Can car insurers check business mileage?

DocQuincy

My car is insured for social, commute and business for my wife and I. I estimated our annual mileage to be 10k including 1k for business use.

We actually only do around 6k to 7k in total and no other drivers with different policies use the car so the MOT certificates and service book testify to this.

I am self-employed and my work is in the digital industry and over the years thanks to Skype, etc I seem to do fewer and fewer miles. This tax year I have done just 38 miles for business.

My wife, however, has started to do more for her work. It's really difficult to predict since she visits various places and will get the train or drive depending on where it is. The insurance cycle starts end of Jan. Even though we won't go anywhere near the 10k total I think she may do more than 1k for business use. She hasn't kept a log though but I presume she can work it out from her expenses.

In the event of an accident while using it for work could/would an insurance company request this information from her company? I'm wondering if I should work this out to the exact mile or not. If we go over I reckon it'd only be by a couple of hundred miles and the total mileage would be well under 10k (8k max).

It got me thinking, I declare my mileage down to the exact mile. I get made fun of for this as I think you can claim up to 10k miles a year through your own business before they check it so many people do this to evade a bit of tax. As an aside I wondered if they could get caught out if they have declared 10k miles for tax but told their insurance they only do 5k total.

Hence the question: Can car insurers check business mileage?

I'm an honest person, I guess I will declare it either way but am interested to know the answer all the same.


Thank you!

dacouch

It's very unlikely of you have declared the correct occupations and selected business use. But if they really wanted to they could ask to see your tax returns eg mileage claim s but very unlikely

zagfles

If there were to be a big claim I'm sure the insurers would look for any excuse to get out of paying.

I upped my business milegae from 1000 to 2000 and there was no extra cost. If it does make a difference it's unlikely to be much.

DocQuincy

It's very unlikely of you have declared the correct occupations and selected business use. But if they really wanted to they could ask to see your tax returns eg mileage claim s but very unlikely

Could they not pay out if you refused to disclose them though? I can't see anything in the paperwork.


I dealt with a claim for the first time a few months ago when my wife had a very minor accident (I have held a license for 20 years and never had an accident) and I just notified them per my obligations and settled privately. They asked a few questions to try to determine if you have changed anything since the renewal (modifications, where you were going and what for) but they never asked about mileage. Maybe they're more thorough for a major accident.

DocQuincy

zagfles wrote: »

If there were to be a big claim I'm sure the insurers would look for any excuse to get out of paying.

I upped my business milegae from 1000 to 2000 and there was no extra cost. If it does make a difference it's unlikely to be much.

You're right and I will definitely change it at renewal just to be on the safe side. I resent the £25 admin fee just to make any kind of change. If the premium increases by £10 and they charge £25 admin fee it's like a 150% tax.


I think I'll get a clearer idea of mileage so far and take it from there.