I do not understand insurance companies
Discussion
So I live in Wanstead in east london. My parents live out in a very safe and boring place called Hertford about 45 mins away. I own a very boring car for the kids to trash and it lives on the driveway outside my house and costs about 300 quid a year to insure.
I also own a mk1 mx5 and have done since 2006.its a very lovely, original thing, right down to the blaupunkt tape deck. It isnt cheap to tax, and costs me 350 odd quid a year to do so which is a bit rich considering it does less than 1k a year.
Anyway it isnt ulez compliant so until it becomes a classic car it wont come into london. So it lives a life of luxury at my parents where it lives in a garage and is regularly washed and taken out for a gentle spin every now and then. I rarely drive it but it's nice to know i can if I want to and i think given its original condition and 55000 miles on it, it is worth keeping.
I have insured it for years with either footman james or, more recently for the last few years, Lancaster insurance. The insurance has been regularly creeping up over the last few years from roughly 90 quid to 180 quid which is what my recent renewal was.
I ran a search and saw a company with excellent reviews would insure it for £90.happy days. Filled out all the details, where it is kept, and in the any other deceleration sections, also made it clear what the address is on my driving licence/why its different to where the car is kept, declared my dad as the main driver, me as the second driver, why its kept at my parents place, went through and then paid it.
I thought it best to call up and make sure they absolutely understood where I lived, and where the car is kept-yeah no problem mate said the very helpful bloke on the phone, i just need to call the underwriter.
I was kept on hold for 30 mins to be told, yeah the underwriter doesnt like where you live mate so they've decided to decline cover. Sorry about any confusion.
I asked the bloke why and he said the underwriter didn't like that you lived in London mate unfortunately, anything to do with London they get very nervous.
But I explained to you didnt I that the car has never been in London, has never even been to my house, and is stored in Hertfordshire in a garage? It does about 500 miles a year mostly by a retired police officer and otherwise its in a garage.
Yeah but you live in london mate.
I reinsured it with lancaster 10 mins later. Its probably the least risky insurance policy theyll underwrite all year.
I thought underwriters were meant to have a brain?
I also own a mk1 mx5 and have done since 2006.its a very lovely, original thing, right down to the blaupunkt tape deck. It isnt cheap to tax, and costs me 350 odd quid a year to do so which is a bit rich considering it does less than 1k a year.
Anyway it isnt ulez compliant so until it becomes a classic car it wont come into london. So it lives a life of luxury at my parents where it lives in a garage and is regularly washed and taken out for a gentle spin every now and then. I rarely drive it but it's nice to know i can if I want to and i think given its original condition and 55000 miles on it, it is worth keeping.
I have insured it for years with either footman james or, more recently for the last few years, Lancaster insurance. The insurance has been regularly creeping up over the last few years from roughly 90 quid to 180 quid which is what my recent renewal was.
I ran a search and saw a company with excellent reviews would insure it for £90.happy days. Filled out all the details, where it is kept, and in the any other deceleration sections, also made it clear what the address is on my driving licence/why its different to where the car is kept, declared my dad as the main driver, me as the second driver, why its kept at my parents place, went through and then paid it.
I thought it best to call up and make sure they absolutely understood where I lived, and where the car is kept-yeah no problem mate said the very helpful bloke on the phone, i just need to call the underwriter.
I was kept on hold for 30 mins to be told, yeah the underwriter doesnt like where you live mate so they've decided to decline cover. Sorry about any confusion.
I asked the bloke why and he said the underwriter didn't like that you lived in London mate unfortunately, anything to do with London they get very nervous.
But I explained to you didnt I that the car has never been in London, has never even been to my house, and is stored in Hertfordshire in a garage? It does about 500 miles a year mostly by a retired police officer and otherwise its in a garage.
Yeah but you live in london mate.
I reinsured it with lancaster 10 mins later. Its probably the least risky insurance policy theyll underwrite all year.
I thought underwriters were meant to have a brain?
Edited by princeperch on Monday 9th September 17:43
princeperch said:
So I live in Wanstead in east london. My parents live out in a very safe and boring place called Hertford about 45 mins away. I own a very boring car for the kids to trash and it lives on the driveway outside my house and costs about 300 quid a year to insure.
I also own a mk1 mx5 and have done since 2006.its a very lovely, original thing, right down to the blaupunkt tape deck. It isnt cheap to tax, and costs me 350 odd quid a year to do so which is a bit rich considering it does less than 1k a year.
Anyway it isnt ulez compliant so until it becomes a classic car it wont come into london. So it lives a life of luxury at my parents where it lives in a garage and is regularly washed and taken out for a gentle spin every now and then. I rarely drive it but it's nice to know i can if I want to and i think given its original condition and 55000 miles on it, it is worth keeping.
