NIG insurance refuse to pay out after car stolen!!

Tuckshop1

My Range Rover was stolen off our driveway, NIG have said that this due to when I insured it I never told them it had an Overfinch body kit on it!! it does not say Overfinch on the log book so why would this be an issue? we have paid for the insurance for 30 months and now have been told we are not receiving a penny!! can someone please help!

neilmcl

Tuckshop1 said:

My Range Rover was stolen off our driveway, NIG have said that this due to when I insured it I never told them it had an Overfinch body kit on it!! it does not say Overfinch on the log book so why would this be an issue? we have paid for the insurance for 30 months and now have been told we are not receiving a penny!! can someone please help!

Presumably because the Overfinch customisation adds considerable more value to the car and would also make it more desirable to steal. Your insurer would've asked about any modifications and you've essentially lied to them to get a cheaper quote.

Tuckshop1

The issue is that as a company car, the log book was handed to a team member who deals with company vehicles, she just added to a fleet policy and was not told of any mods, plus we pay over 30k a year for the policy.. No one ever asked me if it had any mods, it was purely purchased because it looked nice.  

missile

How do the insurance company now know it is overfinch?

davidmcn

Tuckshop1 said:

No one ever asked me if it had any mods

Well, if nobody told the insurers, they've got a point.

shaun_from_Africa

Tuckshop1 said:

No one ever asked me if it had any mods,

Maybe not asked directly but I guarantee that one of the questions asked on the insurance declaration would ask if the vehicle was modified in any way from the manufacturers original specification.
If it was an internal modification that was hard to spot then you might be able to argue that you didn't know but a full body kit adds a totally different look to a vehicle.

If a thief had the choice of two vehicles, same engine, mileage, year and condition but one had an expensive full body kit  the chances are they would opt for the more expensive one. Because of this, it would be more of a risk to the insurer and would attract a higher premium or possibly they wouldn't even insure it.

neilmcl

Tuckshop1 said:

The issue is that as a company car, the log book was handed to a team member who deals with company vehicles, she just added to a fleet policy and was not told of any mods, plus we pay over 30k a year for the policy.. No one ever asked me if it had any mods, it was purely purchased because it looked nice.  

Drip, drip, drip. The fact remains all insurance policies require the policyholder to declare all modifications, in fact anything that has a material affect on the quoted insurance premium. This wasn't done and therefore your insurer is not liable for the loss.

Tuckshop1

missile said:

How do the insurance company now know it is overfinch?

They have seen pictures.

Tuckshop1

neilmcl said:

Tuckshop1 said:

The issue is that as a company car, the log book was handed to a team member who deals with company vehicles, she just added to a fleet policy and was not told of any mods, plus we pay over 30k a year for the policy.. No one ever asked me if it had any mods, it was purely purchased because it looked nice.  

Drip, drip, drip. The fact remains all insurance policies require the policyholder to declare all modifications, in fact anything that has a material affect on the quoted insurance premium. This wasn't done and therefore your insurer is not liable for the loss.

so I am screwed then??

eddddy

It sounds like this was a business insurance policy, rather than a consumer insurance policy.

The following principle applies to consumer insurance policies, and I think it applies to business insurance policies as well (based on the Insurance Act 2015) :

If it was innocent non-disclosure (i.e. you genuinely didn't know the car had a body kit), then it's a question of whether the insurers would have still insured the car, if they'd known it had a body kit.

• If the insurers would have refused to insure the car with a body kit, they can now void the insurance and refuse to pay the claim.

• If the insurers would have insured the car, but at a higher premium, they should now pay a pro rata amount of the claim. e.g. if the premium paid was £800 per year, but they would have charged £1000 per year if they'd known it had a body kit, they should pay you 80% of the theft claim.

But you'd still need to convince the insurers (or ultimately a court) that it was innocent non-disclosure, and not intentional non-disclosure. 

If this was a consumer insurance contract, you could complain to the Financial Ombudsman. But if it's a business contract, and you exhaust the insurer's complaints process, the remaining option would probably be an expensive court case.

Ditzy_Mitzy

Tuckshop1 said:

neilmcl said:

Tuckshop1 said:

The issue is that as a company car, the log book was handed to a team member who deals with company vehicles, she just added to a fleet policy and was not told of any mods, plus we pay over 30k a year for the policy.. No one ever asked me if it had any mods, it was purely purchased because it looked nice.  

Drip, drip, drip. The fact remains all insurance policies require the policyholder to declare all modifications, in fact anything that has a material affect on the quoted insurance premium. This wasn't done and therefore your insurer is not liable for the loss.

so I am screwed then??

I assume so - you'll have signed a declaration stating that the car isn't modified, when it is, which is sufficient reason for the insurer to deny the claim.  Did you buy it second-hand or did you arrange for the Overfinch conversion yourself?