BMW dealer "forgot" to activate free complimentary insurance

Dean000000

cdturri wrote: »

What if I was involved in a serious accident and someone ended up injured or dead? There will be no insurance company to claim against.

If somebody were dead I assume making a claim would be one of the last things on the ‘to do’ list

But the fact is nobody was, for which you should be thankful for.

Perhaps take it as a free lesson in the importance of arranging your own insurances.

Takmon

cdturri wrote: »

Things are not black and white as you paint them. The whole point of this thread is to understand if the dealers share some responsibility or not in making sure customers have insurance. It's not about shifting blame. You paint as it it just as simple as throwing me in jail and throwing the key away. What if I was involved in a serious accident and someone ended up injured or dead? There will be no insurance company to claim against. Sure I will be blamed for that but if it would have been prevented by a simple question why not do it? All I am trying to do is to understand if due process needs to be followed.

I know I assumed it was being done and I didn't ask, that's my mistake and I can't change the past. But I can follow up with the dealer to make this never happens to them again if they implement a simple process. You don't like to be nannied? Fair enough but what damage does it do to a dealer or yourself if you are asked if you have insurance if that prevents few people assuming things wrongly or forgetting? Seems to be a valid thing to do with very little cost.

In any case your comments are not really adding anything to the discussion. I know I should have asked and I was wrong. What's your point in stating that again? Good old trolling if you ask me.

Just because you don't agree with what i'm saying doesn't mean i'm a troll.

The point i'm trying to make is that you assumed they were sorting it and you assumed they had to do it so you didn't worry about checking it yourself and you ended up driving without insurance.

You seem to think that if a dealership is made responsible for checking insurance then it will help stop this problem. But i'm saying that as soon as people start to think that someone else will do the checks for them then they are more likely to be slack about checking themselves.

If it was made clear to every driver that nobody else will be checking if you have insurance and you are 100% responsible for it yourself then i think that will made people do the checks themselves and then prevent situations like yours.

Just look at the number of people who never check their car tyres tread depths or even their oil level because people think these are things that are checked by mechanics at MOT's and when the car is serviced so they don't bother.
As soon as you start sharing out responsibility for things like this then people become complacent just like you were because you thought the dealership were sorting it.

Kynthia

I don't believe dealers have any responsibility to ensure buyers have insurance. I bought a car last week and no one asked or checked if I was insured. So unless you can find anything that says otherwise it is completely the responsibility of car owners to insure their cars and to check that anyone they allow to drive it is insured to do so, and drivers to ensure they are covered to drive that car.

sheramber

cdturri wrote: »

Well well well, I just read the Road Traffic Act 1988 relevant section and it's pretty clear to me:



https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/52/part/VI/crossheading/compulsory-insurance-or-security-against-thirdparty-risks

To me that's pretty damming. The dealer falls under "a person must not cause or permit any other person to use a motor vehicle on a road [without insurance]". Therefore dealers have a responsibility to make sure cars are insured when they leave the dealership. What do you think?

By your reckoning your next door neighbour should stop you using your car without insurance, as he/she is a person

Jumblebumble

sheramber wrote: »

By your reckoning your next door neighbour should stop you using your car without insurance, as he/she is a person

I agree
For the road traffic act quoted it is clear that the person permitting has to have something to do with the car and would I think imply that they own it or are the keeper
( I am deliberatly avoiding considering who is the registered keeper as this is probably not relevant at his point)

At some time before the car leaves the dealership it is no longer the dealerships car but belongs to and is kept by the OP so making sure it is insured is 100 % his responsibility.
There is no doubt the dealership have been sloppy but that does not change the responsibility
What might have happened but did not is irrelevant.
JumbleBumble

Merlin139

cdturri wrote: »

So I taken delivery of a new BMW on March 1st. A couple of weeks before collection I emailed my sales rep and asked if BMW was still doing the free 7 days complimentary car insurance as I bought a second hand car from them before and they did it last time. As the rep was off (got OOO email) I called the manager I dealt with which confirmed BMW were still doing free 7 days complimentary insurance and this will be done on collection day. The sales rep replied the next day saying: "Yes we can set you up with 7 days free insurance with BMW so we will do that upon collection".

