Admiral Insurance confusion
Discussion
rjg1966 said:
I think it’s an absolute con, I’ve had a clean licence for well over 10 years, maximum no claims and I’ve barely done 2000 miles in a year in my Perf, my car is also kept in a garage when not in use and I have a gated property in which no one can get in and out of without our say so. If the incident I had was my fault it wouldn’t be an issue and I’d happily pay the increased premium but, surely that should be added to my premium for next year rather than been tagged onto it this year…..it just seems morally wrong and unjustified, my two cars were costing me around £1500 pa to insure and through no fault of my own it’s now £2000, it’s just wrong !!
Eh?Are you saying that on your existing policy they've added £460 that you have to pay for the remainder of the policy? Not that they've added £460 at a renewal?
If that's the case, then it's absolutely wrong and I didn't know they could legally do that!
I've been on the Admiral website and added parking sensors and additional air bags (the only options available to chose from the customer portal) and my insurance has increased by £9.50 between now and January 2022.
Think I'm going to review all the optional extras and give them a call!
Think I'm going to review all the optional extras and give them a call!
R8Reece said:
I've been on the Admiral website and added parking sensors and additional air bags (the only options available to chose from the customer portal) and my insurance has increased by £9.50 between now and January 2022.
Think I'm going to review all the optional extras and give them a call!
This is the problem, ideally if they need to play the game like this then they should have fully trained people asking all the right questions but they haven't and I would bet 90% of Mclaren drivers who are insured with Admiral, and I suspect there are many of them because of the low headline rates, do not have 100% water tight cover.Think I'm going to review all the optional extras and give them a call!
This is not a problem whilst there are no claims but imagine a biggie say a multi million personal injury claim, quite scary.
It seems to be a lottery - I have had a fautless service from Admiral (2 very large claims) including a 45k pay out due to a write off.
Dealt with a single person / underwriter directly during the pay out and there was no nonsense regarding added extras etc - simply a comparison of simular examples of my car on autotrader and a discussion from there.
When you actually come to claim, for a higher value car you do not deal with the dummies at the call centre when you get your'e quote.
Also I wasted 2 days with all the so called specialists who simply would not give me a price, because no where would insure a 150k plus car, unless it was in a brick built garage.
My car is well hidden behind solid gates, covered out of view and behind another car to get access.
Still with Admiral simply as the others wont quote! - Also the high end stuff goes to M & A Coachworks for repairs (best in the business and fully approved by Porsche, Lamborghini etc)
Dealt with a single person / underwriter directly during the pay out and there was no nonsense regarding added extras etc - simply a comparison of simular examples of my car on autotrader and a discussion from there.
When you actually come to claim, for a higher value car you do not deal with the dummies at the call centre when you get your'e quote.
Also I wasted 2 days with all the so called specialists who simply would not give me a price, because no where would insure a 150k plus car, unless it was in a brick built garage.
My car is well hidden behind solid gates, covered out of view and behind another car to get access.
Still with Admiral simply as the others wont quote! - Also the high end stuff goes to M & A Coachworks for repairs (best in the business and fully approved by Porsche, Lamborghini etc)
lambo666 said:
...Also I wasted 2 days with all the so called specialists who simply would not give me a price, because no where would insure a 150k plus car, unless it was in a brick built garage.
Yep, similar to me.I guess it may vary between insurance companies - but a few years ago, I had a (fault) claim in a 996 turbo - not a massive amount, but damage to the front bumper. I also owned a 964 - and by coincidence had transferred the private reg from the 964 to the 996 turbo the day before the accident (and notified the insurers).
When the assessor came to see my car, he was making some very odd comments about the value of the car, and that for cars this old it really should be on agreed value. It eventually became clear that he thought my 996 turbo was actually the 964 - and hence > 20 years old, and not half that. Whatever database they were using for the registration was still showing the 964 with that registration. Same thing happened when the bodyshop tried to get the parts cost approved - because the assessor / insurer said they should be much cheaper - because they were looking at the wrong model!
The strange thing is - the insurer had never ever insured the 964. So it's not even a car they should have been repairing!
