Car insurance mileage

matt002_2

Random one... But when you renew your car insurance they always ask you how many miles you drive a year. I get why - someone driving 10,000 miles has less chance of having an accident than someone doing 50,000 miles. I do around 30,000 miles a year, but tell my insurance co that I do 19,000 as this made it cheaper.

My question is HOW do they know how many miles you do per year? They don't ask for the mileage of your car when you set your policy up... So how do they know? Lol:j

HappyMJ

matt002 wrote: »

Random one... But when you renew your car insurance they always ask you how many miles you drive a year. I get why - someone driving 10,000 miles has less chance of having an accident than someone doing 50,000 miles. I do around 30,000 miles a year, but tell my insurance co that I do 19,000 as this made it cheaper.

My question is HOW do they know how many miles you do per year? They don't ask for the mileage of your car when you set your policy up... So how do they know? Lol:j

They know because you told them how many miles you do and they trust you. However, when you have a claim and they check the mileage on the odometer and compare it to your last MOT then don't expect a payout.

30,000 miles is a lot of miles. Do you do this for work? Do you have business cover on the car? Normally most people have the minimum SDP which is Social, Domestic and Pleasure. If they wish to drive the car to and from a workplace they add C - Commuting and if they wish to use it for work at work and get reimbursed for some mileage then you need to add B - Business Class 1. There are other classes depending on what you do exactly. Delivering goods would require a different class of insurance and that includes take aways...and I doubt any of them have the correct insurance coverage for it as it is expensive.

It doesn't always make a huge difference to the premium but it makes a big difference when you come to claim.

matt002_2

Omg. Yeah, I didn't even think of the mot. My bad... Will be honest in future! I always thought I was missing something other everyone would just put down 12,000 a year! Lol. Nah, I have social, domestic, pleasure and commuting. I live 40 miles from where I work and my family are scattered all over the uk, hence the high mileage.

I will be honest in future lol:o

vikingaero

If they really wanted to they could refuse payout or lower any payout and/or cover until you provided them with evidence of your mileage. And when you produce your old MOTs or service record then you come unstuck.

daveyjp

Afer an accident a couple of years ago a question asked when I reported it was the mileage of my vehicle. If your cars is a couple of years old and has 60,000 miles warning bells will ring.

malkyh

Not sure how much they actually check on mileage. I had an accident in my two year old car which had 40,000 on the clock. My policy was set at 10,000 a year. I'm a lot more honest these days though as I don't want any nasty surprises.

Sgt_Pepper_2

If your car is written off, no doubt they will ask for the mot.

McKneff

I was thinking the same thing this morning, strnagely enough.

I retired last year, told them and they upped my policy £40 the swines, I dont drive far and was down for 5000 a year, In actual fact Ive only done just over 10 in 3 years, so I dropped it to 4000 and they knocked £25 off, magic. Its just had its first MOT so at least Im within my limits if the do check after an accident.

mikey72

On most policies it's an estimated mileage, and not mentioned in the t&c's. Normally the insurer would probably ask for your mot, and if they realised you were far over, adjust the premium, and take the difference off the payout. If they ever checked the old MOT history, and realised you had been trying it on for years, they may try to void the policy, and then it could be difficult. It's far better to be realistic in your estimate.

Ultrasonic

matt002 wrote: »

I will be honest in future lol:o

To be sure you will be covered if you need to make a claim you should probably actually be honest now and contact your insurer to modify your policy, although this will of course cost you money. By 'honest' I mean tell them that you now expect your annual mileage to be higher than when you took out the policy. [Telling them you lied initially clearly wouldn't be smart!]

attila_

Sgt_Pepper wrote: »

If your car is written off, no doubt they will ask for the mot.

Family member reversed into another friends car. Both were write offs due to their age...no mention of wanting to see MOT.

I think the potential is there to cross-check the mileage but in reality they never would.