Third party fire and theft insurance and Arson

debjk · 31 August 2009 at 8:31PM

Last night for reasons unknown someone decided to smash our car window pour in petrol and set it alight actually poured the petrol on to my kids car seats these people must have no morals

The car was relatively old and only cost £400 and we couldnt afford fully comp so took out third party fire and theft we only had the car 2 months

just got out the policy documents and it says in brackets after fire (arson not covered) guess we are stuffed I thought a fire was a fire

cannot afford a new car or even to replace the car seats am so angry

not really a question I guess cuz its in black and white so are we stuffed?

mattymoo · 31 August 2009 at 8:33PM

Sorry to hear about the loss - some people really are pond scum.

Who is the insurer? Not heard of an arson exclusion before but it is a while since I worked in motor insurance.

Did you buy the policy direct or through a broker.

EDIT: Just checked a small selection of policies (Quinn, More Than and Allianz) and cannot see any mention of an arson fire exclusion in the general policy terms.

Can you provide the following info?
The exclusion you mention in the first post - is it within the policy booklet or on your schedule?

If it is the policy book then it will normally apply to everyone who buys that type of policy and we can also check the wording online to ensure you have interpreted it correctly.
If it is in your schedule it is more likely to have been applied to your particular policy. Reasons for doing this might include:- a previous conviction for arson, previous arson claims or a very heavy arson history in your postcode. Do you think any of those might apply?

dacouch · 31 August 2009 at 9:07PM

It probably excludes Arson as in you or your associates setting fire to the car which all companies would exclude. If you tell us which Insurer your with we can look at the policy wording

debjk · 1 September 2009 at 3:03PM

the insurance policy was bought through swintons and the company is Markerstudy Solar PC

The paper where it says arson Excuded is a Keyfacts sheet

Says
What does Markerstudy private car cover me for?

Third party fire and theft (TPTFT)
You are also covered for loss of or damage to your own car caused by fire (excluding arson) or theft

I looked through all the other documents but couldn't see any other reference to it and we phoned today and they told us that we were only covered for a fire caused by the engine or petrol tank so basically a fault with the car

No previous convictions here and I dodnt think there is a high risk of arson around here our car is the first I have ever heard of and I have lived here 21 years

Meanwhile the bloody police are not interested this happened Sunday night but they still have not been out despite us phoning and telling them that a bottle with petrol in is on the back seat (obviously evidence) and the fact we heard rumours that it was mistaken identity who it was meant for and who did it :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

BenL · 1 September 2009 at 3:07PM

Wow! made a note to avoid that company/underwriter

mattymoo · 1 September 2009 at 3:18PM

Good and bad news.

First the bad. Markerstudy are registered in Gibralter - always a bad sign.
Their policy cannot be read on their website.
The clause is definately there. New one on me.

Good news
I did find the policy wording here - page 14 of the PDF. Only confirms the bad news.
http://www.bewiser.co.uk/sites/www.bewiser.co.uk/files/MarkerstudyPC0706.pdf
However, it does appear that Markerstudy only sell their product via insurance brokers. Did your broker explain this exclusion to you? If not, you have possible grounds for a complaint.

lisyloo · 1 September 2009 at 3:21PM

registered in Gibralter - always a bad sign.

Hi mattymoo - can you please tell me why this is a bad sign?

I have my bike insurance with ebike and that's southern rock which I think are based in Gib (I think it has a picture of the rock on their headed paper).
I know someone who's claimed and they were good, but I'd like to know if there is something I should know.
I pressume it was for tax haven kind of reasons.

debjk · 1 September 2009 at 3:34PM

Bought it online went through a compare site first then to the motor insurance warehouse. When we went to buy it, because I was using my bank card to pay and insurance was in partners name he had to phone to complete it, he wasnt told of the exclusion on the phone it just all went through we paid and then got the documents through the post and when they came through it said swintons on some of the paper work and then this markerstudy on the rest and I suppose my partner would have signed a documnet to send back

dacouch · 1 September 2009 at 3:34PM

Insurers register in Gibralter because the regulation there is much easier, they can set up and start an Insurer in a fraction of the time it would take if they started in the UK. The solvency requirements are also much much lower.

As a general rule of thumb (Their are exceptions) the Insurers that register in Gibralter tend to be on the cheap and cheerful side.

With regard to the OPs predicament, I hope Swintons pointed out the Arson exclusion as in my opinion it is a major restriction in the cover that would need to be pointed out. If they have not then it may be a point to argue on although if they have followed the correct FSA guidelines and supplied a Summary of Facts etc that outlined it was excluded it may cover Swintons.

I've had a quick look on google and deliberate vehicle fires seem to out weigh accidental vehicle fires eg electrical and the like by around 2 to 1

The demands and needs they gave him may be interesting.

mattymoo · 1 September 2009 at 3:38PM

What Dacouch says - ^

That arson exclusion is a nasty one and I don't see any UK registered insurers doing it. In my little selection above, you'll see that I checked the Quinn policy. They are based in Eire and well known in the industry for inferior cover / tight exclusions, yet even they don't exclude fire by arson.

dacouch · 1 September 2009 at 3:47PM

http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pubs/other/factsheet_sales.pdf

I would have thought when buying a Third Party. Fire and Theft Policy you would expect it to cover arson (Obviously not by you).

It would be interesting to do a quote with Swintons with Markerstudy and see how well spelled out the arson exclusion is

Third party fire and theft insurance and Arson

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