Insuring a car that doesn't exist

docmatt

debtdebt wrote: »

All well and good until the car is involved in a serious accident and the insurer is on the hook for a major claim for personal injury.

Which car?

Warwick_Hunt

ilikewatch wrote: »

You could always sell your car and buy a 900cc skoda citygo se greentech and get your daughter to insure it with you as a named (and the main) driver. You'll soon discover if the compromise is worth the potential saving.

Why?

Surely the easiest way is for the daughter to get one herself.

ilikewatch

Warwick_Hunt wrote: »

Why?

Surely the easiest way is for the daughter to get one herself.

Well, if she's "saving up for one" I assumed she wasn't in the position to buy one now...

Warwick_Hunt

docmatt wrote: »

Which car?

The one she has insured.

debtdebt

docmatt wrote: »

Which car?

The phantom Skoda Citygo. Daughter insurers random one she's seen on the road as suggested by you. The real owner drives it uninsured for one reason or another. They crash it and cause serious injury to someone. A MID search shows your daughter's insurer insure it. They have to pay it and then chase your daughter for their outlay.

Cash-Strapped.T32

A long time ago I wondered if it would be worth it to go buy a total wreck off ebay for a few quid.
Get the angle-grinder out, take off the Vin & number plates, chop the car up and then weigh-in the rest of the metal (or break it & sell for parts - whatever).

Now you've got a *car* you can insure, and since the rest of the metal is a gonner, you can insure it in any manner you like that will maximise no-claims & minimise costs, content in the knowledge that anything you tell them will never be challenged, since there's no possibility of the car ever being on the road, let alone in an accident; as it doesn't exist in car form.

Clearly I'm not the only criminally minded sneaky git out there! :rotfl:


*EDIT* Actually, I'm not even sure if my version of the plan would even be fraud at all...
I mean, define "a car"...

Would a car undergoing repairs with no engine still be a car for the purposes of insurance? Sure, silly question.
A car with no engine and no wheels?
Clearly, that too is a car, and would require the owner to either sorn, or tax/insure it.

So having established that missing major components does not invalidate it's status of being a car, what is the lowest number of components that must be present in order to confer the status of "car" upon what would otherwise be a collection of parts?
Legally, is that not the vin plate & reg-plates?
Hmm...

forgotmyname

Cash-Strapped.T32 wrote: »

A long time ago I wondered if it would be worth it to go buy a total wreck off ebay for a few quid.
Get the angle-grinder out, take off the Vin & number plates, chop the car up and then weigh-in the rest of the metal (or break it & sell for parts - whatever).

Now you've got a *car* you can insure, and since the rest of the metal is a gonner, you can insure it in any manner you like that will maximise no-claims & minimise costs, content in the knowledge that anything you tell them will never be challenged, since there's no possibility of the car ever being on the road, let alone in an accident; as it doesn't exist in car form.

Clearly I'm not the only criminally minded sneaky git out there! :rotfl:


*EDIT* Actually, I'm not even sure if my version of the plan would even be fraud at all...
I mean, define "a car"...

Would a car undergoing repairs with no engine still be a car for the purposes of insurance? Sure, silly question.
A car with no engine and no wheels?
Clearly, that too is a car, and would require the owner to either sorn, or tax/insure it.

So having established that missing major components does not invalidate it's status of being a car, what is the lowest number of components that must be present in order to confer the status of "car" upon what would otherwise be a collection of parts?
Legally, is that not the vin plate & reg-plates?
Hmm...

Except your vehicle wont be taxed or have an MOT. And its going to cost the same to insure a bag of metal as it would for the whole car so why not drive the actual car?

meyouritabobsue

Many years ago (2004) I sadly wrote off my mothers car in an accident.
The insurance refused to pay out, because the car had already been claimed as written off and insurance paid.
A long battle ensued where we had to prove we had the original car and it had never been written off before. Service/MOT/petrol receipts all needed.
Eventually we proved WE were the rightful owners and the previous payout had been fraudulent. Someone had registered OUR car as theirs and then claimed -of course this person was long gone.
I think at the time this was called 'ringing'? Caused us a LOT of upset because we had physical injuries from the accident and were 'under investigation' from the police and insurance when we were the innocent party.
Just saying...... (and it was a long time ago)

davemorton

Could you not buy a scooter for a couple of hundred quid, and then insure that for a year to get a years no claims (presuming the insurance company you use accepts scooter no claims on a car).

TonyMMM

A friend of mine did this many years ago - whilst he was away at university in the 1980s he insured a 20 yr old mini he "owned" under the cheapest third party only cover he could find. The car did exist but only as a pile of rusted parts at the back of a shed at his parents house and never moved or saw the road in any of the years he insured it, but when he graduated he had 4 years no claims built up.

Not sure it would be quite that easy these days.