mileage discrepancy holding up claim payout

angrykid62

following on from my previous thread about writing a car off
I am finding myself in a messy situation.

so far the car has been written off, valued ( we have agreed on the valuation ) and all documents (log book, regs etc ) sent in.

I called up to chase up the payout from the insurance
to be told the claim was back with the underwriters to decide on what action to take over a discrepancy on miles travelled vs estimated mileage over the policy term.

the policy: 2000
actual: 9000

we have been with this insurer for over 4 years and do not remember putting 2000 as this is simply nowhere near right as evidenced by the car doing 64000 over 7 years.

obviously I am now faced with the possibility of the claim being refused and ending up car-less & cashless.

we have always auto renewed and so never really paid any attention to the policy ( yes yes, silly )

in 2009 we made a claim for an accident ( our fault )
insurance paid the repairs and that was that.

in april this year we reported a no loss/no damage bump
no claims were made.


on both occasions mileage was taken by the insurance
and they didnt let me know that I was way off the mark on my policy or refuse the 2009 claim.

we got two quotes each from 10 different insurers

1st quote was for 2000 miles a year
2nd for 9000 a year

5 out of the 10 came in cheaper for 9000 than 2000
by:

£86 / £59 / £80 / £81 / £83

5 came in more for 9000 than 2000
by:

£137 / £49 / £ 51 / £97 / £80


I would be happy to make up the difference of underpayment in policy premium

as I accept its my error for not checking but Its a genuine mistake as I wouldn't not put 2000 miles as its just not applicable.

any body have experience with this situation?

dacouch

Why don't you wait and see what they propose to do as there's a reasonable chance they will take no action and just pay the claim

angrykid62

Just the worry to be honest..

Ive put a deposit down on a car anticipating the claim being paid this week as it was all finalised last Wednesday.

and while I appreciate the chance of them taking no action or adjusting the payout slightly is still very much there, I am extremely worried that Ill be without a car and with no payout.

I did not set out to deceive and the 2000 mile estimate is a genuine error/mistake that has gone unnoticed by myself ( and the insurers so it would seem? )

rs65

angrykid62 wrote: »

I did not set out to deceive and the 2000 mile estimate is a genuine error/mistake that has gone unnoticed by myself ( and the insurers so it would seem? )

Did the 2000 estimate appear on the renewal notices?

angrykid62

Now that I have looked. the latest one (current).. yes.
as for previously, I haven't looked through them but as they were auto renewals I would say yes.

the only change we have ever made to insurance was to add new drivers on in August 2013 which is the current policy ( that policy is now due to end and is all paid off )

angrykid62

I have also ran a dummy quote through the insurance we use:

1 main driver
2 additional ( one young under 25 )


2000 miles = £169
9000 miles = £159

all details are factual and correct OTHER than the 1st name of each driver. all surnames, vehicle info, history of each driver etc is real.

dacouch

Do you have the documents for when you took out cover eg a Statement of Fact etc?

If so what do they say about mileage?

angrykid62

bare with me Ill look that up now.

forgotmyname

Putting less than 4000 miles does tend to put the prices up and not down.,

angrykid62

nothing about it all all
just says statement of insurance:

" failure to disclose correct and complete information to the best of your knowledge and belief may result in increased premiums, refusal of a claim or not being fully paid, your policy being cancelled or being made null and void and treated as though it never existed."

InsideInsurance

As you are probably paying more premium than is necessary because of the exceptionally low mileage then they'll probably either let it slide or just charge administration fees for correcting the policies to the correct value.

As long as their charge for your mistake is reasonable then you arguably should take it on the chin for not checking your renewal pack properly. If its excessive or they decline the claim then you complain and if needs be take it to the ombudsman with the double aspect of (a) unintentional and (b) correct declaration would have actually reduced premiums not increased them with your screenprints as evidence