Tesco car Insurance..is this legal?

unsure

My sister had her car insured with Tesco. It was side-swiped while stationery at traffic lights by a petrol tanker and damaged. The insurer has written it off but Tesco have deducted, in addition to the excess, all her premiums for the rest of the 12 month period. At this point she doesn't even have a car to insure! They are taking money for a risk that doesn't exist, against her will. They have been extremely unhelpful on the phone and basically refuse to discuss it further.
I've never heard of such behaviour before from an insurer can they really do that? Can she do anythtng about it (I'd be yelling their name from the roof tops myself but she's a gentler soul). She's obviously upset but she also needs every penny to buy a new car!
Any advice please?

scheming_gypsy

not sure if it's legal but as it stands her yearly insurance premium is paid up, so when she gets a new car she should just be able to transfer the insurance to the new car.

She may need every penny to buy a new car but there's no point having the car if she can't insure it.

Come to think of it, if Tesco have taken her excess then it sounds like she's claiming from her own insurance. As it was a payout from the tankers insurance she shouldn't have to pay the excess... (i think)

zincoxide

If I remember correctly - if the car is a total loss then you need to pay off the complete annual insurance premium and you won't be permitted to transfer it to another car.

scheming_gypsy

even if it's been paid out by the 3rd party and not claimed on your own insurance?

Bossyboots

Yes this is legal and standard practice. It will be in the T&Cs of the policy that the premium quoted becomes payable in full if payments are defaulted or a claim made against the policy.

As they appear to be paying for the damage, there may be difficulty with transferring the policy to a new car but in theory they should do this as the premium is paid for 12 months cover, not one claim cover. Also, they will presumably recover their outlay from the other driver's insurance so there is no reason for them not to switch cover to another car as they will not actually have a loss on this claim.

My insurers allowed me to change the vehicle on my policy after my accident but they did not pay for my vehicle. I claimed that direct from the insurers of the driver who hit me so this may have made a difference.

Bossyboots

scheming_gypsy wrote:

even if it's been paid out by the 3rd party and not claimed on your own insurance?

See my post above which I was typing when you posted and answers your question.

zincoxide

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/

These guys have an insurance section - I couldn't find a particular case like yours on the site but if you give them a call they could maybe give a better explanation.

scheming_gypsy

Bossyboots wrote:

See my post above which I was typing when you posted and answers your question.

i was querying what you said as it doesn't seem right (what does with insurance companies) that you need to complete your premium when you haven't made a claim from your insurance.
I wrote my car off in '94 and was paid out from the 3rd party, bought a new car and just transfered the insurance over without a problem.

unsure

Keeping the rest of the premiums surprised me. My car was written off a few months back and the insurer said they would restart the policy and transfer it when I had a new car..or I could have had a refund on the part of the policy not used.

Also, as has been pointed out, it was the tanker driver's fault (being stationary at a traffic light can hardly be contributing to an accident) and surely his insurance should be coughing up any costs my sister has incurred? Surely her insurance company should be pursuing her costs from the tanker driver's insurer? That's what happened to me in the past.
She's tried to make all these points to Tesco and they are simply not listening or doing anything to help. My own experience when I had an accident was quite different, the insurers were helpful offered advice and made the whole thing as painless as such an occurence can be. Tesco seem to be doing the opposite in this case.

dunstonh

You pay for car insurance annually. The fact that some allow monthly payments does not take away from the fact it is an annual contract. A claimable event, such as a write off allows the insurer to keep the outstanding premiums. It is quite correct and proper.

The excess and out of pocket expenses should be claimed via the solicitor handling the claim on your sisters behalf.