Insurance after car stolen

strontium90

I have a friend who is in a terrible position with her insurance and I need to advise her...She was in a local pub before Xmas (22nd Dec) and after she encountered some friends decided to have drink and abandoned her car outside the pub and got a taxi home...She had left her handbag behind and her two acquaintances discovered her car keys in the bag..They took the car but were involved in an accident and hit a tree..The car was a write-off..One of the theives (the passenger) broke his arm in the accident and the other one phoned him an ambulance so the police attended the scene...She was in a state of shock over the car but didn't want them to get into trouble so (stupidly) she didnt inform the police and reported the accident to her insurance that she was driving that night..

However she didnt take the offer of money for the car(luckily)as she didn't feel right about it..
A couple of weeks later she received a solicitors letter from one of the theives looking for a PI claim..

She went to a solicitor and he told her to report the accident to the police and make a statement to her insurance (she was fully comp with AXA)
The police investigated and accepted her statement arresting the 2 culprits...The driver has admitted his part and is being charged with taking and driving etc....The other (passenger) has been charged with the same offences but is disputing it...They are remanded on bail and have been in court twice although it keeps being adjourned and I expect it will be some time before convictions...
Her insurance informed her with a legal letter that they would accept indemnity depending on their convictions and pay her for her car when the matter was closed...They also told her that her insurance would be loaded and her premium would be £1685 pa (from £600)...They also said the passenger could get £1000's!!!...Her solicitor won't answer her phonecalls and I think this is because he knows one of the guys and has represented him a few times before..
She was looking for another car in the meantime but couldnt get insurance (except for AXA) with anyone she tried as there is a claim pending...
Surely this isn't fair as she has commited no crime and is paying for other peoples mistakes...Also, she had paid her fully comp premium in advance and has had no car since...Surely she is entitled to a refund for 6 months cover....Any advice would be greatly appreciated

darich

Sorry to hear about friend's predicament - doesn't sound good at all.

to answer a couple of points you make -
You say she's committed no crime - i think she has - she's tried to mislead the insurance company and that could be classed as fraud.

As for paying the insurance up front - once the insurance company have received a claim and are in the process of paying out, then the policy has expired. Otherwise you could have several claims on one policy. Also, you cold then buy another car, it could be stolen and the insurance company would then be paying out for 2 cars on one policy. I'm pretty sure that's not how it works.

Hopefully your friend has legal protection in the policy and can make good use of it now. Hope you get it sorted out.

mattymoo

As Darich says, once there is a claim on the policy the full premium is payable and no refunds are given. Normally outstanding premium is deducted from the write off settlement but since this is some way away, monthly premiums will still be collected.

To be honest, she is fairly fortunate that Axa have agreed to indemnify her. The thieves used the keys to the vehicle and were known to the policyholder. If the matter had not been reported to the police they would be entitled to refuse cover.

strontium90

I understand what you mean, but it was more a case of negligence or being stupid..The Police are treating her as a victim of crime...She didn't actually take any money from them when they first offered, so she didn't commit a fraud...It just seems ridiculous that she was fully comp, her car was stolen, she hasn't received any compensation, her insurance kept six months premium when she had no car...then are hiking her next years policy by more than double (effectively blacklisting her as well)...Oh and to add insult to injury, they are contemplating compensating one of the theives for his injury...I think it's disgusting, and am sick of adverts on TV for insurance when they are effectively not covering you at all....does anyone know if she has legal recourse in this situation and can she seek insurance from another co??...Thanx anyway for the answers...I'm at my wits end with all this

dacouch

I'm not sure why you are blaming the Insurers, she has given a statement when initially making the claim that she had an accident and would have confirmed this is what happened after warnings of the possible repurcussions of miss leading an Insurer. She is lucky the Insurer have agreed to pay out as most would have declined to pay the claim.

Her actions will have cost the Insurers hundreds of pounds more in admin costs as instead of being a simple claim it is now complicated claim involving paying specialist investigators and obtaining police reports (Which are both expensive). In addition it will also mean the claim against her for injuries will cost lots in legal fees and / or compensation that they may not have had to pay if the claim had been reported correctly.

With regard to the premium they are actually doing her a favour as they would not particuarly want her as a customer any more due to the circumstances. However they realise that if they declined to offer cover then she would have to declare to all future Insurers (Including home insurers) that she has had an Insurance Policy declined and she would find it virtually impossible to find cover.

Most companies would have declined the claim and then declined to offer cover.

With regard to them paying out for injuries, they are a business and will not want to pay an injury claim they are not liable for, however they will have to pay the claim if it looks like they will legally.

All Insurers retain the rest of the premium when there is a claim.

She could try sueing Axa although I don't know what she is intending sueing them for, if she does she may well find they counter sue her for the extra costs she has caused them which excluding the injury claim / solicitors charges would be in the hundreds of pounds.

Step back and look at the circumstances independantly and then see if you think she has been hard done by

strontium90

Look, thanx for the advice...I understand what you are all saying, but it is very unfortunate for her...just one more point...surely the passenger in a stolen car can't possibly claim for injuries...if they could, then whats to stop all joyriders making claims if they are in a smash-up...is that the way it is?

dacouch

In normal circumstances they would not be able to sue the car owner, they may be sueing her because either they are saying her neglience in leaving the keys contributed to the car being stolen, or that they are saying they believed the driver was covered to drive the vehicle and they were a lawful passenger or that they were a passenger in the car while your friend was driving after all she did originally say she had an accident.

Bear in mind that there is a very good chance that the driver will not be convicted of taking the vehicle due to the unusual circumstances of the case.

strontium90

Thanx everyone...will let her know...it doesn't sound fair that guy who is up in court for car theiving can now claim...better hope other joy-riders aren't reading this..

dacouch

Its unfortunate that she felt sorry for them and decided not to report the event as the theft it was. If this had been done the passenger would almost certainly not be able to claim and the case against them would have been pretty open and shut. Her premium would have only gone up a little bit as well.

She is very lucky Axa have handled it as they have as most Insurers would not have been so understanding and she would not have the possiblity of receiving money for her claim and would have an Insurance policy declined which makes it virtually impossible to obtain any type of Insurance policy again indefinately

LinasPilibaitisisbatman

Surely more to this.

Remanded for borrowing a car when the owner knew you and left the keys

Tbh the OP's pal should count herself lucky she is getting a payout and not being prosecuted herself and move on.

strontium90

Don't think that she isn't distraught and blaming herself for leaving her bag...however, they were friends so should have put her bag behind the bar instead of driving her car...also, it was a bit rich that one of them is trying to claim, however if he is convicted of allowing himself to be carried in a stolen car he hasn't got much chance..