So on Friday I collected the car and signed lots of forms so I assumed this was done, although I didn't specifically asked. Over the weekend I remembered I got a letter confirming my 7 days cover when I bought the second hand car from them so I looked at all the paper work I got on Friday and I couldn't find one. I checked online on ownvehicle.askmid.com and the website it said my new car wasn't insured. I emailed my sales rep this morning and she just replied saying "I'm afraid this cover does have to be set up and activated, it is not automatically done" and she sent me the link to do it. I got it done immediately but heart is still beating. I have driven without car insurance for 3 days and I could have had the car stolen leaving me with a huge debt and no car!

I really feel let down by the dealer as I specifically asked about this before collection. I also have the feeling they weren't happy with me as they failed in trying to get me to buy all the extra insurance packages they want to sell you (paint protection, GAP, paint repairs, tyre insurance, allow wheel) which every savvy buyer knows they are a rip offs to buy from car dealers. The sales rep tried her pitch, then went to call in the manager saying there was a system issue and the manager tried as well really hard: "It's there anything I can do for you to buy any of these packages?". While pressuring me they tried to complete the financial advice forms on the iPad and it wouldn't work but then the sales rep did it on the desktop and everything worked fine.

Finally I friend of mine told me about BMW service packs, which is basically a way to pre-pay for BMW service in advance which can be advantageous depending on how many miles you do. I was not offered this option although I understand I can still get it.

So basically I was high pressured into buying things that weren't good value for money, I wasn't offered on a potential cost saving option and I wan't setup in the free car insurance everyone buying a car from BMW gets. Really nice isn't?

I know I am legally responsable to insure the car and making sure the car is driven by an insured person. I am just wondering if the car dealers have any shared responsibility as well when they are selling a new car as they handle all the other things as well (registration, tax).

I am thinking in writing a complaint to the dealer. I know I probably won't get anything from them but I am just furious at the moment. Anything else you can suggest?

Thanks!

PS: The sales rep latest reply was: "I totally understand. Unfortunately we are not responsible for insuring customers cars. And as explained I did say we have to get it set up upon collection, so I can only apologise that this was forgotten by both of us."

Writing a letter of complaint would have been my first task rather than coming on here to gauge support.

Have you now 2 days later done this?

kev2009

Interesting read, when I purchased a used car in 2017, I was advised that they no longer provided complimentary insurance. I had to sort out my own insurance prior to collecting the car and take proof along with me upon collection, which I did. Therefore, i thought they had stopped the complimentary insurance, perhaps they have started it again..

I know what you mean buy trying to make you pay for all the extras, i thin in the end i went for the paint protection and gap insurance just for peace of mind re gap and for the paint protection, i tried to get out of it upon collection but they had already done the paper work so they lowered the price and i sort of felt bit guilty not advising them sooner so i went with it, it saved me going elsewhere plus was cheaper but no doubt not as good.

Kev

HHarry

Kynthia wrote: »

I don't believe dealers have any responsibility to ensure buyers have insurance. I bought a car last week and no one asked or checked if I was insured. So unless you can find anything that says otherwise it is completely the responsibility of car owners to insure their cars and to check that anyone they allow to drive it is insured to do so, and drivers to ensure they are covered to drive that car.

It must depend on the dealer - I picked up a new van last month and I couldn't take it away until it was insured and taxed.

They also provided 7 days insurance, but I had to arrange it via the helpline number they gave me, who then emailed it across.

jaybeetoo

It looks like the buyer has to activate the insurance https://www.bmw.co.uk/finance/insurance/car-insurance

Jumblebumble

HHarry wrote: »

It must depend on the dealer - I picked up a new van last month and I couldn't take it away until it was insured and taxed.

They also provided 7 days insurance, but I had to arrange it via the helpline number they gave me, who then emailed it across.

This is probably the dealer prudently not wanting to have discussions about why he did not make sure someone else had insured their car.
JumbleBumble