Insurance complication
Discussion
Elderly relative has just had his car written off, other driver has admitted responsibility. (Low speed collision, car still perfectly driveable BTW).
Before he can get the cheque from (I assume) the other guys insurance company, he's been told he has to send the MOT cert and insurance cert.
He's getting worried because he can't find his insurance cert. I pointed out that this must happen all the time and suggested he should ring his insurance company and ask for a copy. The problem now is that insurance company say it's tricky to give a copy now that the car has been written off.
Is it really a problem to get a copy of the insurance cert for a recently written off car whose insurance would otherwise still be in force? And why do the other guys insurance co need the certificate anyway?
Before he can get the cheque from (I assume) the other guys insurance company, he's been told he has to send the MOT cert and insurance cert.
He's getting worried because he can't find his insurance cert. I pointed out that this must happen all the time and suggested he should ring his insurance company and ask for a copy. The problem now is that insurance company say it's tricky to give a copy now that the car has been written off.
Is it really a problem to get a copy of the insurance cert for a recently written off car whose insurance would otherwise still be in force? And why do the other guys insurance co need the certificate anyway?
Dr Jekyll said:
Elderly relative has just had his car written off, other driver has admitted responsibility. (Low speed collision, car still perfectly driveable BTW).
Before he can get the cheque from (I assume) the other guys insurance company, he's been told he has to send the MOT cert and insurance cert.
He's getting worried because he can't find his insurance cert. I pointed out that this must happen all the time and suggested he should ring his insurance company and ask for a copy. The problem now is that insurance company say it's tricky to give a copy now that the car has been written off.
Is it really a problem to get a copy of the insurance cert for a recently written off car whose insurance would otherwise still be in force? And why do the other guys insurance co need the certificate anyway?
It's as simple as calling the insurance company in question and getting another (e-mailed) sent to him. Before he can get the cheque from (I assume) the other guys insurance company, he's been told he has to send the MOT cert and insurance cert.
He's getting worried because he can't find his insurance cert. I pointed out that this must happen all the time and suggested he should ring his insurance company and ask for a copy. The problem now is that insurance company say it's tricky to give a copy now that the car has been written off.
Is it really a problem to get a copy of the insurance cert for a recently written off car whose insurance would otherwise still be in force? And why do the other guys insurance co need the certificate anyway?
KungFuPanda said:
Not sure why they're insisting on an insurance certificate. Even if you're relative's car wasn't insured, they would still have to pay out.
Can't they just check the insurance position on MID?
It's due to the Road Traffic Act making the issuer of a Certificate of Insurance liable to pay claims on that vehicle in lots of circumstances. As the vehicle has been written off and in effect does not exist the Insurer wants the Certificate back to release them from their liabilities of the RTA.Can't they just check the insurance position on MID?
If you ring them (You may need to speak to Customer Services rather than Claims but try claims first) they should either accept your confirmation over the phone or a letter / email confirming you've lost the Certificate or a sign form declaring you've lost the Certificate.
dacouch said:
It's due to the Road Traffic Act making the issuer of a Certificate of Insurance liable to pay claims on that vehicle in lots of circumstances. As the vehicle has been written off and in effect does not exist the Insurer wants the Certificate back to release them from their liabilities of the RTA.
If you ring them (You may need to speak to Customer Services rather than Claims but try claims first) they should either accept your confirmation over the phone or a letter / email confirming you've lost the Certificate or a sign form declaring you've lost the Certificate.
Interesting thought, I assumed it was the other bloke's insurance company wanting the cert. I can see why his insurance company don't want to send a certificate out just for him to send it back, but since most certificates now are electronic it does seem a bit pointless.If you ring them (You may need to speak to Customer Services rather than Claims but try claims first) they should either accept your confirmation over the phone or a letter / email confirming you've lost the Certificate or a sign form declaring you've lost the Certificate.
dacouch said:
It's due to the Road Traffic Act making the issuer of a Certificate of Insurance liable to pay claims on that vehicle in lots of circumstances. As the vehicle has been written off and in effect does not exist the Insurer wants the Certificate back to release them from their liabilities of the RTA.
If you ring them (You may need to speak to Customer Services rather than Claims but try claims first) they should either accept your confirmation over the phone or a letter / email confirming you've lost the Certificate or a sign form declaring you've lost the Certificate.
It's not his insurance that wants the cert, it's the other insurance co that wants to see proof... though as already said, MID should have those details...I was under the impression that's what it had been set up for?If you ring them (You may need to speak to Customer Services rather than Claims but try claims first) they should either accept your confirmation over the phone or a letter / email confirming you've lost the Certificate or a sign form declaring you've lost the Certificate.
Does his insurance policy have an online account?
It seems odd across the board (obviously) that the other ins co wants a copy of MOT (searchable online) and ins policy (again, searchable) and that his own are refusing to give him a copy of the policy that was in force at the time of the accident...has something been misunderstood in translation?
DrTre said:
It's not his insurance that wants the cert, it's the other insurance co that wants to see proof... though as already said, MID should have those details...I was under the impression that's what it had been set up for?
Does his insurance policy have an online account?
It seems odd across the board (obviously) that the other ins co wants a copy of MOT (searchable online) and ins policy (again, searchable) and that his own are refusing to give him a copy of the policy that was in force at the time of the accident...has something been misunderstood in translation?
