Insurance Mileage Question
Insurance Mileage Question
Author
Discussion

Hammy98

Original Poster:

942 posts

122 months

Friday 13th January 2017
quotequote all
Hi all,

Just looking for your views here.

I got an sp30 on my license in February and subsequently my insurance took a bit of a hike when it came to renewal time.

I hadn't had the car long and wasn't in any position to be able to change again so paid through the nose for insurance.

I'm a fair bit through the policy now, and was having a read through my documents yesterday only to find my mileage allowance is divided up among myself and the named drivers?

This really doesn't seem right, as it means I paid for 15k annual mileage yet I am only covered for 5k?

This got me thinking, is there any way for the insurance company to tell whether one of my parents has been driving my car on their policy - third party? Said parent is not a named driver on my policy. IMO it seems unlikely they could argue this.

Furthermore, is there even any way for them to tell if I use the full 15k myself?

I wont name and shame the company but their entire way of doing things is an absolute farce. Requested a ridiculous number of documents, claimed they didn't receive my emails, threatened to cancel my policy etc.

Cheers



Centurion07

10,395 posts

277 months

Friday 13th January 2017
quotequote all
Hammy98 said:
This got me thinking, is there any way for the insurance company to tell whether one of my parents has been driving my car on their policy - third party? Said parent is not a named driver on my policy. IMO it seems unlikely they could argue this.

Furthermore, is there even any way for them to tell if I use the full 15k myself?
As long as you don't exceed the stated 15K then you'll be fine.

I would imagine, and I'm no expert, but if you did 15K in 11 months, and then someone else drove your car a further 1K miles, although within the 12mth term, unless their policy stated they're covered irrespective of what YOUR policy states, they wouldn't be insured because YOUR insurance policy is only for 15K. Once you've reached that total then any more miles is against the terms of your policy and therefore it is technically uninsured.

ISTBC on that though.

Hammy98

Original Poster:

942 posts

122 months

Friday 13th January 2017
quotequote all
Centurion07 said:
As long as you don't exceed the stated 15K then you'll be fine.

I would imagine, and I'm no expert, but if you did 15K in 11 months, and then someone else drove your car a further 1K miles, although within the 12mth term, unless their policy stated they're covered irrespective of what YOUR policy states, they wouldn't be insured because YOUR insurance policy is only for 15K. Once you've reached that total then any more miles is against the terms of your policy and therefore it is technically uninsured.

ISTBC on that though.
Ah I see, input appreciated. Is there anything to stop me from saying that another driver - outside of my policy - has also used the car within the year?

For example, for talking sake the car was MOT'd same day as the policy started with 0 miles on the clock. 11th month of the policy someone hits me, mileage reads 19k. Insurance tries to say I've exceeded mileage limit of 15k, I say my parent has been driving the car on their policy which explains the mileage. Surely they would have no way to prove otherwise?

Genuinely curious here, as I still have about 5k mileage left on the policy for the next few months.


Magic919

14,543 posts

231 months

Friday 13th January 2017
quotequote all
What does the policy actually say?

speedking31

3,943 posts

166 months

Friday 13th January 2017
quotequote all
Hammy98 said:
I'm a fair bit through the policy now, and was having a read through my documents yesterday only to find my mileage allowance is divided up among myself and the named drivers?
What are the exact words? I suspect what that means is that whoever drives counts towards the mileage.
How did you notify them what the mileage was at the start of the year?

anonymous-user

84 months

Friday 13th January 2017
quotequote all
If you've got questions that aren't covered by your policy docs then personally I'd contact the insurer and ask.

What you'll get on the forums is people who know what the general case is in their experience, or what their specific insurer does, which might not be the same as what your insurer does on your specific policy.

When it comes to insurance I've always taken the view that if it came back to bite me in the arse "I asked on PistonHeads and was told....." isn't going to help me much, but an email from the actual insurer will.

Centurion07

10,395 posts

277 months

Friday 13th January 2017
quotequote all
Hammy98 said:
For example, for talking sake the car was MOT'd same day as the policy started with 0 miles on the clock. 11th month of the policy someone hits me, mileage reads 19k. Insurance tries to say I've exceeded mileage limit of 15k, I say my parent has been driving the car on their policy which explains the mileage. Surely they would have no way to prove otherwise?

Genuinely curious here, as I still have about 5k mileage left on the policy for the next few months.
IF what I said was correct, and as mentioned you should ask your insurance co, then once you've hit 15K miles YOUR policy is no longer in effect for driving as that's the amount of miles allowed by the policy, which means that as it no longer has a policy running then anyone else driving it would be driving it uninsured as DOC USUALLY stipulates the car must have it's own policy.

That's very likely to be a load of balls though. biggrin

Fact is they have no way of determining who drove how many miles on what policy which is why their likely fallback position would be to say the car has exceeded 15K miles so tough-titty.

Jarcy

1,559 posts

305 months

Friday 13th January 2017
quotequote all
Of course during those 11 months, you enjoyed a few track-days and probably put 1k miles on the speedo. wink
And the speedo broke half way through the year, so you got another from a breakers yard which read a different mileage. wink

If the policy says 'incremental difference between readings taken on the speedo that happens to be fitted to the vehicle', then I think they've got all bases covered. Otherwise open to interpretation.

Anything that you can proclaim that also happens to be true, will no doubt help your case.

Hammy98

Original Poster:

942 posts

122 months

Friday 13th January 2017
quotequote all
Appreciate all the responses.

Basically, there is a section titled drivers which has myself with "(5,000 miles)" and the same below it with both of my named drivers.

They didn't take any note of the mileage when I took out the policy either, which would lead to further confusion if they tried to claim I had exceeded my mileage. The car was mot'd 3 months before the policy started, so checking that wouldn't help them much either.

I'd rather not contact them to be completely honest :grin: as more than likely I'll end up dropping myself in it when they ask for what the mileage was at the start of the policy etc.

Was just looking for general input as to how people thought it would turn out in the event of a shunt.

Cheers guys

kiethton

14,656 posts

210 months

Friday 13th January 2017
quotequote all
You'll be fine....

Unless it's a limited mileage/specialist/classic policy that is - the remainder are just a best estimate at time of policy inception.

One year I had a change in circumstances where my 8k estimate ended up being 35k....they didn't bat an eyelid or even care. Hell, even my restricted mileage classic policy (about 5 years ago now) didn't ask for an end mileage although I was comfortably inside.

Hammy98

Original Poster:

942 posts

122 months

Friday 13th January 2017
quotequote all
Seems a bit strange them spreading out the mileage in that way considering I am the main driver. The quote was given through a comparison site so I wonder if that has anything to do with it.

KevinCamaroSS

13,843 posts

310 months

Friday 13th January 2017
quotequote all
Never heard of that split before. Normally just a limit for all drivers combined. There is no way they can know which of you was driving anyway.