Car Insurance policy cancelled with immediate effect on policyholder's death

Derventio

On 27th June, my mother passed away and when I called to inform her car insurance company, they cancelled her policy with immediate effect. I am a named driver on that policy yet from that moment was unable to legally drive her car. So, I can’t legally drive it, remove it from her address, allow anyone to test drive it to sell, take it to a new owner or even drive it around the block to keep the battery going - not without taking out a new insurance policy.

I cannot take a new insurance policy on the car unless I am the registered keeper and cannot drive it on my own car insurance (that allows driving of other vehicles not belonging to me) as this requires the car in question to have its own insurance policy on it – which of course my Mum's insurance company has just cancelled. All I can do is take ‘temporary insurance’ which in my case will cost over £200 for just 2 months! This is ridiculous and many people just don’t have that kind of money.

My insurance broker told me that they have been giving this as feedback for years, and that it is heart breaking to have to tell people crying on the phone that an insurance policy is cancelled with immediate effect. insurance companies with their own underwriting service are able to offer a 30-day grace period, but anyone whose loved one used an insurance broker will find the car insurance policy cancelled immediately! A sensible and common sense approach requires that all car insurance should give the same 30-day grace period>

I feel so strongly about this I have started a petition on Change.org. Can you all please support? Not sure if I can post links but go to Change.org and search:
"Legal requirement that car insurance gives 30-day grace period upon death of policyholder"

Thank you!

AndyMc.....

You can let anyone test drive it and sell it as as soon as you are legally allowed to do so. Which has nothing to do with the insurance company.

maninthestreet

Can't you apply to the DVLA to become the registered keeper?

Derventio

maninthestreet wrote: »

Can't you apply to the DVLA to become the registered keeper?

I could, but why should I have to? Adding an extra registered keeper potentially reduces its value and all that means is that I could put a 12-month insurance policy on it that I don't need. What I want is for all insurance companies to treat people the same, and give a grace period to allow the car to be legally driven whilst administering the estate.

Derventio

AndyMc..... wrote: »

You can let anyone test drive it and sell it as as soon as you are legally allowed to do so. Which has nothing to do with the insurance company.

I am well aware of that Andy and feel that your post has somehow missed the point? All I want is for all insurance companies to give the same 30-day grace period, so that the bereaved can move the deceased person's car for whatever reason. I feel that should be a standard requirement, rather than making the car more difficult to deal with than it already is. I have had to spend hours looking at temporary car insurance when I have just lost my mother. It is not fair, and not necessary.

AndyMc.....

Derventio wrote: »

I am well aware of that Andy and feel that your post has somehow missed the point? All I want is for all insurance companies to give the same 30-day grace period, so that the bereaved can move the deceased person's car for whatever reason. I feel that should be a standard requirement, rather than making the car more difficult to deal with than it already is. I have had to spend hours looking at temporary car insurance when I have just lost my mother. It is not fair, and not necessary.

But it may not be your car to sell or drive, not every death is the same so how can it be standard?

BoGoF

For legal reasons alone I do see how any type of insurance policy can continue if the policyholder is no longer alive.

And you do not have to be the registered keeper to insure it.

Quentin

Read up on this so you know what to do next time you are involved with insurance when the policyholder dies:


https://bereavementadvice.org/topics/registering-a-death-and-informing-others/insurance


Your broker has mislead you over this 30 day grace!

Crabman

BoGoF wrote: »

For legal reasons alone I do see how any type of insurance policy can continue if the policyholder is no longer alive.

And you do not have to be the registered keeper to insure it.

I've seen cases where insurers simply switched insurer to an alternative family member, on payment of an additional premium where they perceived an increased risk.

chrisw

Derventio wrote: »

I cannot take a new insurance policy on the car unless I am the registered keeper

This is incorrect. You don't have to be the registered keeper at all.

I don't see why the response from a broker would be any different to that from an underwriter, since the broker is just a go between for the insured and the underwriter.

I would have thought it would be the same for the broker to ask the underwriters for a grace period or a transfer to family as it would if the underwriters were approached direct. In fact the broker might have more clout.

shaun_from_Africa

As an insurance policy is a legal contract normally between two parties, I don't see how they could keep it going knowing that the policyholder was deceased.
If a named driver was to have an accident or the vehicle was stolen, who could the insurers communicate with over the possible claim?
With the strict laws covering data protection, I wouldn't have thought that they could speak or write to anyone else without the policyholder's permission, something that unless it had been agreed on beforehand would be impossible to obtain.