It's more likely the OP is confusing which Insurer is initially paying him, if he's being asked for the certificate it's most likely his own Insurer who are physically paying as the other parties Insurer have no need to see it.Does his insurance policy have an online account?
It seems odd across the board (obviously) that the other ins co wants a copy of MOT (searchable online) and ins policy (again, searchable) and that his own are refusing to give him a copy of the policy that was in force at the time of the accident...has something been misunderstood in translation?
dacouch said:
It's more likely the OP is confusing which Insurer is initially paying him, if he's being asked for the certificate it's most likely his own Insurer who are physically paying as the other parties Insurer have no need to see it.
Why would his insurer want to see a certificate they originally issued?Dr Jekyll said:
Why would his insurer want to see a certificate they originally issued?
I explained it in my previous post you responded to.The Road Traffic Act makes them liable for accidents in certain circumstances all the time your friend is in possession of a Certificate of Insurance. They release themselves from this responsibility by him returning the certificate so he is no longer in possession of it
dacouch said:
I explained it in my previous post you responded to.
The Road Traffic Act makes them liable for accidents in certain circumstances all the time your friend is in possession of a Certificate of Insurance. They release themselves from this responsibility by him returning the certificate so he is no longer in possession of it
So the same as when you cancel insurance then... I've done this several times and have each time informed them I don't have it. They told me to send a letter stating this - and nothing happened when I never bothered. The Road Traffic Act makes them liable for accidents in certain circumstances all the time your friend is in possession of a Certificate of Insurance. They release themselves from this responsibility by him returning the certificate so he is no longer in possession of it
photosnob said:
So the same as when you cancel insurance then... I've done this several times and have each time informed them I don't have it. They told me to send a letter stating this - and nothing happened when I never bothered.
The Certificate is a legal document as per the Road Traffic Act.To cancel the Certificate and remove the RTA liabilities the Insurer needs to follow the prescribed methods as stipulated in RTA 147. Which is why Insurers ask for the Certificate to be returned to cancel the policy or in the case of an electronic certificate send an email confirming it's surrender. In the case of a lost Certificate the RTA requires a Statutory Declaration declaring it's loss and surrender
However many Insurers take a business decision that getting customers to send back certs, chasing them or in the case of lost certs requiring a Stat Dec is not cost effective as it ties up a lot of staff time and can alienate customers. So for the relatively small chance of the Insurer being liable for a claim due the Road Traffic Act they decide it's cheaper in the long run not to chase the certificate and some do not even ask for it to be sent back.
On the flip side there are Insurers who will insist the Certificate is sent back or if it has been lost that the customer goes to the expense of arranging a Statutory Declaration
As has already been mentioned, many certificates are now electronic. My family had the following odd request from an insurer of one of the cars:-
Them: Please send us the insurance certificate.
Us: Its an online account, we would have to download the cetificate and print it, in order to post it.
Them: Yes, please do that. ???
Us: could we not email it?
Them: Yes that would be acceptable
We did this, not really understanding the point, and found we could continue to dowload and print as many copies as we wished, for several weeks afterwards.
Them: Please send us the insurance certificate.
Us: Its an online account, we would have to download the cetificate and print it, in order to post it.
Them: Yes, please do that. ???
Us: could we not email it?
Them: Yes that would be acceptable
We did this, not really understanding the point, and found we could continue to dowload and print as many copies as we wished, for several weeks afterwards.
dacouch said:
On the flip side there are Insurers who will insist the Certificate is sent back or if it has been lost that the customer goes to the expense of arranging a Statutory Declaration
Or what? To put this into perspective - if you pay your insurance by direct debit you can just cancel that... If you pay annually the worst case scenario is that they won't give you your money back... Given the number of options open to consumers to complain, I'd say this is more of a drama for the insurance companies than the common man.
photosnob said:
dacouch said:
On the flip side there are Insurers who will insist the Certificate is sent back or if it has been lost that the customer goes to the expense of arranging a Statutory Declaration
Or what? To put this into perspective - if you pay your insurance by direct debit you can just cancel that... If you pay annually the worst case scenario is that they won't give you your money back... Given the number of options open to consumers to complain, I'd say this is more of a drama for the insurance companies than the common man.
Cancelling your direct debit does not cancel your policy, the insurance will still be active until you instruct the Insurer to cancel the policy and return the certificate if they require it's return.
Just cancelling the DDM will result in one or two letters from the Insurers asking for you to rectify the DDM problem or pay the balance of the premium in full. If they do not get a satisfactory response the Insurer will then cancel the policy by writing to you and giving you seven days notice of the cancellation.
If the Insurer cancels the policy this can cause you problems as there are a small number of Insurers that refuse to quote if you've had a policy cancelled due to defaulting on your instalmemts which is what this would be classed as.
Worst case scenario actually being if you've just cancelled the DDM and sold the car, if the new owner has a fault accident and has not arranged insurance. The innocent party will invoke a claim against your policy which under certain circumstances your Insurer will be liable to pay due to the Road Traffic Act. Should your Insurer payout under these circumstances, they will come after you to reimberse them for their outlay.
To make it very clear, just cancelling the DDM is a very bad idea. You just need to contact the Insurer and arrange for the policy to be cancelled properly
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