Estimated Annual Mileage - Car Insurance
Discussion
Randomthoughts said:
I did wonder about trackdays; if you've got a bit of a snotter that you drive to a local track, drive round and round loads, and then home again, how do you demonstrate to your insurers that only 1000 miles of your car's mileage was done on road?
Mate of mine did track days in is Caterham - and also drove it to/from work. What he did was keep meticulous records as to what the mileage was when he got onto the track, and when he left, and that was taken into account from the total his insurance allowed.tribbles said:
Mate of mine did track days in is Caterham - and also drove it to/from work. What he did was keep meticulous records as to what the mileage was when he got onto the track, and when he left, and that was taken into account from the total his insurance allowed.
Cool. Just wondered what level of proof was 'required' as a lot of the questions around insurance are either based on trust (because they're easily proven) or proof (modifications, mileage in some circumstances where your current mileage is requested), and does someone trust that someone hasn't just written down a bunch of convenient mileage numbers in a spreadsheet/on a bit of paper, or are you expected to provide a level of proof? As obviously a limited mileage 1000-mile policy with the driver reporting closer to 5000-miles is going to be a bit different in terms of premium.Do you happen to know if he was instructed to do so by his insurers (ergo, that being the level of 'proof' that they require) or whether that's his (eminently sensible) own approach to ensuring that he can provide some level of evidence around his activities? Obviously that can't be rigidly applied to other insurers as their required level of proof, but may be a good indicator.
Randomthoughts said:
Dog Star said:
You've beaten me to it! Who is to say that it was the policyholder that did the miles.
I did wonder about trackdays; if you've got a bit of a snotter that you drive to a local track, drive round and round loads, and then home again, how do you demonstrate to your insurers that only 1000 miles of your car's mileage was done on road?I appreciate, Mr Loon, that I'm going to take a pasting for concocting a scenario specifically for this but having thought about getting a crash-repaired Clio to trackday but not wanting to go to the extreme of making it unroadworthy and hauling it's backside to-and-fro, it's a scenario that actually occurred to me far previous.
I figure there's going to have to be an element of trust and an element of demonstrating the frequency through either bank statements or ideally receipts if you're not disorganised like me...
I'm assuming from the sanctimonious response (that probably took longer to type than the answer) I need to search for the answer as it's already been asked. It was just a question that I had, and thought that a mileage-related discussion was the right place for the question...
Speed Badger said:
You probably do less miles than you'd think at a trackday. Say you did 100 laps of Brands Hatch Indy, that would only equate to about 120 miles, ten trackdays a year you're only doing 1200 miles plus a bit of travelling.
My concern is that if the vehicle is exclusively used for trackdays, and you do 15-20 over the summer at a track about 10 miles away, you could ultimately do a couple of thousand miles, whilst only doing 1000 on the road and be required to insure for.It's quite an amusing question though isn't it? When you get asked it, you are not told the degree of accuracy required nor the import or effect of the answer, nor the effect of getting it wrong. If you are doing it on the phone (as it where), try asking the call centre person those questions and they'll get a bit stuck (IME).
Perhaps the insurance companies need to be clearer on the question and that would stop Loon having to answer the same old same old on PH.
Bert
Perhaps the insurance companies need to be clearer on the question and that would stop Loon having to answer the same old same old on PH.
Bert
LoonR1 said:
I'll leave you all to it. The fact that this has been debated over and over again is clearly irrelevant. The answer has been given. There will always be anomalies to every scenario. That's my point and that's my only point.
Maybe it's been debated before, but that's something I'm not aware of. And I'm certain I've never seen a definitive (or close to definitive) view being expressed. Given that you're someone who's thought of as an insurance expert, it would be helpful if you'd address my specific point, but if you don't want to, fair enough. It's just a bit of a surprise that this apparently simple question - is it the insured car or the insured driver which counts for mileage purposes - seems so hard to answer.
Speed Badger said:
You probably do less miles than you'd think at a trackday. Say you did 100 laps of Brands Hatch Indy, that would only equate to about 120 miles, ten trackdays a year you're only doing 1200 miles plus a bit of travelling.
And the travelling if driven on the road is part of your annual mileage allowance. People still struggle with concept of capped mileage vs estimated mileage. There is a world of difference. I have capped mileage on my Bike carrier van insurance and estimated mileage on the bikes and cars. Exceed the van and cover drops to TPO at mile 1 over the allowance, irrespective how that mileage was accrued. On the others t doesn't matter at all unless I'm going to be a long way over the mileage. That is defined by reasonable. Cue another pedantic discussion over reasonable.
To add a final wheezing post to this dead horse of a topic, I think it's safe to assume that if your estimated mileage is 10,000 & you've nearly reached that toward the end of your policy, and you suddenly had to drive to Scotland to visit your sick Aunt, you're not gonna be bent over a barrel and lubed up by the nasty, evil insurance company.
OpulentBob said:
Can you post without having a stroppy litte dig? Why hold everyone in such contempt? You're SO angry and bitter.
The first poster to have a sly dig was tjlees perpetuating a myth. The next poster posted something completely incorrect and again badged it as advice. The one after came up with a scenario that would not apply to anywhere near the majority of the driving population of this country. The thread then descended into farce and pedantry Stop jumping on the "let's bash Loon" bandwagon. There are are far more posters being far more insulting on many other threads on this forum alone.
LoonR1 said:
The one after came up with a scenario that would not apply to anywhere near the majority of the driving population of this country.
