Limited milage but not asked to give odo reading

kwmlondon

Hi. I just shopped around and got a good price for my motorbike insurance (Bikesure, in case you're interested) and as I don't ride much I got a policy that covers me up to 2,000 miles a year. However, they never asked for the mileage when I took out the policy so how do they know how much I've done? I need to do the MOT before the policy begins so there is proof of what the odo read then, but they won't know what it was when the policy started?

I'm not planning to go over the limit, but I just wondered what people made of this? Does it mean that I've effectively got an unlimited mileage policy for a good price because I've classed myself as a low-user?

OnanTheBarbarian

You have estimated your annual mileage.

In the event of a claim, they may well ask for some evidence to show mileage covered such as the most recent MOT and what the odometer reading is then showing

If the mileage covered between MOT date and date of claim suggests you would go way over the stated average figure, they would possibly charge a slight increase.

kwmlondon

It's just that I'll get my MOT done in the next week or so. The new insurance policy will start a couple of weeks after that. If I did go over my mileage allowance how will they know if I did it while I was insured after the policy with them begun? I'm not intending to, but previously policies have asked for the odo reading at the start of the policy. Just a question really - I'll check the policy, just because I said I was only doing 2k a year doesn't necessarily mean they've put that in the one they sold me - may be a different product I guess.

kwmlondon

FYI - just did what I should have done in the first place and checked the policy documents. There is no mention of mileage anywhere, it's not a restriction at all so clearly this product just happened to come out as cheapest in the comparison list. Great stuff - no restriction! Not that I ride it much anyway, but still, good news...

OnanTheBarbarian

The annual mileage question is just a risk/ ratings factor so they can calculate probability of you being in a collision and therefore likelihood of claiming. i.e. you ride around 2k a year or less = lower chance of incident or claim than someone riding 20k a year.

kwmlondon

OnanTheBarbarian wrote: »

The annual mileage question is just a risk/ ratings factor so they can calculate probability of you being in a collision and therefore likelihood of claiming. i.e. you ride around 2k a year or less = lower chance of incident or claim than someone riding 20k a year.

Yes, I did some messing around with that when getting a quote, it's one of the things you can change to get a better price, like excess or pillion rider or whatever. However, it seems that just because it's something I specified when I filled in the online form it didn't become part of the final policy I bought. I guess it's like excess - you could say you'll pay up to a £500 voluntary excess but then be offered one that requires only £250.

I'd just assumed that because I'd said I'd only do 2k miles a year they'd automatically make that part of the policy, but it's not there so unlimited mileage and a very cheap policy.

nobbysn*ts

It's not unlimited. You got a quote based on the expectations you had at the time. You stated you expected to do 2000 miles. If you do 1500, or 2500, it's still within your estimate. But if your circumstances change, and you now do 20000 miles, it's reasonable to expect you to inform the insurers. If you don't and they check the MOT if/when you need to make a claim, you will face difficulties. Particularly if you 'did some messing about' , as that will look like you massaged the quote.

forgotmyname

With car insurance i found putting less than 4000 miles pushed the premium back up.

InsideInsurance

OnanTheBarbarian wrote: »

The annual mileage question is just a risk/ ratings factor so they can calculate probability of you being in a collision and therefore likelihood of claiming. i.e. you ride around 2k a year or less = lower chance of incident or claim than someone riding 20k a year.

In a traditional insurance policy actually having very low mileage increases the cost of insurance -v- having a low/average level. Once you go above that the price continues to rise.

If you wanted to rationalise it you'd say that its because you're not sufficiently experienced as a driver or of that particular vehicle if you are doing so little mileage and so this outweighs the increased opportunity for having an accident -v- someone who say does 7,000 a year. You could also argue there is increased fraud in those who declare ultra low mileage and hence also an increase in premium.

Classic car policies etc tend to be different as its not intended that this is your primary vehicle and so you are having more road experience than just this vehicle. Plus if you've gone to the trouble of getting a classic car for the weekends, getting it valued etc then you are probably more careful when driving it than other vehicles.

Obviously in reality insurance is based on statistics rather than logic.



As to the op - are you sure its a classic vehicle policy limited mileage policy? All car/bike policies you have to declare an estimated mileage but it is only these where a significant thing is made of it. In the non-classic vehicle insurance they will simply look at general evidence of mileage such as MOT certs, service invoices, mileage at change of owner etc plus any secondary evidence that you provide to substantiate a recent large change in use if the mileage has dropped heavily from what the other things would suggest.

In reality I've never heard of it being questioned. Even if it was then it could as much be for over declaring your mileage because as per the above outside of classic vehicle insurance the sweet spot is actually normally somewhere in 5-9k

System

InsideInsurance wrote: »

Classic car policies etc tend to be different as its not intended that this is your primary vehicle

Even classic insurers are increasingly down-playing the significance of mileage. I have two classic cars on unlimited mileage policies. I asked for 1500 mile limitations assuming that would be cheaper, but it makes no difference.
£80 pa for two cars, unlimited mileage, one additional driver, including commuting, can't be beaten - unless I added up to three more cars for the same premium.
It doesn't even say I have to have another car normally insured, although in fact I do.

kwmlondon

nobbysn*ts wrote: »

It's not unlimited. You got a quote based on the expectations you had at the time. You stated you expected to do 2000 miles. If you do 1500, or 2500, it's still within your estimate. But if your circumstances change, and you now do 20000 miles, it's reasonable to expect you to inform the insurers. If you don't and they check the MOT if/when you need to make a claim, you will face difficulties. Particularly if you 'did some messing about' , as that will look like you massaged the quote.

If my insurance policy had restricted mileage it would feature in the policy documents. Since there is no mention of how many miles I do a year then it doesn't factor in. My contract with the insurance company doesn't make any mention of mileage so it cannot be part of the policy.