A first time insurance puzzler

Posted By: Anonymous

A first time insurance puzzler - 06/04/2006 18:04

Afternoon. I'm new to the forums and must say there's a wealth of very useful knowledge floating around here. Hopefully I can bring something to party. A quick question for someone to mull over and offer some sage advice.

Just bought a very nice coupe and I'm having a little fun with the insuring the vehicle. I have had a look through previous posts and have started to get quotes from the likes of Adrian Flux and Noel Dazely & Co. However the problem I have is with my current insurance on my old car. Budget (my current insurer) are, of course, unable to cover the coupe with their current underwriter (NIG) and will not offer the full proportional refund (around £200 remaining of the 7 months of the old policy). The reason is that in effect I'm "canceling" the previous policy which incurs a “Short Term Rate Charge” costing me £85. After making a polite point that this was not made clear they have waved the cancellation fee of £55 and can offer me back £99 instead of the £200.

So I’m left wondering can they charge me £85 for something I have no control over and is that charge a fair for what is in theory my money as they are unable to insure my vehicle. One opinion is that my contract is with Budget and they choose to underwrite me with whoever they choose so if I to turn down the quote of £1100 being underwritten by Norwich Union then in affect I’m canceling my contract with Budget.

Hmmm it’s turned out not to be a quick question! Any thoughts? Cheers

Pete

Posted By: Anonymous

Re: A first time insurance puzzler - 06/04/2006 18:32

Pete,

I think you'd need to check with the "Association of Insurers" or whatever they call themselves. If I remeber correctly they have to refund you any unused portion of your policy but they can deduct a "reasonable" administration fee.

Al

Posted By: S1MMA

Re: A first time insurance puzzler - 06/04/2006 19:21

It should be written somewhere in your policy documents the exact clauses with regards to refund charges, and the percentage refund you will qualify for when cancelling after x months of your policy being incepted.

As you placed your insurance through Budget (your current Broker, not insurer) I'm not sure exactly what they will/wont charge you.

Have a look at a quote from Admiral/Bell direct, they rate the coupe fairly low in comparison to other insurers.

Posted By: AndrewR

Re: A first time insurance puzzler - 07/04/2006 00:45

Quote:

So I’m left wondering can they charge me £85 for something I have no control over and is that charge a fair for what is in theory my money as they are unable to insure my vehicle.

Yes they can charge you it and it's hardly something over which you have no control, unless you were forced to buy a Coupé

Quote:

One opinion is that my contract is with Budget and they choose to underwrite me with whoever they choose so if I to turn down the quote of £1100 being underwritten by Norwich Union then in affect I’m canceling my contract with Budget.

Yes, you do have a contract with Budget, but an integral part of that contract is the vehicle you currently have insured with them.

Sorry, but you're unlikely to get a better offer than the one you already have, they're not legally or morally obliged to proportionally refund your insurance or provide you with cover at a better rate, so they've got you whichever you turn.

I've got a great story about this involving 2 Capris, but I've already waffled on for ages, so I'll leave it for another day.

Posted By: Anonymous

Re: A first time insurance puzzler - 07/04/2006 04:29

Cheers for the advice gents. I figured as much with the current offer is the best I'm gonna get. I wasn't forced to buy a coupe but I'm damned glad I did! Speaking to a few other people, I've sort of come to the conclusion that Budget wasn't going to give much more as my contract is with them and not the underwriter so I'm the one breaking the agreement by refusing their cover with Norwich Union. Tail between the legs tomorrow and hopefully get the £99 back! Life goes on.

AndrewR - What this Capris story? Sounds intriguing!

Posted By: AndrewR

Re: A first time insurance puzzler - 07/04/2006 19:26

OK, the Capri story, very quickly.

This happened back in 1993.

I took out a TPFT insurance policy for my 'D' reg 1.6 Laser Capri and paid the premium.

Half way through the year I, somewhat carelessly, took said Capri sideways through a traffic island, killing it in the process. I didn't make a claim, because it was only TPFT insurance.

I needed another car quickly, so I bought an 'R' reg (that's from the first time round, so 1977, I think) Mk2 Escort 1300 Ghia.

I phoned up my insurance company to tell them I'd changed cars. They said I wouldn't get a discount on my insurance, because they had the Escort in the same group as the Capri. I said OK and we carried on.

The Escort turned out to be absolute sh*te and I only had it a couple of months before I traded it in for an 'A' reg 1.6LS Capri.

So, to recap, as this point I had an insurance policy I'd taken out for a 'D' reg 1.6 Capri and I now had an 'A' reg 1.6 Capri. Easy, huh?

I phoned my insurance company to tell them I'd changed cars.

"That's fine", they said, "but we'll have to charge you £10".

"Why?" I asked.

"Because you're moving from an old 1.3 car to a newer 1.6."

"But this policy was originally taken out on an even newer 1.6" I told them.

"Ah, but you see", they said, using the voice that suggested they were talking to somebody who hadn't brought a full bag of sandwhiches to the picnic, "Your last car was a 1.3 and your new one is a 1.6, so we need to increase your premium".

This conversation went on for a while.

Eventually I sent them a letter explaining that as I started with a 1.6 Capri and currently had a 1.6 Capri all should be hunky and there was no way on Earth I was giving them another £10.

A few days later they wrote back to me ...

"Dear Mr. Richardson,

Thank you for your letter of whenever.

We have reviewed your policy details and can confirm that there is no additional premium to pay at this time.

We have ammended your policy details to record your new vehicle and an administration charge of £10 has been made for this service.

Failure to pay this charge within 7 days will result in your policy being cancelled.

Yours, etc."

I gave in, gave them the tenner and learned well the lesson that when you mess with those b*st*rds you never win.