Mileage limit on Car Insurance

longbb

Hi, I bought my car insurance from Aviva last year with estimated mileage of less than 6000 miles. However, I am now already close to the limit with 2.5 months to renewal date, which means I am likely to go over by roughly 1500 miles. I am wondering whether I shall inform the insurer now. I've checked the policy which seems to have a clause as per below:

"We reserve the right to establish the mileage on your vehicle at any time where your policy has been rated on a selected annual mileage basis. Where the annual mileage has been exceeded, the premium will be increased to that which applies to the mileage driven. If we become aware that the annual mileage has been exceeded at the time of a claim, an additional premium will be charged. The higher premium will apply from the commencement of the period of insurance."

If my understanding is correct, I can't see any reason to notify them now. It seems even if I need to make a claim in the next 2.5 months, Aviva would still pay out the claim after charging me the additional premium due. In that case, why should I notify them and pay now? What do you think? Thanks.

DUTR

longbb wrote: »

Hi, I bought my car insurance from Aviva last year with estimated mileage of less than 6000 miles. However, I am now already close to the limit with 2.5 months to renewal date, which means I am likely to go over by roughly 1500 miles. I am wondering whether I shall inform the insurer now. I've checked the policy which seems to have a clause as per below:

"We reserve the right to establish the mileage on your vehicle at any time where your policy has been rated on a selected annual mileage basis. Where the annual mileage has been exceeded, the premium will be increased to that which applies to the mileage driven. If we become aware that the annual mileage has been exceeded at the time of a claim, an additional premium will be charged. The higher premium will apply from the commencement of the period of insurance."

If my understanding is correct, I can't see any reason to notify them now. It seems even if I need to make a claim in the next 2.5 months, Aviva would still pay out the claim after charging me the additional premium due. In that case, why should I notify them and pay now? What do you think? Thanks.

The few thousand miles extra premium is small, it's your policy and record so only you can decide.

elsien

longbb wrote: »

Hi, I bought my car insurance from Aviva last year with estimated mileage of less than 6000 miles. However, I am now already close to the limit with 2.5 months to renewal date, which means I am likely to go over by roughly 1500 miles. I am wondering whether I shall inform the insurer now. I've checked the policy which seems to have a clause as per below:

"We reserve the right to establish the mileage on your vehicle at any time where your policy has been rated on a selected annual mileage basis. Where the annual mileage has been exceeded, the premium will be increased to that which applies to the mileage driven. If we become aware that the annual mileage has been exceeded at the time of a claim, an additional premium will be charged. The higher premium will apply from the commencement of the period of insurance."

If my understanding is correct, I can't see any reason to notify them now. It seems even if I need to make a claim in the next 2.5 months, Aviva would still pay out the claim after charging me the additional premium due. In that case, why should I notify them and pay now? What do you think? Thanks.

I had a similar situation with another insurer. I decided I'd rather inform them and pay the small additional premium than take the chance of a claim being refused.

longbb

DUTR wrote: »

The few thousand miles extra premium is small, it's your policy and record so only you can decide.

Thanks for the quick reply. I know the extra premium could be small, but there will possibly be a admin charge of £20 - £30, which would be good to avoid. I thought the policy wording was quite clear to me (i.e. the policy is still valid but you pay the additional premium only), but just want to check if you all feel the same, or did I push it too hard?

longbb

elsien wrote: »

I had a similar situation with another insurer. I decided I'd rather inform them and pay the small additional premium than take the chance of a claim being refused.

Thanks. Seems most people are all playing safe. I was thinking of the same until seeing the wording in the policy... I know the additional 1-2k miles probably may not cost much, but I think insurer usually adds another £30ish for admin cost on top.

debtdebt

So you've come on here and asked for advice yet gone against what others have recommended to save a few pounds. Why did you bother asking the question on the first place if you aren't going to heed people's advice then?

What happens if you crash into someone when you've gone over your mileage allowance? There's a small chance that your insurer will pay out the third party claim and then pursue you for their outlay which could run into tens of thousands of pounds. You're willing to risk that merely to save a few pounds now? Do you also fit part worn budget tyres as well?

DUTR

longbb wrote: »

Thanks for the quick reply. I know the extra premium could be small, but there will possibly be a admin charge of £20 - £30, which would be good to avoid. I thought the policy wording was quite clear to me (i.e. the policy is still valid but you pay the additional premium only), but just want to check if you all feel the same, or did I push it too hard?

From what I recall on my own renewals I knew I averaged about 6K, but always insure for 9-10K just in case. The premium was prolyl about a tenner .

longbb

debtdebt wrote: »

So you've come on here and asked for advice yet gone against what others have recommended to save a few pounds. Why did you bother asking the question on the first place if you aren't going to heed people's advice then?

What happens if you crash into someone when you've gone over your mileage allowance? There's a small chance that your insurer will pay out the third party claim and then pursue you for their outlay which could run into tens of thousands of pounds. You're willing to risk that merely to save a few pounds now? Do you also fit part worn budget tyres as well?

Thanks for the response. I was asking because I saw the policy wording, saying "an additional premium will be charged if they become aware that the annual mileage has been exceeded at the time of a claim". This means to me the insurer would be perfectly happy to accept the claim as long as I pay the additional premium when claiming. I could be completely wrong, and that's why I would really appreciate if I could hear your interpretation of this clause. I hear your suggestion of not worth risking it and thank you for that.

longbb

DUTR wrote: »

From what I recall on my own renewals I knew I averaged about 6K, but always insure for 9-10K just in case. The premium was prolyl about a tenner .

Yep, I would do the same but I only drove less than 4,000 the year before, and thus thought 6,000 would be enough... Unfortunately did a few road trip this year, which added to the miles quickly. Maybe I need to call the insurer to see how do they interpret that clause...

alfie1950

I have always found that when buying car insurance increasing the annual mileage on the quote from , say , 6000 to 10000 miles actually reduces the premium.
When I enquired , I was told , that while when you drive less miles there's less time on the road for the possibility of accidents but generally speaking the more you drive the more experienced you are so you are considered a better risk.

Clive_Woody

longbb wrote: »

Thanks. Seems most people are all playing safe. I was thinking of the same until seeing the wording in the policy... I know the additional 1-2k miles probably may not cost much, but I think insurer usually adds another £30ish for admin cost on top.

From what I recall when I had an Aviva policy, if you update the policy online there is no admin fee charged. They also have an online chat function which if you talk nicely with them they will probably also update your policy with no admin fee.