Rules Regarding blocking Driveway ?

AfterDark

There is gas maintenance work in my street at the moment, it runs along the length of my street. I was asked last monday to move my car out my drive and was told they were ordering some metal plates to put down to make my drive assessable. These have not appeared, can't get into my drive as there is a barrier and a trench in front of it. Cannot park near my house at the moment, My car was keyed on Friday night. When mention it to friends they have said my car insurance wont pay out for ANY damage as the car is listed as kept in drive overnight.

Is there any rules when it comes to blocking home owners drives ?

victor2

Don't know what rules might apply, but I would say it's worth contacting the company doing the work and explaining what has happened to see what their response is.
I'd think twice about claiming for keying damage on the insurance as well. If the damage is really bad then you may have little choice. My brother claimed on his insurance for his car being keyed and despite having protected NCD, the premium rocketed when he renewed. All the insurance company said was "you should see the premium without any NCD!"

Bit late for you now, but when my driveway was going to be blocked for a few days, and my policy said the car was normally garaged, I phoned my insurers and they just made a note on my file. It cost me nothing and they said I'd still be fully covered.

AfterDark

Going to phone them tomorrow just wanting to clue myself up on any rules ect first. Not planning to get the insurance to pay for the keyed bit, had as thought that would make the insurance jump up. Just abit worried about anything else happening. Will give my insurance company a call let them know it's not in the drive.

mildred1978

victor2 wrote: »

My brother claimed on his insurance for his car being keyed and despite having protected NCD, the premium rocketed when he renewed. All the insurance company said was "you should see the premium without any NCD!"

The NCD is protected, not the price.

Assuming 5 years NCB is 70% discount, and the policy risk price is £1000, you'll pay £300. After a claim, the risk increases, so the risk price jumps to £1500, you'll pay £450. Had the NCD not been protected, and dropped to 3 years (50%) you'd be paying £750.

vaio

AfterDark wrote: »

Going to phone them tomorrow just wanting to clue myself up on any rules ect first. Not planning to get the insurance to pay for the keyed bit, had as thought that would make the insurance jump up. Just abit worried about anything else happening. Will give my insurance company a call let them know it's not in the drive.

given that if your insurance company find out about the keying you can pretty much guarantee a premium hike whether you claim or not and in many cases the same will happen if you ring to tell them it's no longer on a drive, some people would forget the insurance and concentrate on getting the contractors to provide the steel plates they promised.

Road_Hog

AfterDark wrote: »

Is there any rules when it comes to blocking home owners drives ?

Do not contact your insurance company, even if you only mention it, you are likely to get a hike in insurance premiums. They basically work on the fact that anyone who gets into any sort of mess, their fault or not, is going to cost more money.

Get a quote. Write to the company doing the works and tell them you expect them to pay for it. Follow it up 7 days later with a letter before action and then take them to the small claims court. You'll need some witness statement from friends/neighbours that you didn't have the scratch beforehand.

If you don't want to do the above, then just pay up out of your own pocket, unless it is hugely expensive, because normally it isn't worth the cost of an insurance hike in the long term.

Hammyman

There was nothing illegal in what they have done. There is a MOTORING offence of blocking access to a drive but then only if there is a dropped kerb. No dropped kerb and the person using the drive is committing an offence.

The fact your car got keyed is not the responsibility of the utility company. I would be getting hold of the insurance ombudsman as it is totally ridiculous your insurers are not covering this. Its like saying they expect you to return your car home every single night to park it on the drive so you can never drive any further than the distance you can safely return home in and means you can't even go out to a restaurant on a night.

mikey72

There is a whole swathe of rules and regualations with regard to digging up the highway, then local bye laws, then the plan of work. They didn't block his drive with a gas van.

proactive

what so if your car got keyed anywhere other than when it was parked on the drive the insurance wouldn't cough up? in a carpark or something?

nah i doubt it. where would it be parked if you stayed at a friend or relatives house overnight or if you were on holiday?

scheming_gypsy

You won't need to tell your insurance company that it's not parked in the drive as it's only temporary; the same way you don't need to tell them if you: stay overnight at the other halves, stay overnight at the parents, take the car with you when you go on holiday, leave it at the pub and get a taxi home... etc.

robbies_gal

i agree its like telling them ive driven to wales to see my father in law why would i its a holiday temporary

as for the roadworks im not sure but if they havent blocked u in then i think anyone can do what they like as long as your car isnt on the drive