So, that only a few people would fall into that scenario makes us bad people, or people who you can't even find to speak down to, instead resorting to being as derogatory as possible?If either of us had asked stupid questions, then by all means. I think the question was perfectly valid from one of the posters; are insurers ever likely to hold the rate at which you've done your mileage against you? And I can't honestly find what was wrong with my question, other than as you say, Jeff and Jill don't give a f
k about the answer because they drive their Vauxhall GivenUpOnLife-ira to the supermarket and to the school. Funnily enough, I think this forum is more likely to have a concentration of people on who would be intrigued or even potentially affected by the answer as opposed to Mumsnet or wherever else you care to think of.In the least insulting way possible, as I'm aware that this term is considered derogatory for a group of younger individuals, if you're 'too mainstream' to be able to give a reasonable indication on the answer, I completely understand and it's one you have to ask when you're in a position to do, and ask it of the people in the position to answer specifically. I just asked on an offchance that you or anyone else knew...
LoonR1 said:
The first poster to have a sly dig was tjlees perpetuating a myth. The next poster posted something completely incorrect and again badged it as advice. The one after came up with a scenario that would not apply to anywhere near the majority of the driving population of this country. The thread then descended into farce and pedantry
Dunno if it was deliberately perpetuating a myth or a sly dig, if that's what he thought then his input is fair enough. Yours is clearly better/more informative, but it just seems to be said through gritted teeth and with one hand grinding a knife in to a voodoo doll of a standard PHer. I'm a highway engineer. My lot get slated permanently for bus lanes, bike lanes, junctions, fences at roundabouts, road works, yellow lines, etc etc, but what's the point in trying to get angry with everyone. If I don't want to answer a question about merging in turn, or the reason for this or that, then I don't answer it. Certainly don't take it personally when an anon has a poke on the internet, that's the way to an early grave.
LoonR1 said:
Stop jumping on the "let's bash Loon" bandwagon. There are are far more posters being far more insulting on many other threads on this forum alone.
Fair enough. Although any bashing is IMHO a bit self-inflicted. A thousand posts of reliable grumpiness mean it can be reliably assumed you're a grump! Anyway, it doesn't offend me particularly, I would quite like you to write emails to MOPs I have to deal with. They'd probably cry, but they'd not darken my doorstep again!
LoonR1 said:
OpulentBob said:
Can you post without having a stroppy litte dig? Why hold everyone in such contempt? You're SO angry and bitter.
The first poster to have a sly dig was tjlees perpetuating a myth. The next poster posted something completely incorrect and again badged it as advice. The one after came up with a scenario that would not apply to anywhere near the majority of the driving population of this country. The thread then descended into farce and pedantry Stop jumping on the "let's bash Loon" bandwagon. There are are far more posters being far more insulting on many other threads on this forum alone.
If the reality is that I really should ring up, pay an extra chunk for more miles, then that's what I'll do. Otherwise I'll continue to take the view that I didn't do the miles, it wasn't on my policy, and thus I'm not defrauding anyone of anything.
The insurer will cover your car based on it doing x000 miles per annum approximately. If you go a long way over then you're likely to have to explain that. If you know your brother is going to borrow your car for a 3500 mile journey then you should declare those miles. On a say 20000 estimated mileage it won't make much difference to your premium. In reality I bet you'd claim if your car was stolen on your policy as his will probably be TPO cover on his DOC.
If it's a capped mileage policy then talk to your insurer they are specialised policies and their T&Cs will vary.
If it's a capped mileage policy then talk to your insurer they are specialised policies and their T&Cs will vary.
LoonR1 said:
The insurer will cover your car based on it doing x000 miles per annum approximately. If you go a long way over then you're likely to have to explain that. If you know your brother is going to borrow your car for a 3500 mile journey then you should declare those miles. On a say 20000 estimated mileage it won't make much difference to your premium. In reality I bet you'd claim if your car was stolen on your policy as his will probably be TPO cover on his DOC.
If it's a capped mileage policy then talk to your insurer they are specialised policies and their T&Cs will vary.
Thanks - I'll contact the insurers based on your advice. It's not a capped mileage policy (it's clear what happens then) but a general policy with an advisory number of miles.If it's a capped mileage policy then talk to your insurer they are specialised policies and their T&Cs will vary.
Frustratingly, my wife was right on this, which is far more annoying than a few quid extra on the insurance.
Depends whether its pro rata that the more miles you do the more likely you are to claim. The claims experience of an insurer may be that drivers who cover 18000 pa may make less claims than those that only do 15000, and therefore the premium reduces with the increased mileage 
Transparency in the effects of such declarations would be welcomed by most customers, and save having to run multiple scenarios through the pricing websites to check what effect, if any, they have on premiums.
Transparency in the effects of such declarations would be welcomed by most customers, and save having to run multiple scenarios through the pricing websites to check what effect, if any, they have on premiums.If we were transparent then guess what would happen? People will simy put in what they know will reduce their premiums. We get 20 year olds "accidentally" mistyping their age to be 30 years older now. We get people deliberately underestimating their mileage as they think that will make it cheaper.
When renewing on comparison websites I always enter the minimum I think I'll do, then start increasing stuff until the premium changes. Last year for the bike I started at 1000 miles and social and domestic use, I ended up with 5000 miles and class one business (plus other bits) at no extra cost.
However, I only did about 100 miles on the bike, so should I have inform the insurance company?
However, I only did about 100 miles on the bike, so should I have inform the insurance company?
drew.h said:
When renewing on comparison websites I always enter the minimum I think I'll do, then start increasing stuff until the premium changes. Last year for the bike I started at 1000 miles and social and domestic use, I ended up with 5000 miles and class one business (plus other bits) at no extra cost.
However, I only did about 100 miles on the bike, so should I have inform the insurance company?
No, why do you think you should?However, I only did about 100 miles on the bike, so should I have inform the insurance company?
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