Some Insurance Questions

[sorin1987]

I know these questions might seem stupid but this is the first time I owned a car in UK and have no experience with cars and insurance companies here.

I have bought a comprehensive insurance from a company and they have emailed me the documents. When I bought the insurance online I have filled in my driver license details and since I got my license in May 2009 and now is 2015 I selected from the list that I have held my license for 6 years. On the policy it says that I have held my license for 6 years 0 months but technically is 5 years 9 months. Do you think this might void my insurance and should I call them and ask them to make the change?

Also, a lady from the insurance called me and she is insisting of paying extra 30£ for motor legal protection and I told her to let me think about it. I have found some other offers online for about 7£ a year. Can I choose to go with a different insurer for this? Is this motor legal protection even necessary? Do you usually get it? 7£ is not that much anyway but I was just wondering.

Many thanks

[TwigtheWonderkid]

If you passed in 09 and you took out your policy in 2015 that's 6 yrs. They might be bothered about individual months when you have held a licence for under 2 yrs but 5/6 yrs, it's irrelevant.

You can choose whatever legal expenses policy you wish.

[McSam]

Hi there,

You made a bit of a mistake with the "how long have you held your licence" question, if it's since May 2009 you shouldn't have said six years! I was born in 1991, but I'm not 24 you could ask for them to correct it, which might add a small amount to the policy. Personally, I wouldn't worry about it because it's a very small change and certainly wouldn't invalidate the policy if you make a claim. The worst case would be that they find out, and you have to pay the difference in premium.

The legal cover is not a requirement, and if you're happy you can get better or cheaper cover with someone else, I guess that's fine. I've never had experience of using legal cover, so can't tell you if it would be better or worse to have it with a third party.

[xRIEx]

sorin1987 said:

Also, a lady from the insurance called me and she is insisting of paying extra 30£ for motor legal protection and I told her to let me think about it. I have found some other offers online for about 7£ a year. Can I choose to go with a different insurer for this? Is this motor legal protection even necessary? Do you usually get it? 7£ is not that much anyway but I was just wondering.

Some in the insurance industry expect Legal Expenses to be the next PPI scandal, especially if there's a hard sell. As with any insurance, it's necessary if something happens which means you need it. It's not essential, but comes into its own when you have a non-fault claim (they get you a hire car, chase the third party for your uninsured losses, personal injury claims, etc.).

£30 is a tad expensive, most brokers I know sell it somewhere between £10-20.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

McSam said:

Hi there,

You made a bit of a mistake with the "how long have you held your licence" question, if it's since May 2009 you shouldn't have said six years! I was born in 1991, but I'm not 24 you could ask for them to correct it, which might add a small amount to the policy. Personally, I wouldn't worry about it because it's a very small change and certainly wouldn't invalidate the policy if you make a claim. The worst case would be that they find out, and you have to pay the difference in premium.

It is not reasonable to expect someone to recall the month an event took place when it happened 5-6 years ago. If you passed in 09 and it's now 2015, it's perfectly reasonable to state 6 years. No insurer would even bat an eyelid over it.

[xRIEx]

TwigtheWonderkid said:

McSam said:

Hi there,

You made a bit of a mistake with the "how long have you held your licence" question, if it's since May 2009 you shouldn't have said six years! I was born in 1991, but I'm not 24 you could ask for them to correct it, which might add a small amount to the policy. Personally, I wouldn't worry about it because it's a very small change and certainly wouldn't invalidate the policy if you make a claim. The worst case would be that they find out, and you have to pay the difference in premium.

It is not reasonable to expect someone to recall the month an event took place when it happened 5-6 years ago. If you passed in 09 and it's now 2015, it's perfectly reasonable to state 6 years. No insurer would even bat an eyelid over it.

They may not bat an eyelid, but your licence states when a category was effective from so it's not a matter of recalling it, it's a matter of checking the back of your photocard.

[TooMany2cvs]

TwigtheWonderkid said:

It is not reasonable to expect someone to recall the month an event took place when it happened 5-6 years ago.

I could tell you the exact date I passed my test, nearer thirty than twenty years ago. But, then, it was 4th July, Independence day!

At the end of the day, the policy is for a year. For most of that year, the OP's test will have been longer than six years and zero months ago.

When do insurers get access to the online licence records? That'll sort this kind of discrepancy out for once and for all.

[xRIEx]

TooMany2cvs said:

When do insurers get access to the online licence records? That'll sort this kind of discrepancy out for once and for all.

Last summer, according to the ABI site.

[TooMany2cvs]

xRIEx said:

TooMany2cvs said:

When do insurers get access to the online licence records? That'll sort this kind of discrepancy out for once and for all.

Last summer, according to the ABI site.

So, ummm, why are they still...? No, I don't want to know.

[McSam]

TwigtheWonderkid said:

It is not reasonable to expect someone to recall the month an event took place when it happened 5-6 years ago. If you passed in 09 and it's now 2015, it's perfectly reasonable to state 6 years. No insurer would even bat an eyelid over it.

I didn't say they would consider it a major problem, but as xRIEx says, it's not a question of recall. You have documentation that tells you exactly when you passed. I'm in a very similar situation, having passed on 7th Feb 2009 - that was now six years ago and I didn't have to check! Nor would I say it was six years ago if my policy renewal was last month, it wouldn't have been.

The policy is incorrect and it does matter, but not very much at all. Whether it's enough to bother changing it is up to the OP!