7 day drive off insurance weirdness
Discussion
My girlfriend has just treated herself to a brand new Fiesta ST, but just got a call from the dealer today saying that the 7 day drive off insurance has been declined, and they can't disclose the reason.
Obviously this put her into a massive panic, as she doesn't want to answer "yes" to the insurance declined or cancelled question for the rest of her life!
When we put down the deposit the dealer was really weird about the insurance - he said that they'd put her on it straight away so they could tax the car (I recon to hit their monthly targets?) and to ignore or decline any calls from the insurance company. They would then do another 7 days insurance when we picked up the car.
So she has just phoned the insurance company and they know nothing about it, said there was no problem, and gave her a code for the insurance starting tomorrow.
So what the hell is the dealer playing at?
Obviously this put her into a massive panic, as she doesn't want to answer "yes" to the insurance declined or cancelled question for the rest of her life!
When we put down the deposit the dealer was really weird about the insurance - he said that they'd put her on it straight away so they could tax the car (I recon to hit their monthly targets?) and to ignore or decline any calls from the insurance company. They would then do another 7 days insurance when we picked up the car.
So she has just phoned the insurance company and they know nothing about it, said there was no problem, and gave her a code for the insurance starting tomorrow.
So what the hell is the dealer playing at?
mr_fibuli said:
My girlfriend has just treated herself to a brand new Fiesta ST, but just got a call from the dealer today saying that the 7 day drive off insurance has been declined, and they can't disclose the reason.
Obviously this put her into a massive panic, as she doesn't want to answer "yes" to the insurance declined or cancelled question for the rest of her life!
When we put down the deposit the dealer was really weird about the insurance - he said that they'd put her on it straight away so they could tax the car (I recon to hit their monthly targets?) and to ignore or decline any calls from the insurance company. They would then do another 7 days insurance when we picked up the car.
So she has just phoned the insurance company and they know nothing about it, said there was no problem, and gave her a code for the insurance starting tomorrow.
So what the hell is the dealer playing at?
Dealer is either a knob OR their policy has some specific requirements that your other half does not meet.Obviously this put her into a massive panic, as she doesn't want to answer "yes" to the insurance declined or cancelled question for the rest of her life!
When we put down the deposit the dealer was really weird about the insurance - he said that they'd put her on it straight away so they could tax the car (I recon to hit their monthly targets?) and to ignore or decline any calls from the insurance company. They would then do another 7 days insurance when we picked up the car.
So she has just phoned the insurance company and they know nothing about it, said there was no problem, and gave her a code for the insurance starting tomorrow.
So what the hell is the dealer playing at?
When I Bought a new Focus ST over 10 years ago now (23 at the time) the driveaway insurance company said "we will cover you for the 7 days but can't provide a continuation quote after that because you are too young to be driving that car".
Not that it was an issue because I had already sorted the insurance out to start on the day of delivery.
Sounds like the dealer doesn't have a clue how their own system works.
Not that it was an issue because I had already sorted the insurance out to start on the day of delivery.
Sounds like the dealer doesn't have a clue how their own system works.
What was the gap in days between your other half buying the car, the day the dealer claims to have put the 7 day insurance on it, and the day she picked it up, the day the dealer said they would put another 7 days on it.
If the dealer put a 7 day cover note on the car the day your other half agreed to buy it (probably to get a sale into a monthly target for a bonus) and then tried to do another one when the car was collected it is highly likely the insurer would decline this as they only offer the risk on one person for 7 days.
Sounds like the dealer is helping themselves and has now caused a possible issue for your other half so speak to Dealer Principal and have them respond in writing.
If the dealer put a 7 day cover note on the car the day your other half agreed to buy it (probably to get a sale into a monthly target for a bonus) and then tried to do another one when the car was collected it is highly likely the insurer would decline this as they only offer the risk on one person for 7 days.
Sounds like the dealer is helping themselves and has now caused a possible issue for your other half so speak to Dealer Principal and have them respond in writing.
Can't think where or what the fiddle might be but there's something going on. I suggest you call the Dealer Principal and tell him what's happened. At the very least the staff need to be educated about bandying about terms like 'cover has been declined' as I'm not sure they understand the implications of using such a term.
It's also important that you get confirmation in writing from the insurer tha they've not declined your cover as you correctly say you'd have to declare it otherwise.
It's also important that you get confirmation in writing from the insurer tha they've not declined your cover as you correctly say you'd have to declare it otherwise.
A dealer does not need a copy of insurance to tax a new or used car. Ideally they should have a copy for due diligence but there is no legal requirement to supply it just to tax a car.
She can be declined from Driveaway insurance if she has had too many accidents or is too young, medical conditions, points etc.
She can be declined from Driveaway insurance if she has had too many accidents or is too young, medical conditions, points etc.
