Car written off, premiums refunded? No.

rtparrott

Hello, first time poster and could really do with some advice... I'll start from the top here...

My carwas recently broken in to outside of my home. The would-be thief bent the topof the door and unlocked the car through the gap they had made. They had a goodroot around but got away with nothing as far as I could see. I called Admiraland they came to collect the car as it was now unsecure on the road. They arranged for thecollection and bringing the car to a nearby garage for an assessment. A fewdays later, despite the minimal damage. I was informed the car had been writtenoff. I then waited for the valuation and final settlement amount and was agenerally satisfied with the offer, minus the excess.

I hadhowever hoped that my insurance premium which I paid in full only 3 or 4 months earliermight have been added in as well, seeing as the policy was now defunct, but apparently within the terms and conditions ofmy policy, this money is Admirals to keep and can be factored in to any new policy I get with Admiral up to the date of renewal.

This is a bit gutting, if Id paid in installments I'd be better off. I'm not really prepared to go rooting through the T's and C's to see if the clause is there. I understand I'll get money off my next policy (supposedly), but I'm thinking of packing in driving altogether for the moment as I can't afford it.

Do I have a cause for complaint here, or should I just be happy with the offer I got and stop my bellyaching.

Thanks,

maginot

Even if you paid in instalments you would still have to had to pay the full premium.
You paid for a years premium and therefore have to pay a years premium if you make a claim.
Hopefully your new vehicle can be covered by the same premium!

There are monthly premiums you can take out if you want to only pay per month instead of per year. However these are much more expensive and difficult to get NCD

Sgt_Pepper_2

You'd have been better getting a door from the local breakers yard.

dunstonh

Do I have a cause for complaint here

no.

Car insurance is not pay as you go. It comes in 12 month blocks and is designed to pay out on claims made either on day 1 or day 365 or any day in between. However, most insurers (but not all) will transfer the policy to a new vehicle.

This is a bit gutting, if Id paid in installments I'd be better off.

No you wouldnt. You would just be left with loan payments on the installments to which cost you more over 12 months than paying up front.

rtparrott

Thanks for the answers. I understand what you're all saying. However they have cancelled the policy so there is definitely no recourse there?

Sgt_Pepper wrote: »

You'd have been better getting a door from the local breakers yard.

To be honest I was hoping they would write it off, I don't use it much.

Sgt_Pepper_2

rtparrott wrote: »

To be honest I was hoping they would write it off, I don't use it much.

So why the rant then?

dunstonh

However they have cancelled the policy so there is definitely no recourse there?

You said you claimed on it.

rtparrott

Sgt_Pepper wrote: »

So why the rant then?

Sorry I wasn't aware I was ranting? I asked for advice and said I felt slightly hard done by.

dunstonh wrote: »

You said you claimed on it.

Yes I claimed, they wrote it off, so there is no car to insure, the policy is defunct.

happycamel_2

The policy has served its purpose, you insured for a year, within that year you needed to claim and did so. If you had paid in installments (effectively a loan) then you'd still be paying the installments even after the claim had been processed and the car written off.

dunstonh

Yes I claimed, they wrote it off, so there is no car to insure, the policy is defunct.

So they didnt cancel it then. You claimed and it served its purpose and has come to a natural end (unless you get a new vehicle)

BertTheRaccoon

The Admiral policies are famous for this.

With any insurer, on a total loss claim, they will want to pull in the full premium before paying you out (otherwise people would do exactly what you are wanting to do, take the write off settlement but then not pay the rest of the premium for the remaining months of the policy). This would leave the insurer far worse off.

The bit that applies to the Admiral policies in general though (or at the very least used to )which represents very bad value for money if you have a claim is that if your car is written off, that's your policy finished with.

So you insure a new car today and pay say a £500 premium in full. Tomorrow you write the car off. They pay you out on the policy for the write off and that's your policy finished with. When you buy a replacement car, you have to take out a new policy all over again. So it cost you £500 for 1 day of insurance.

This is why I would personally avoid any of the Admiral group policies.