I became slightly less convinced of the internet stories that insurers refuse to pay out because I have non-standard tyre valve caps etc. after that - when they couldn't even figure out which model of 911 it was, let alone whether it had been modified!
davek_964 said:
rjg1966 said:
I think it’s an absolute con, I’ve had a clean licence for well over 10 years, maximum no claims and I’ve barely done 2000 miles in a year in my Perf, my car is also kept in a garage when not in use and I have a gated property in which no one can get in and out of without our say so. If the incident I had was my fault it wouldn’t be an issue and I’d happily pay the increased premium but, surely that should be added to my premium for next year rather than been tagged onto it this year…..it just seems morally wrong and unjustified, my two cars were costing me around £1500 pa to insure and through no fault of my own it’s now £2000, it’s just wrong !!
Eh?Are you saying that on your existing policy they've added £460 that you have to pay for the remainder of the policy? Not that they've added £460 at a renewal?
If that's the case, then it's absolutely wrong and I didn't know they could legally do that!
rjg1966 said:
davek_964 said:
rjg1966 said:
I think it’s an absolute con, I’ve had a clean licence for well over 10 years, maximum no claims and I’ve barely done 2000 miles in a year in my Perf, my car is also kept in a garage when not in use and I have a gated property in which no one can get in and out of without our say so. If the incident I had was my fault it wouldn’t be an issue and I’d happily pay the increased premium but, surely that should be added to my premium for next year rather than been tagged onto it this year…..it just seems morally wrong and unjustified, my two cars were costing me around £1500 pa to insure and through no fault of my own it’s now £2000, it’s just wrong !!
Eh?Are you saying that on your existing policy they've added £460 that you have to pay for the remainder of the policy? Not that they've added £460 at a renewal?
If that's the case, then it's absolutely wrong and I didn't know they could legally do that!
As others have said, Admiral require you to declare all factory fitted options. I have 2 Porsches with them and spent good 30mins on the phone going through the list. "Multifunction heated steering wheel", "Porsche logo on headrest", "718 logo painted in black" etc - the guy on the phone laughed but said we had to go through each single one.
I wasn't asked to list any factory fit optional extra's when insuring mine with Admiral. I just checked the Admiral documentation and the only reference I can find is this.....
Based on that I think they would really struggle to decline a claim due to factory optional extra's. What is the definition of "standard specification?" I would argue standard is however it left the production line / the factory. The implication, ie "changes the makers standard specification" is you need to declare modifications made after production, I'm confident a court would agree.
Based on that I think they would really struggle to decline a claim due to factory optional extra's. What is the definition of "standard specification?" I would argue standard is however it left the production line / the factory. The implication, ie "changes the makers standard specification" is you need to declare modifications made after production, I'm confident a court would agree.
We have a California with Churchill. I only heard of factory options being classed as modifications with Admiral but today had a good read through my policy booklet. Indeed, as with Admiral, Churchill class optional extras as modifications although I wasn't made aware of that when we took out the policy. I now either need to have our policy amended or it's time to look for another insurer as our car is well above the base-spec. As a 'get out clause' for the insurer it's pretty shocking but hey-ho, we get what we pay for I guess.
Insurance is very simple….all insurance CL’s work on roughly the same margins. If your insurance policy is cheaper than another company there will be.a reason for it….cover isn’t as good, they will try to avoid paying out etc.
You pay for what you get. There is no such thing as “cheap” insurance it is just a different level of cover.
Anyone driving a McLaren/Ferrari or another other high value car should have diminution cover….how may people have checked if they have that ? I’d wager quite a few don’t know what it is. Covers the loss of value of your car if Granny Smith drives in to it and your car is no longer original panel/paint which as we all know will hit the value of your car by far more than the cost of the repairs.
You pay for what you get. There is no such thing as “cheap” insurance it is just a different level of cover.
Anyone driving a McLaren/Ferrari or another other high value car should have diminution cover….how may people have checked if they have that ? I’d wager quite a few don’t know what it is. Covers the loss of value of your car if Granny Smith drives in to it and your car is no longer original panel/paint which as we all know will hit the value of your car by far more than the cost of the repairs.
I believe you will find this is true of most insurers and the reason is simple.
