Odd insurance company statement

[pvr]

Renewal time for the M policy, so did the usual shopping around and ending up with the same provider I have had for the last 20 years or so.

Anyway, whilst discussing the premium with them, I was checking to see what the impact of adding my wife was to the policy (had removed her previously because of a scandalous racing at 36 through a 30 zone 4 years ago ). By adding her to the policy, she reduced it from £475 to £400. Great, I thought. Let's do it.

The woman on the phone then said to me that I had to ensure that she actually drove the car for the policy to be valid. Uh ... what? Thought that was a rather odd statement to make as why does that matter if she drives a mile a year or not, or whether she drives every day or whatever.

Insurance ... something I will never understand in this country.

 

[gannet]

and how the h**l do they prove it either way :?

as you say some things we will never understand :roll:

 

[srhutch]

Did you ask how many miles she needed to cover in a year?

 

[Taz]

Insurance ... something I will never understand in this country.

one think you should understand, insurance is a scam, they want your money but will never want to give it back

 

[pvr]

Did you ask how many miles she needed to cover in a year?

No - just "she needs to drive it".

Similar conversation when adding my daughter as a named driver to the Polo. How much can she drive it - "no limit, but not to / from place of work or study".

me: "Never to place of work / study" ?
them: "No, just not regular"
me: "What is regular, every day, once a week, what"?
them: "She can use it, but not all the time".

Riiiiiiiiiiiight ... that is clear then.

 

[Taz]

insurance: an agreement in which you pay a company money and they pay your costs if you have an accident, injury, etc

thats the oxford dictionary meaning, so if i have an accident and leave my keys in the car or my front door, will the insurance pay out if some 1 drives away in my car - i hate insurance, i only have it cos i have to by law

 

[klarky]

Well lots of people add females to bring policy down but they never actually drive so it's a valid question really. Same thing as a parent putting a child of their policy but the child is the only one who drives. Technically it's fraud but they turn a blind eye to it, until you want to claim that is, so always be careful what you declare, honesty is the best policy really, even if it costs you a bit more cash

 

[AlanJ]

Insurance ... something I will never understand in this country.

one think you should understand, insurance is a scam, they want your money but will never want to give it back

Not a scam but a risk - a risk on who you choose to insure with and a risk on who they give their insurance to. If they calculate the risk properly (that’s what the actuaries do) then they should never have to give you any money back and you should never have to make a claim. I'm not sure why an insurance company would ever want to give you your money back - you’re paying them for a service. Let’s hope you never need to make a claim. Of course if you want to save money and avoid the 'scam' then you can transfer the risk from the insurance company to yourself and not bother with any insurance.....as unfortunately many do and it's normally us they hit and maim and then we end up trying to claim etc etc from the uninsured. Rant over....!

 

[gannet]

Well lots of people add females to bring policy down but they never actually drive so it's a valid question really. Same thing as a parent putting a child of their policy but the child is the only one who drives. Technically it's fraud but they turn a blind eye to it, until you want to claim that is, so always be careful what you declare, honesty is the best policy really, even if it costs you a bit more cash

extremely hard to prove fraud in that case though...

mrs gannet is on my policy, not even sure whether it brought the premium down or not as TBH Id rather she be on it than not, in case we are somewhere and I incapacitated or too tired etc to drive, we can still get home


She has driven the car a total of 4 times in almost 4 years

 

[Taz]

why does she have to drive at all, can she not just be on there for emergencies

 

[mmm-five]

I bet they wouldn't ask questions like this if the premium was going up due to a policy change

e.g. I've had business cover on my car for the last 10 years. However, some years I've not used the business portion as I've commuted by train everywhere. Does this mean I've committed fraud?

 

[gannet]

why does she have to drive at all, can she not just be on there for emergencies

exactly my point, even if you put it in less words

oh and I also have business cover, only ever used probably well twice...

 

[AlanJ]

I've had business cover on my car for the last 10 years. However, some years I've not used the business portion as I've commuted by train everywhere. Does this mean I've committed fraud?

Fraud - a deliberate deception, trickery, or cheating intended to gain an advantage; so that will be no then.

 

[mmm-five]

I've had business cover on my car for the last 10 years. However, some years I've not used the business portion as I've commuted by train everywhere. Does this mean I've committed fraud?

Fraud - a deliberate deception, trickery, or cheating intended to gain an advantage; so that will be no then.

I've only kept business cover on mine as it takes £50 off the premium, and listing my occupation as (for example) pole erector rather than porn fluffer (same function though) has reduced my premium by another £30.

 

[Taz]

its just cost me £30 extra because business was not on my cover, sure it would have been no dearer if it was on from the start

new new golf cost me more to insure than my zed, whats all that about

 

[srhutch]

Doesn't cost me any extra for business cover. What was strange though is that I had to ask for 3rd party cover on other cars. Reason it wasn't standard was because I have a soft top :? . Where is the logic in that? Luckily no extra cost though.

PS needed this to test drive old bangers.