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Car insurance coronavirus

my daughter Currently has her 1st yr insurance with a black box and we took out an 8000 mile policy. Due to the virus my daughter hasn’t used her car and clearly not going to use all her miles. There was a lesser policy for 6000 miles which was considerably cheaper. Now 6 months into her policy is there any recourse or action I can take to maybe getting some sort of refund? Anyone else tried to do this? 
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  • SaverRate
    SaverRate Posts: 978 Forumite
    Sixth Anniversary 500 Posts Name Dropper
    my daughter Currently has her 1st yr insurance with a black box and we took out an 8000 mile policy. Due to the virus my daughter hasn’t used her car and clearly not going to use all her miles. There was a lesser policy for 6000 miles which was considerably cheaper. Now 6 months into her policy is there any recourse or action I can take to maybe getting some sort of refund? Anyone else tried to do this? 
    All we can do is advise especially with the limited info available, we cannot confirm. Only your insurer will be able to confirm. If the cheaper policy was with a different insurer then you would have to cancel your existing policy which may work out more expensive as your 6 months in.
  • DUTR
    DUTR Posts: 12,958 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    my daughter Currently has her 1st yr insurance with a black box and we took out an 8000 mile policy. Due to the virus my daughter hasn’t used her car and clearly not going to use all her miles. There was a lesser policy for 6000 miles which was considerably cheaper. Now 6 months into her policy is there any recourse or action I can take to maybe getting some sort of refund? Anyone else tried to do this? 
    The difference in mileage varies very little in my experience eg around £20/1000miles per annum, more importantly though, what if the situation had meant she would now do 2000 miles more than predicted?


  • KimJongUn88
    KimJongUn88 Posts: 424 Forumite
    100 Posts Second Anniversary Name Dropper
    I’m actually in a similar position. I bought a pair of shoes around 6 months ago. Due to lockdown l, I’m not going to wear them as much. Does anyone know whether I can get a pro rata refund from the shop I bought them from?
  • 452
    452 Posts: 443 Forumite
    100 Posts Name Dropper
    I’m actually in a similar position. I bought a pair of shoes around 6 months ago. Due to lockdown l, I’m not going to wear them as much. Does anyone know whether I can get a pro rata refund from the shop I bought them from?
    Look on the bright side, being low mileage you'll get more when you part ex them for the next pair. 
  • lopsyfa
    lopsyfa Posts: 474 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary 100 Posts Name Dropper
    edited 8 May 2020 at 2:23PM
    DUTR said:
    my daughter Currently has her 1st yr insurance with a black box and we took out an 8000 mile policy. Due to the virus my daughter hasn’t used her car and clearly not going to use all her miles. There was a lesser policy for 6000 miles which was considerably cheaper. Now 6 months into her policy is there any recourse or action I can take to maybe getting some sort of refund? Anyone else tried to do this? 
    The difference in mileage varies very little in my experience eg around £20/1000miles per annum, more importantly though, what if the situation had meant she would now do 2000 miles more than predicted?


    Not for most, if not all, black box policies. Also, if the situation has meant the daughter will be doing 2000 miles more the insurer will be demanding more payments or they cancel the policy.

    The advice is to call the insurer and ask if to ask if there is any rebate if the mileage of the policy is reduced. Some insurers will let you do this online and give you the extra cost or rebate before making the changes.
  • DUTR
    DUTR Posts: 12,958 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    lopsyfa said:
    DUTR said:
    my daughter Currently has her 1st yr insurance with a black box and we took out an 8000 mile policy. Due to the virus my daughter hasn’t used her car and clearly not going to use all her miles. There was a lesser policy for 6000 miles which was considerably cheaper. Now 6 months into her policy is there any recourse or action I can take to maybe getting some sort of refund? Anyone else tried to do this? 
    The difference in mileage varies very little in my experience eg around £20/1000miles per annum, more importantly though, what if the situation had meant she would now do 2000 miles more than predicted?


    Not for most, if not all, black box policies. Also, if the situation has meant the daughter will be doing 2000 miles more the insurer will be demanding more payments or they cancel the policy.

    The advice is to call the insurer and ask if to ask if there is any rebate if the mileage of the policy is reduced. Some insurers will let you do this online and give you the extra cost or rebate before making the changes.
    We cannot predict the future (only prepare as we believe) , the policies aren't to drive up to a certain limit.
    There are tolerences on the mileage, I know when I've looked at policy invitation, having to low a guestimated mileage can detrimentally harm the premium.
  • KimJongUn88
    KimJongUn88 Posts: 424 Forumite
    100 Posts Second Anniversary Name Dropper
    452 said:
    I’m actually in a similar position. I bought a pair of shoes around 6 months ago. Due to lockdown l, I’m not going to wear them as much. Does anyone know whether I can get a pro rata refund from the shop I bought them from?
    Look on the bright side, being low mileage you'll get more when you part ex them for the next pair. 
    Unfortunately, they're on PCP so I won't get the benefit of the low mileage.  I'm just going to hand them back.  
  • lopsyfa
    lopsyfa Posts: 474 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary 100 Posts Name Dropper
    edited 9 May 2020 at 12:30PM
    DUTR said:
    lopsyfa said:
    DUTR said:
    my daughter Currently has her 1st yr insurance with a black box and we took out an 8000 mile policy. Due to the virus my daughter hasn’t used her car and clearly not going to use all her miles. There was a lesser policy for 6000 miles which was considerably cheaper. Now 6 months into her policy is there any recourse or action I can take to maybe getting some sort of refund? Anyone else tried to do this? 
    The difference in mileage varies very little in my experience eg around £20/1000miles per annum, more importantly though, what if the situation had meant she would now do 2000 miles more than predicted?