Unless you have a policy that insures against a specific value, your car is put in general price brackets. A common one is for example “up to £75,000” in value.
Now suppose your neighbour bought an identical model car as yours at the same time but without say £12,000 of optional extras that you spent.
You both insure at the same premium cost because you haven’t mentioned your optional extras, but both cars fall in the under £75k bracket.
In reality you should be paying a higher premium in order to cover those extras in the event of damage/write off.
If you were both to write off your cars you might expect a higher payout/ higher spec replacement car. However if you haven’t specified that at the point of insurance your premium hasn’t factored that in.
It’s why if you have matrix LED lights you must declare them versus a bog standard light fitting. The cost of replacement in the event of a front end smash will be far higher. Your premium needs to reflect that.
Insurers quote premiums on the basis of a factory default model in order to compare like for like with this assumption across different companies. If you don’t declare your options you haven’t paid the correct risk premium.
I don’t think your insurance will be invalidated it’s just when you go to claim they won’t pay for stuff that should have been declared.
Not sure why this concept is “outrageous”. Optioned cars should command a higher risk premium otherwise bog standard car owners are subsidising you. Why should they?
Unless you have a policy that insures against a specific value, your car is put in general price brackets. A common one is for example “up to £75,000” in value.
Now suppose your neighbour bought an identical model car as yours at the same time but without say £12,000 of optional extras that you spent.
You both insure at the same premium cost because you haven’t mentioned your optional extras, but both cars fall in the under £75k bracket.
In reality you should be paying a higher premium in order to cover those extras in the event of damage/write off.
If you were both to write off your cars you might expect a higher payout/ higher spec replacement car. However if you haven’t specified that at the point of insurance your premium hasn’t factored that in.
It’s why if you have matrix LED lights you must declare them versus a bog standard light fitting. The cost of replacement in the event of a front end smash will be far higher. Your premium needs to reflect that.
Insurers quote premiums on the basis of a factory default model in order to compare like for like with this assumption across different companies. If you don’t declare your options you haven’t paid the correct risk premium.
I don’t think your insurance will be invalidated it’s just when you go to claim they won’t pay for stuff that should have been declared.
Not sure why this concept is “outrageous”. Optioned cars should command a higher risk premium otherwise bog standard car owners are subsidising you. Why should they?
Edited by OldAndTired on Monday 12th July 11:41
Edited by OldAndTired on Monday 12th July 11:42
The other thing they can do is pay put only a % of your claim if you haven’t declared the full value. Concept frequently applied to household contents insurance when someone has a burglary…..loss adjuster turns up and can easily see the real contents value is much lower than what it actually is.
Cheib said:
The other thing they can do is pay put only a % of your claim if you haven’t declared the full value. Concept frequently applied to household contents insurance when someone has a burglary…..loss adjuster turns up and can easily see the real contents value is much lower than what it actually is.
Sorry, do you mean if you insure your contents for £75k, but Loss Adjuster deems value to be £100k, you will only get 75% of your claim paid? Last bit does not make that very clear. You can over insure at no penalty in the event of a claim, just be careful under insuring. It is surprising how much everything adds up when you sit down and work it all out.
I agree with the above points but the issue here and certainly in my case, is that it was never made clear that a factory option is a modification, so a great many people will get caught out. It's not just high-end cars either. I'd suggest that in general Joe public won't be aware of every factory option their second-hand car came with. Most people are not enthusiasts and simply buy a car because they like its/want it. So although I understand the reasoning of the insurers, this is pretty shoddy when it isn't made clear.
Superleg48 said:
Cheib said:
The other thing they can do is pay put only a % of your claim if you haven’t declared the full value. Concept frequently applied to household contents insurance when someone has a burglary…..loss adjuster turns up and can easily see the real contents value is much lower than what it actually is.
Sorry, do you mean if you insure your contents for £75k, but Loss Adjuster deems value to be £100k, you will only get 75% of your claim paid? Last bit does not make that very clear. You can over insure at no penalty in the event of a claim, just be careful under insuring. It is surprising how much everything adds up when you sit down and work it all out.
Gassing Station | McLaren | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff