Removed named driver from policy but no refund due?!

sniper786

Hi all,

My mum is insured with Aviva any my father and i as named drivers on her car. Today she called Aviva to remove my father from the policy as he has unfortunately passed away a fortnight ago.

The car insurance only came up for renewal in June so i thought we would get 11 months of his part of the insurance refunded but the advisor said no refund would be due and actually said they apply spousal discount and acted like he was doing me a favour by not increasing the price as my father was now being taken off.

Is this normal practice?

paddedjohn

Sounds about right, having spouse on the policy normally reduces the cost, and you were lucky as some companys will charge an admin fee for changing the policy.

Just_Some_Guy

Firstly, sorry for your loss.

Secondly, Aviva's response sounds legit to me. Unless your mother and father are markedly different in age then the amount of the premium that comes from having your father as a named driver is essentially £0 (the age difference thing is why this trick works for young people trying to reduce their premiums).

Most companies do give a discount to married people; Aviva could be jerks and take off the discount while charging you an admin fee for the privilege, but they are being as compassionate as insurance companies get and they will remove the discount at next year's renewal.

I would also check that the mileage on the policy is still appropriate, if your mother will be driving less then she could be due a refund because of that.

sniper786

Just_Some_Guy wrote: »

Firstly, sorry for your loss.

Secondly, Aviva's response sounds legit to me. Unless your mother and father are markedly different in age then the amount of the premium that comes from having your father as a named driver is essentially £0 (the age difference thing is why this trick works for young people trying to reduce their premiums).

Most companies do give a discount to married people; Aviva could be jerks and take off the discount while charging you an admin fee for the privilege, but they are being as compassionate as insurance companies get and they will remove the discount at next year's renewal.

I would also check that the mileage on the policy is still appropriate, if your mother will be driving less then she could be due a refund because of that.

Thanks, i understand it better now

InsideInsurance

Ultimately one car can only be drive by one driver at a time so intrinsically there is no greater risk by having named drivers or not assuming the same mileage is being done and that the drivers themselves have similar risk profiles.

Whilst males do always pay more insurance than women (until new law comes in) the gap isnt much once you get middle aged and beyond. Plus as others have said, those that are married and/ or those with kids are generally considered a better risk than bachelors/ bachelorettes