I have insured it for years with either footman james or, more recently for the last few years, Lancaster insurance. The insurance has been regularly creeping up over the last few years from roughly 90 quid to 180 quid which is what my recent renewal was.
I ran a search and saw a company with excellent reviews would insure it for £90.happy days. Filled out all the details, where it is kept, and in the any other deceleration sections, also made it clear what the address is on my driving licence/why its different to where the car is kept, declared my dad as the main driver, me as the second driver, why its kept at my parents place, went through and then paid it.
I thought it best to call up and make sure they absolutely understood where I lived, and where the car is kept-yeah no problem mate said the very helpful bloke on the phone, i just need to call the underwriter.
I was kept on hold for 30 mins to be told, yeah the underwriter doesnt like where you live mate so they've decided to decline cover. Sorry about any confusion.
I asked the bloke why and he said the underwriter didn't like that you lived in London mate unfortunately, anything to do with London they get very nervous.
But I explained to you didnt I that the car has never been in London, has never even been to my house, and is stored in Hertfordshire in a garage? It does about 500 miles a year mostly by a retired police officer and otherwise its in a garage.
Yeah but you live in london mate.
I reinsured it with lancaster 10 mins later. Its probably the least risky insurance policy theyll underwrite all year.
I thought underwriters were meant to have a brain?
They do; and they know from experience that (on average!) people tell porkies when it comes to motor insurance. Which is unfortunate for the genuine ones.I also own a mk1 mx5 and have done since 2006.its a very lovely, original thing, right down to the blaupunkt tape deck. It isnt cheap to tax, and costs me 350 odd quid a year to do so which is a bit rich considering it does less than 1k a year.
Anyway it isnt ulez compliant so until it becomes a classic car it wont come into london. So it lives a life of luxury at my parents where it lives in a garage and is regularly washed and taken out for a gentle spin every now and then. I rarely drive it but it's nice to know i can if I want to and i think given its original condition and 55000 miles on it, it is worth keeping.
I have insured it for years with either footman james or, more recently for the last few years, Lancaster insurance. The insurance has been regularly creeping up over the last few years from roughly 90 quid to 180 quid which is what my recent renewal was.
I ran a search and saw a company with excellent reviews would insure it for £90.happy days. Filled out all the details, where it is kept, and in the any other deceleration sections, also made it clear what the address is on my driving licence/why its different to where the car is kept, declared my dad as the main driver, me as the second driver, why its kept at my parents place, went through and then paid it.
I thought it best to call up and make sure they absolutely understood where I lived, and where the car is kept-yeah no problem mate said the very helpful bloke on the phone, i just need to call the underwriter.
I was kept on hold for 30 mins to be told, yeah the underwriter doesnt like where you live mate so they've decided to decline cover. Sorry about any confusion.
I asked the bloke why and he said the underwriter didn't like that you lived in London mate unfortunately, anything to do with London they get very nervous.
But I explained to you didnt I that the car has never been in London, has never even been to my house, and is stored in Hertfordshire in a garage? It does about 500 miles a year mostly by a retired police officer and otherwise its in a garage.
Yeah but you live in london mate.
I reinsured it with lancaster 10 mins later. Its probably the least risky insurance policy theyll underwrite all year.
I thought underwriters were meant to have a brain?
Edited by princeperch on Monday 9th September 17:43
DP14 said:
You don't understand something so others must be stupid? Err...ok.
I understand where i live, where my parents live, where the car lives and who mostly drives it and for how long.Shame the underwriter didnt get it and essentially i was made to feel like id tried to do something dishonest.
Why don't you get the car registered in your Fathers name and get him to insure it, which you pay for, and you as a named driver only.
That will truly reflect what is happening anyway from what you have said. The downside is that it adds another owner to the car but I doubt that will be significant if you ever wanted to sell, especially as it is still within the family.
That will truly reflect what is happening anyway from what you have said. The downside is that it adds another owner to the car but I doubt that will be significant if you ever wanted to sell, especially as it is still within the family.
princeperch said:
Dingu said:
They do have a brain, that’s why they aren’t insuring it.
You may never bring it into London but many would be, or even keeping it in London and lying.
Silly me-i didnt realise the starting point was an automatic assumption the client was telling fat fibs. You may never bring it into London but many would be, or even keeping it in London and lying.
princeperch said:
Dingu said:
They do have a brain, that’s why they aren’t insuring it.
You may never bring it into London but many would be, or even keeping it in London and lying.
Silly me-i didnt realise the starting point was an automatic assumption the client was telling fat fibs. You may never bring it into London but many would be, or even keeping it in London and lying.
