Accident on renewed insurance

Svjem77

Hi, I'm looking for some car insurance advice after an rtc.

My wife renewed her RAC insurance policy on Fri 14/2/14 and was hit side on while doing a U turn on the Sat 15/2/14. police charged her with careless driving on Sun 16/2/14. 3 points and £100 fine, her car written off, other car had headlight damage.


Her premium was £25 on the Friday, after inquiring on Monday how much the insurance would change for a potential new (2nd hand) car. she was told the premium had already changed to £41 on the 14th (1 day before rtc), and that would rise to £56 for her (new) car.

They also said she might be investigated for insurance fraud and that she had 7 days from being informed of the car being written off to get a new car or they will cancel her insurance and bill her in full at the new £41 per month premium (£492). They even suggested she quickly buy a car for "about £1000" so her insurance won't be cancelled.

She was hoping to use the write off cheque to pay the deposit on the new car, but that won't happen within 7 days.

Is this normal procedure? seems a bit heavy handed..
Cheers,
Svjem77

InsideInsurance

Svjem77 wrote: »

My wife renewed her RAC insurance policy on Fri 17/2/14

Renewed as it the 17th was the inception/ start date or that is the date she actually bought it and it starts in a few days time?

A policy is an annual cover, whilst insurers may give you the option to pay monthly it is just a loan you are paying monthly, you arent getting monthly cover.

Different insurers have different rules over what happens upon a total loss. Some will allow you to transfer the policy to a new vehicle within a certain window and pay an admin fee to do it and any adjustment in premiums due for the different vehicle. Others conclude the policy as its fulfilled its objective and the vehicle its there to cover no longer exists.

Because its a fault accident if the policy is concluded there would be no "refund" for the rest of the time that should have been on cover. However as you are paying it off as a loan, its instead a case of the rest of the installments being due - though most deduct this from the total loss cheque in these cases as default on these payments is very common.

Svjem77

Hi, Thanks for they reply.

The cover started on the 14th.

The price she agreed over the phone for the years insurance was £300, but when notified of the crash they changed this amount to £492 after the policy had started.

I thought they would have to wait till the next renewal date before they could change the policy?

I know we will have to pay for it eventually, just didn't expect it so soon.

cheers,
Svjem77

dacouch

Can you confirm the correct days and dates as last Friday was the 14th Feb

Svjem77

You are quite correct! I'm so busy trying to get the story out - I mucked up the dates.

I have amended the date on the last post.

Insurance started on the 14th, rtc on the Sat 15th.
By Monday 17th they had changed the cost of the policy.

Svjem77

rs65

When did her previous policy expire?

arcon5

Can they Change the price like that? If they've offered to indemnify you for a year for z vehicle for £x I don't see how they can change the head terms retrospectively.
They can though increase the policy if you are making an amendment. Ie new vehicle.


As for insurance fraud... What has she done?

Svjem77

The old policy expired on

23.59 13th Feb 2014 the new policy started
00.00 14th Feb 2014

I feel by shouting fraud investigation, and saying 7 days to get a new car - they are trying to make her panic and accept the new policy without any questions.

Svjem77

Svjem77

arcon5 wrote: »

Can they Change the price like that? If they've offered to indemnify you for a year for z vehicle for £x I don't see how they can change the head terms retrospectively.
They can though increase the policy if you are making an amendment. Ie new vehicle.


As for insurance fraud... What has she done?

It will cost £25 to amend the policy for the new car and her payments will go from £41 to £56... but that doesn't change the fact the policy was originally £25 - All online documents now say £41 (new car not added yet)

Svjem77

rs65

I think she needs to ask why the premium has changed. It could be because of the conviction rather than the accident.

Its not normal for them to advise her that they may investigate for fraud. It may happen behind the scenes though.

Is it the same insurer last year and this?

What does her policy say about the policy being cancelled in the event of a write off?

Svjem77

rs65 wrote: »

I think she needs to ask why the premium has changed. It could be because of the conviction rather than the accident.

Its not normal for them to advise her that they may investigate for fraud. It may happen behind the scenes though.

Is it the same insurer last year and this?

What does her policy say about the policy being cancelled in the event of a write off?

It's the same Insurer, but the underwriter has changed. I'm going to check the policy now.


It's taken me a few days to start questioning things.


when the police came round, they said she didn't have valid insurance -she eventually got signed into her policy online and showed them the policy No. (it was the same as the one they already had) but after viewing it they said it was Ok and they left.


2 days later she got a letter saying she was an uninsured driver and they were impounding her car.(which the insurance company had already picked up) when she phoned them up to say police had already checked her insurance she was told to ignore the letter and just throw it out!


Mental!


Svjem77