Car insurance cancelled after write off

injuredrunner

Hi

I had a single vehicle low speed accident about 3 weeks ago when my car skidded on some ice and slid into a ditch. After being recovered, the car insurance company (Elephant) very quickly wrote the car off, paid out and I then received a letter notifying me that they had cancelled my insurance as the car was a write off and the claim had been finalised.

I am now looking at buying a replacement car and am in the process of getting some insurance quotes, however my question is do I have to declare this as having my insurance cancelled? I was under the impression that this type of cancellation was for where people had had their policies canceled for non payment or for fraudulent reasons, rather than simply having had a payment after an accident.

Can anyone advise please?

Quentin

This looks to be a condition of the policy (that following a total loss payout the policy ends)


If so (check the policy wording) then it isn't a cancelled policy that has to be disclosed.


If there is no mention of a condition like this, then get back to them and ask why they have taken this action and take it from their reply.

dacouch

How soon after you received payment for the write off did you buy a replacement car?

I ask this as you may be able to force their hand into reinstating cover and offering cover for the replacement vehicle (Subject to any normal extra premiums) due to this.

"17. outstanding premium instalments or premium refunds

Most motor insurance policies are yearly contracts – so the full premium is payable even if the vehicle is written off during the year. If the consumer paid the yearly premium upfront, they will not receive any refund. Or if the consumer was paying the yearly premium by monthly instalments, they must still pay the outstanding instalments after the vehicle is written off.

When an insurer declares a vehicle a write-off, we expect it to offer a consumer the option of bringing a replacement vehicle onto the insurance policy so that the remainder of the policy term can be used. Depending on the make and model of the replacement vehicle, an additional premium may be required by the insurer. This should be calculated on a pro rata basis for the remainder of the policy term.

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/technical_notes/motor-valuation.html

fromtheshires

I was with Elephant and it is 'cancelled' as the car no longer exists. What they mean is that the insurance is no longer valid until you contact them with your new car details. They will then re-instate it until the original end date with any adjustment in premium for the differing cars (mine was a lower so they just added that car to the policy and I didn't pay anything extra) if it would cost any more to insure.

You do not need to declare this as a cancellation for insurance purposes - its just their bad wording.

Retrogamer

As far as i am aware the policy is completed and not cancelled.
Hopefully someone who works in insurance can comment