She put the deposit down 2 weeks ago, they said they would insure her that day to sort the tax out - I assumed this was to get the car on their books for October, even though delivery wasn't expected until November.
There is no obvious reason for the insurer to decline - she is so safe and old that she pays £190 per year on the current Clio 200
She phoned Ford Insure and they said that there was no problem, nothing was declined, and arranged for the cover to begin tomorrow.
The dealer now isn't returning her calls.
There is no obvious reason for the insurer to decline - she is so safe and old that she pays £190 per year on the current Clio 200
She phoned Ford Insure and they said that there was no problem, nothing was declined, and arranged for the cover to begin tomorrow.
The dealer now isn't returning her calls.
Edited by mr_fibuli on Thursday 27th October 13:56
Well she's spoken to the dealer now, who insisted again that it was declined. She then told him that she'd phoned the insurer and there was no problem at all, with insurance arranged for tomorrow - the dealer's reaction was "oh, right...". No explanation.
My hunch is that the dealer gets in trouble for doing the insurance twice, so maybe they tried to get out of it with a made up excuse?
As mentioned above though we really need to get to the bottom of this and make sure that their bulls
t has not caused any problems for my gf's insurance record - especially important (and stressful) as she works in banking.
My hunch is that the dealer gets in trouble for doing the insurance twice, so maybe they tried to get out of it with a made up excuse?
As mentioned above though we really need to get to the bottom of this and make sure that their bulls
t has not caused any problems for my gf's insurance record - especially important (and stressful) as she works in banking.mr_fibuli said:
As mentioned above though we really need to get to the bottom of this and make sure that their bullst has not caused any problems for my gf's insurance record - especially important (and stressful) as she works in banking.
Unless I'm missing something obvious I can't think why it should cause any issues with her career, whether she was investment or retail side. t has not caused any problems for my gf's insurance record - especially important (and stressful) as she works in banking.My advice? Write a letter/email to Ford UK (either generic customer services or CEO/MD email if you can find it) and copy in the DP from your dealership. Outline the situation, plenty of detail, and make clear your concerns. Make sure you're 100% clear on what information you expect in return.
Good luck.
There will be no record of this that will have any negative effect on her in terms of future insurance.
It's a cock up - I am not sure of the terms of the Ford Insure deal these days but maybe there is a small cost to the dealer that they are trying to avoid or some such similar petty bks.
More likely just an admin cock up.
It's a cock up - I am not sure of the terms of the Ford Insure deal these days but maybe there is a small cost to the dealer that they are trying to avoid or some such similar petty b
ks.More likely just an admin cock up.
As others have said, I bet the dealer insured it when she put the deposit down and the salesman cacked himself when he found out she wanted to use the 7 day cover so made up an excuse in the hope she'd take out a policy herself.
I'm not sure why the flap regarding having to declare it and her career, she's hardly been caught as the head of an international money laundering ring, the insurer have said it hasn't been declined, and there is no problem. She can honestly answer the question as No, so no need to panic over a salesperson telling porkies.
I'm not sure why the flap regarding having to declare it and her career, she's hardly been caught as the head of an international money laundering ring, the insurer have said it hasn't been declined, and there is no problem. She can honestly answer the question as No, so no need to panic over a salesperson telling porkies.
Tell them because of their general attitude you want the deposit back and cancel the order, then get yourself on https://www.drivethedeal.com, they are doing the Festia ST3 for £15'996 with the style pack, thats over £4k saving
Given that you're going to have to have your own policy up and running from day eight, and will have already checked that you can get insurance on a car prior to committing to buy it (if you have at least four brain cells), why is this seven day thing such a big deal? What's so different about the first seven days of owning a car that you want someone else to insure it?
Took delivery of my ST in May. The dealer sorted the insurance out just after I placed the order and then sent me a link via email so I could fill in all my details, additional drivers etc. He then activated the start of the 7 days on collection day. I can't think of any way in which they could benefit from not giving you the insurance?
We got them to match the Drive the Deal price. Cue much grumbling about them making a loss on the sale 
We haven't even checked if we can get insurance on the new car - we are old enough to get insured on anything for pennies
I can only assume they wanted to tax the car in October for their sales targets? I wasn't going to complain about £10 of lost road tax after they knocked £4k off the price.
The reason for the 7 day insurance is it gives us a handy bit of an overlap while we get rid of the old car (px offers were rubbish)
We haven't even checked if we can get insurance on the new car - we are old enough to get insured on anything for pennies
I can only assume they wanted to tax the car in October for their sales targets? I wasn't going to complain about £10 of lost road tax after they knocked £4k off the price.
The reason for the 7 day insurance is it gives us a handy bit of an overlap while we get rid of the old car (px offers were rubbish)
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