What is the Claim Payout Limit on Car Insurance in the UK, generally?
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EpicFishFingers
Posts: 16 Forumite
I can't seem to get a straight answer on this.
In the US, it seems you can buy policies that only pay out a limited amount on a claim. Cheaper policies might only pay out $10k towards a claim so if you got such a policy and smashed into a brand new Merc, you'd potentially have to pay the rest.
Being a young driver I have an affinity with tin-pot no-name insurers with rubbish cover, but this would be an obvious dealbreaker for me if it turns out they'd only insure me up to a set amount.
So is it set in law in the UK that there is no claim limit, or is it always arbitrarily high like £5 million?
I can't find anything about it in my policy documents, so how much am I actually insured for?
If I crash into some flashy £300k supercar will my insurance just have to suck it up and pay for the damage or are they going to pull out clause 11b-1.5 from page 237 of the policy summary which states "cover limit of £100k"?
In the US, it seems you can buy policies that only pay out a limited amount on a claim. Cheaper policies might only pay out $10k towards a claim so if you got such a policy and smashed into a brand new Merc, you'd potentially have to pay the rest.
Being a young driver I have an affinity with tin-pot no-name insurers with rubbish cover, but this would be an obvious dealbreaker for me if it turns out they'd only insure me up to a set amount.
So is it set in law in the UK that there is no claim limit, or is it always arbitrarily high like £5 million?
I can't find anything about it in my policy documents, so how much am I actually insured for?
If I crash into some flashy £300k supercar will my insurance just have to suck it up and pay for the damage or are they going to pull out clause 11b-1.5 from page 237 of the policy summary which states "cover limit of £100k"?
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Someone may be able to correct me if I'm wrong on this, but I believe cover under compulsory insurance (i.e. third party car insurance cover) is set at 100% of the claim, so there is effectively no limit. There may well be limits for additional elements of the cover (as as those that cover you), but not for the third party aspect."MIND IF I USE YOUR PHONE? IF WORD GETS OUT THATI'M MISSING FIVE HUNDRED GIRLS WILL KILL THEMSELVES."0
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The Selby Train crah (the Land Rover that went onto the line) has cost his insurers ~£30million so far0
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There is a limit for damaged property claims (£1,200,000)Crazy_Jamie wrote: »Someone may be able to correct me if I'm wrong on this, but I believe cover under compulsory insurance (i.e. third party car insurance cover) is set at 100% of the claim, so there is effectively no limit. There may well be limits for additional elements of the cover (as as those that cover you), but not for the third party aspect.
Though no limit on injury/death claims from third parties0 -
As above the Road Traffic Act sets a minimum of £1million cover for property damage (and unlimited cover for death/injury) - Section 145 (4) (b)
In practice most policies have a higher limit of cover for property damage - £20 million is reasonably standard - but if you're worried about crashing into a Bugatti Veyron or a van full of Van Gogh paintings then you may want to check the policy documents before you buy. It should be set out in plain language in a document which is considerably shorter than 237 pages (eg as on page 19 of Admiral's documents).
(You should really read the policy documents anyway - it's always struck me as a little odd that people will pay over a thousand pounds for an insurance policy without bothering to read about what it actually covers)0 -
Typo in there!As above the Road Traffic Act sets a minimum of £1million cover for property damage (and unlimited cover for death/injury) - Section 145 (4) (b)
Read "maximum" for "minimum"0 -
Not really, it's something you legally have to have, so the terms and conditions aren't necessarily something you care about, as long as it complies with the law.
(You should really read the policy documents anyway - it's always struck me as a little odd that people will pay over a thousand pounds for an insurance policy without bothering to read about what it actually covers)
It's things like PPI you want to read carefully to make sure it covers what you think it covers.Changing the world, one sarcastic comment at a time.0 -
Typo in there!
Read "maximum" for "minimum"
I read the article to say it doesn't HAVE to pay over £1m, but that doesn't necessarily say it can't.
As stated above, most policies tend to cover unlimited death/injury and £20m damages. Taken from my own policy;
The insurer will pay amounts including claimant’s costs that you are legally
liable to pay for:
• The death of or bodily injury to any person caused by an incident involving
the car; and
• Damage to someone else's property caused by an incident involving the
car up to a maximum of £20,000,000 (including all legal and other
expenses) for any one claim or number of claims arising from one cause.
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The material damage limit of a car crash will rarely be that high in any event - it'll be the consequential bi losses that racks up.0
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OK - but the RTA does limit it to £1,200,000!
(We were talking RTA compulsory TP cover limit)0
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