Joking aside, keeping the car far from your address is certainly a risk profile the insurers won't be chuffed with. Why don't you just give it to your dad, get him to insure it in his own name with him as registered keeper at his house, and you drive it occasionally as a second driver?
I expect that is something ill have to look at next near.
Obviously howver having my dad on the v5 makes zero difference to the reality of how often the car is driven, whos driving it and where it lives.
All it does it add another owner to the log book, and cause a degree of awkwardness over who pays for the repairs etc (it had its mot today as it happens and needs a new rear shock)
Obviously howver having my dad on the v5 makes zero difference to the reality of how often the car is driven, whos driving it and where it lives.
All it does it add another owner to the log book, and cause a degree of awkwardness over who pays for the repairs etc (it had its mot today as it happens and needs a new rear shock)
princeperch said:
I understand where i live, where my parents live, where the car lives and who mostly drives it and for how long.
Shame the underwriter didnt get it and essentially i was made to feel like id tried to do something dishonest.
But what the underwriter does get, and you don't, is that lots of people living in high risk areas say their car is kept in a lower risk area. Sometimes this is true, sometimes it isn't. Sometimes it's mainly true, the car is kept in a low risk area but now and then, the owner will take it back to his actual house from his parents house. Shame the underwriter didnt get it and essentially i was made to feel like id tried to do something dishonest.
If you look at 100 people, 50 of whom live in Hertford and 50 of whom live in Wanstead but keep their cars in Hertford, I can guarantee you that the second set of 50 cars will spend a lot more time in Wanstead than the first lot.
They didn't want the business and why should they. Why should they take the risk of insuring people who live in London at Hertford prices in the hope the car is kept in Hertford, when there's plenty of people who actually live in Hertford for them to cover, and plenty of people who live in Wanstead who can be charged the Wanstead price.
You may not be dishonest, but you fall into a group of people, (who live in London and claim their car doesn't) many of whom are dishonest,
I did a quote today and it came back at £640 fully comprehensive. I then changed the cover to third-party only and it came back at £800 from the same insurer.
I don't believe any of this "risk" related nonsense. It's all secretive and I cannot understand how a legal requirement is being provided by private companies.
I don't believe any of this "risk" related nonsense. It's all secretive and I cannot understand how a legal requirement is being provided by private companies.
Gericho said:
I did a quote today and it came back at £640 fully comprehensive. I then changed the cover to third-party only and it came back at £800 from the same insurer.
I don't believe any of this "risk" related nonsense. It's all secretive and I cannot understand how a legal requirement is being provided by private companies.
The reasons why TPO cover comes up more expensive than comp has been discussed ad nauseum on PH and it makes perfect sense, once you've actually realised the issues in play. I don't believe any of this "risk" related nonsense. It's all secretive and I cannot understand how a legal requirement is being provided by private companies.
As for secretive, errr, yes. Intellectual property usually is. Each insurance co is hoping that the information they've deduced for the stats their actuaries have accumulated will give them a competitive edge over their rivals. If all the risk assessments were open to all, there wouldn't be a myriad of players competing for our business.
As for private companies running car insurance, have you ever dealt with HMRC, or the DVLA. If you want to be dealing with the govt re claims and insurance, you knock yourself out. But it's not for me thanks.
TwigtheWonderkid said:
As for private companies running car insurance, have you ever dealt with HMRC, or the DVLA. If you want to be dealing with the govt re claims and insurance, you knock yourself out. But it's not for me thanks.
Can you imagine any other legal requirement like tax being managed and sold at different prices depending on what day/time/mood the government is in? How can you have IP on a legally required product like building regulations, border control or whatever.It should be standardised like road tax.
Edited by Gericho on Tuesday 10th September 10:31
Gericho said:
Can you imagine any other legal requirement like tax being managed and sold at different prices depending on what day/time/mood the government is in? How can you have IP on a legally required product like building regulations, border control or whatever.
It should be standardised like road tax.
Do you think everyone should be paying the same then irrespective of type of car, their driving profile, where they live, their age, their driving record etc ?It should be standardised like road tax.
Edited by Gericho on Tuesday 10th September 10:31
Monkeylegend said:
Why don't you get the car registered in your Fathers name and get him to insure it, which you pay for, and you as a named driver only.
That will truly reflect what is happening anyway from what you have said. The downside is that it adds another owner to the car but I doubt that will be significant if you ever wanted to sell, especially as it is still within the family.
This.That will truly reflect what is happening anyway from what you have said. The downside is that it adds another owner to the car but I doubt that will be significant if you ever wanted to sell, especially as it is still within the family.
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