Van insurance - sign writing may void it

Pamelawright1977

Just thought i'd share this with you all as my husband had his van sign written which resulted in the insurance company refusing to continue covering him.

He bought the van in February 09 and I called the insurance to transfer the insurance from the old van to the new one - i told them that we would have it sign written at some point in the near future and asked if it would change/effect premium - they said its hardly unlikely and they would probably just need to put a note on file.

I called the insurance company today as we had van done last week and alarmed - they double checked with the underwriter if the premium would go down with the alarm but came back and told me that unfortunately if the side of the van is sign written on more than 25% of the side then they wont continue to cover it............. They told me that they will have to cancel the policy with immediate effect and can offer me an alternative provider but I have to start a new 12 month contract - its ended up costing me £10 a month more and I have to pay £25 admin fee for cancelling the original policy (even though I had no choice)!

I informed them that i'm not happy about this and that nobody mentioned this to me in February when I enquired about it,,, and if they did i'm sure i'd remember as he was obviously sign writing more than 25% of the side of the van!!!!!!!!!!

Just thought i'd let you all know as in theory if he had had a claim since the van was sign written and me calling them then the insurance company would not have paid out!!! I'm soooooooooooo annoyed!!!!!!!!

cogito

What a load of nonsense. You ought to be asking them for a discount for making the van more identifiable and less likely to attract the attention of thieves.

Shop around. It won't be hard to find an insurer with a bit more common sense.

dacouch

This sounds like Budget / BISL to me

cjgoodsell

Could it be a case that a van was incorrectly on a policy for personal use not for business??

Pamelawright1977

the van insurance is actually with Budget insurance - how did you know?????????????????????????????????

i think its a bit stupid really - i've never been asked when I have insured his van before if it has been sign written.... i'm gonig to write to them and complain about it and see what they say.

dacouch

It sounds like the type of thing Budget would do with the type of Insurers they deal with and they do a lot of van insurance.

I've just run a quote through on the Budget Van Insurance website and as I suspected it does not even ask you if your van is sign written. So if your van was already sign written when you took the policy out they would not even know about it (Unless they ask a question just before you pay the premium. Try running a quote through for yourself with your own details and use this ammunition when you complain to them

If you make an official complaint and mention you will take it to the Ombudsman they will probably waive the £25 fee and reduce the premium to around what you are paying before.

Owain_Moneysaver

Signwriting is a non-manufacturer-approved modification and does need to be informed to any prospective insurer.

Obviously some insurers are more sensible than others.

JPS29

Wow Bizinsurance

Did they give you a staff discount. Just in your first post ever spamming on here you tell people to try you at cockaquote;)

There is a facility on here for us all to see the posts any user (spammer) has made. MIght do you well to remember that:rotfl:

dacouch

bizinsurance wrote: »

@Pamelawright1977: Thanks for sharing your story!

Have you heard of conshitaquote.com?

I recently bought a van insurance policy from them and quite happy about their price and services.

If you need any more info, feel free to contact me.

Thanks.

Spam and your breaking the law

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/shopping/2009/12/firms-banned-for-posing-as-happy-customers-on-internet-forums

I feel a complaint to the FSA coming on, let your compliance officer he may be getting a letter from the FSA http://www.fsa.gov.uk/Pages/About/What/International/ucp/index.shtml