspend motor insurance policy.

 

RAC, Prudential, Direct line, Nationwide mirror what I said.

I know this is going off topic but i just have to make a few points regarding some statements here. Shastie, I work for RBS insurance which own 3 of the above 4 insurers you mention (not to mention most of the others in the UK), and all give a pro-rata refund (suspension credit) for time the car is suspended provided no claim is made during the contractual year. Next time please check your facts before making such stupid comments, several people on here have pointed out your error and you still haven't taken note.

As far as your "insurable interest" argument goes, as long as the car has no cover elsewhere, it can be added on to a policy as a TAV (temporary additional vehicle) for up to 90 days and can be owned by anyone (even your mate) and covered with same level as on main policy (even fully comp) for an additional premium.

Also test drives are covered for about £7 a day for up to 3 days max.

I would be happy to educate you further in the principles of insurance and how the industry works, feel free to PM me with any further comments rather than post in a forum trying to make people like myself (who are here to genuinely help people) look bad.

Rant Over.

DA.

Sorry but Im not trying to make stupid comments or make anyone look stupid. Maybe it is different with different companies then as what I have stated is true with the ones that I have dealt with in the past.

Lets just agree to disagree, and stop hijacking this guys thread.

Almost forgot Tannaku good luck with the claim.