    Not for most, if not all, black box policies. Also, if the situation has meant the daughter will be doing 2000 miles more the insurer will be demanding more payments or they cancel the policy.

    The advice is to call the insurer and ask if to ask if there is any rebate if the mileage of the policy is reduced. Some insurers will let you do this online and give you the extra cost or rebate before making the changes.
    We cannot predict the future (only prepare as we believe) , the policies aren't to drive up to a certain limit.
    There are tolerences on the mileage, I know when I've looked at policy invitation, having to low a guestimated mileage can detrimentally harm the premium.
    Estimating annual mileage is not rocket science - not even similar to predicting the future. If the mileage was estimated at the beginning to be 8000 and we are already in lockdown for 7 weeks and likely will be in some form of lockdown for the next 3-5 weeks. That is about 3 months in 12 months and that can form the basis for reducing the mileage. 

    You stated before that the OP won't be offering to pay more if the mileage had been 2000 more but fail to acknowledge the insurer will be asking for more. I guess the policy invitations that you looked at are not black box policies because the ones I have seen, the mileage makes a significant difference to the policy premium. Once you are about to reach the limit, you need to pay for extra mileage allowance to keep the policy. 

    Also the OP already confirm reducing the mileage makes the policy significantly cheaper, so no point arguing that.
  • DUTR
    DUTR Posts: 12,958 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    lopsyfa said:
    DUTR said:
    lopsyfa said:
    DUTR said:
    my daughter Currently has her 1st yr insurance with a black box and we took out an 8000 mile policy. Due to the virus my daughter hasn’t used her car and clearly not going to use all her miles. There was a lesser policy for 6000 miles which was considerably cheaper. Now 6 months into her policy is there any recourse or action I can take to maybe getting some sort of refund? Anyone else tried to do this? 
    The difference in mileage varies very little in my experience eg around £20/1000miles per annum, more importantly though, what if the situation had meant she would now do 2000 miles more than predicted?


    Not for most, if not all, black box policies. Also, if the situation has meant the daughter will be doing 2000 miles more the insurer will be demanding more payments or they cancel the policy.

    The advice is to call the insurer and ask if to ask if there is any rebate if the mileage of the policy is reduced. Some insurers will let you do this online and give you the extra cost or rebate before making the changes.
    We cannot predict the future (only prepare as we believe) , the policies aren't to drive up to a certain limit.
    There are tolerences on the mileage, I know when I've looked at policy invitation, having to low a guestimated mileage can detrimentally harm the premium.
    Estimating annual mileage is not rocket science - not even similar to predicting the future. If the mileage was estimated at the beginning to be 8000 and we are already in lockdown for 7 weeks and likely will be in some form of lockdown for the next 3-5 weeks. That is about 3 months in 12 months and that can form the basis for reducing the mileage. 

    You stated before that the OP won't be offering to pay more if the mileage had been 2000 more but fail to acknowledge the insurer will be asking for more. I guess the policy invitations that you looked at are not black box policies because the ones I have seen, the mileage makes a significant difference to the policy premium. Once you are about to reach the limit, you need to pay for extra mileage allowance to keep the policy. 

    Also the OP already confirm reducing the mileage makes the policy significantly cheaper, so no point arguing that.
    I guess it is how the message is perceived, I don't know about them asking for more money (I don't have a BB policy) I do know though that say I put I was doing 7K PA but I over the last 3 years were doing say 20K PA and then had to make a claim, then the insurers may have something to say about that. 
    If I put 9K and done 9100 say, little or nothing would be said as there are tolarences.
    Indeed part of the policy risk includes mileage, whilst the car is not driven, it is still subject to risk of collision or theft.

    For any reason after the lockdown, there may be cause to increase the average mileage, there probably won't be holidays abroad (or minimal), so the owner may decide to drive from one end of the country to another for a break . 

    The policy period is not over.

  • Andy_L
    Andy_L Posts: 13,051 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    452 said:
    I’m actually in a similar position. I bought a pair of shoes around 6 months ago. Due to lockdown l, I’m not going to wear them as much. Does anyone know whether I can get a pro rata refund from the shop I bought them from?
    Look on the bright side, being low mileage you'll get more when you part ex them for the next pair. 
    Unfortunately, they're on PCP so I won't get the benefit of the low mileage.  I'm just going to hand them back.  
    What? Just walk away from the deal?
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