Help being badly ripped off by Llods TSB car insurance

lisyloo

My nephew has had an accident and his car has been written off after 3 months of the policy.

Does he now have to pay the remaining 9 months AND then pay a premium for a new car, or does the old policy get transferred.

We know it will be more because of having a claim but will he have to pay tiwce effectively - once for the old car and once for the new car.
The accident will probably judged as his fault (he skidded into an oncoming vehicle).

Cheers

dunstonh

What a rip off.I will attempt to leave their over priced breakdown insurance and see if I have more luck.

How on earth can it be a rip off. They have acted correctly and fairly and consistent with every other insurer.

Does he now have to pay the remaining 9 months AND then pay a premium for a new car, or does the old policy get transferred.

He just changes the vehicle on the same policy. Its only when you cancel the cover after a claim that you dont get a refund.

lisyloo

He just changes the vehicle on the same policy. Its only when you cancel the cover after a claim that you dont get a refund.

Thanks for taking the time to reply, however it seems that there are 2 people here who had their policys cancelled by the insurer (before they had time to get a new car) and in both cases it wasn't even their fault.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=527138

In our case my nephew is totally liable as he was on the wrong side of the road (after a skid).
I am quite worried about the small time periods given (about 1 week).
Apart from being in bed with injuries, my nephew can't get a new car until he knows what the financial details will be.

Ian_W

lisyloo,
You need to check the wording of his policy to know for sure how the insurers will play it.
This is the wording from one policy I've been checking out recently, others may vary:
Total loss (write-off)
If your vehicle is considered to be a write-off (if the cost of repairs is greater than the market value of the vehicle), we will offer you an amount as compensation.
This insurance for your vehicle will end when you accept that offer.
If we ask, you must return the certificate of motor insurance and the schedule before we pay the compensation.
The vehicle then becomes our property.
We may decide to let the insurance continue on a replacement vehicle.

I think the insurers are more likely to allow the insurance to continue if the p/h is not at fault than if they are - but that's just a guess!

lisyloo

Oh dear !!

Here is the direct line wording:

If your car is uneconomical to repair (written off) and we agree to
settle your claim on that basis, you still owe the full yearly premium as
we will have met all our responsibilities to you under the policy. Once
we settle your claim, your car will become our property and you must
send us the registration document. All cover will then end unless we
agree differently. We will not refund any of your premium.

My nephew will have about £900 remaining premium and £600 excess and no car, so this is very bad news for him.

prontoprint

I am not compaining about the policy.I suppose I am cross with myself for accepting policies without shopping around.I have successfully halved my house insurance and thought I'd have a try with the car.

It is my fault for blindly accepting things instead of doing some research.

No more when this runs out I'll be more careful!

prontoprint

To clarify my question the claim was made in August 06 and the policy renewed July 07.I contacted them about aweek ago to cancel and was told as we had made a claim in the past 12 months we couldn't cancel.By my diary the claim was over 12months (by2weeks) and I had automatically let the policy renew and the direct debit continue.Had we been quicker of the mark I would simply have taken my business else where at the end of the renewal date in July.Anyone got any further comments?

mattymoo

Does put matters in a different light. Each 12 month period is a separate contract so yes, you should be able to walk away from this one and just pay the premium for time on cover. Note, this is not normally 1/12th per month though. The scale of premium return should be indicated in the policy booklet.

I suspect somebody may have misinterpreted the dates at their end due to their closeness. Might be worth a letter or e-mail.

lisyloo

Each 12 month period is a separate contract so yes, you should be able to walk away from this one and just pay the premium for time on cover.

I thought there were usually admin fees as well (which many people have been complaining about).
Although I agree you should be able to cancel/

michaels

I made a windscreen claim on a policy and was still able to cancel for a refund with lloyds tsb or churchill or someone recently