Two Car Insurances on One Car - Query

bigup

Hi,

I have my own insurance policy on my car and have had it for a few years. Last week i got my wife insured in her own name with another company on the same car.

Today i was told by a friend that it is not possible to have two people insured on the same vehicle with two separate policies. Is this correct? (i know you can have named drivers etc). is it not possible to have two policies for two people on one car??

If this is the case i will have to cancel her insurance?

Thanks

scheming_gypsy

no its not possible as it'll be open to fraud.

Bloke A buys a car for £5000 and gets insured on it, he then gets his wife insured on it seperately and his 3 kids. In total it's cost him £2000 in insurance. Then he spends another £200 getting a mate to steal it and burn it out.
As all 5 people are insured on the car they can all make an insurance claim against the theft. Get yourself a 40grand car and all the lads down the pub insured on it you can be a multi-millionaire in no time.

A_Nice_Englishman

Add your wife as a named driver to your policy and you may well find the premium reduces. Presumably insurance companies find couples have fewer accidents than single people.

noh

In the event of a claim the loss would be split proportionally between the insurance companies. So yes you can have more than one policy covering the same thing.

A_Nice_Englishman

noh wrote: »

In the event of a claim the loss would be split proportionally between the insurance companies. So yes you can have more than one policy covering the same thing.

Would it? Surely if Mr bigup was driving Mrs bigup's insurer would say 'nothing to do with us our policy only covers Mrs bigup' and vice versa.

scheming_gypsy

also means both people would have to claim and both lose their no claims bonus.

noh

A_Nice_Englishman wrote: »

Would it? Surely if Mr bigup was driving Mrs bigup's insurer would say 'nothing to do with us our policy only covers Mrs bigup' and vice versa.

Probably true in the case of an accident. Would be split if a theft claim.

_Glycerine_

i work for an car insurance company, and i can confirm it is illegal to have 2 insurance policies on the same vehicle.

It is not a case of 2 companies spliting the cost of the claim. Ask your insurance company, they will confirm this. One of your polices will have to be canx.

When doing this though, you should be able to backdate the cancellation to the date that the 2nd policy went into force by providing proof of the insurance elsewhere, which hopefully will result in a refund for yourself rather than a cancellation charge.

noh

Can you point me to the legislation that says its illegal to have two policies on the same vehicle?

One of the general conditions of my car insurance policy says:-

"If you have other insurance which covers the same loss damage or liability, we will not pay more than our share of your claim"

Which indicates to me that it is possible to have more than one policy covering the same vehicle.