Help! Car stolen, Insurance hadn't auto renewed!

jimjames

AdrianC said:

jimjames said:

AdrianC said:

moneysaver said:

Surely the insurance company's should have a better system than an email telling you that they are declining an auto renew on such an important matter. Not everyone checks emails regular or if it is not highlighted in subject line might not think it is important.

If somebody takes insurance out online, and states they want comms by email, then they have zero grounds to complain when they get comms by email.

Although an email with the subject Your Insurance docs attached would lead you to believe you were insured. I have to confess I've not always opened every attachment that a company has sent me if the info is expected.

Would you notice the insurance premium (non-trivial amount for a £65k++ high theft-risk car) had not been taken from your account?

That I would notice but it could be a few days/month later when I get my credit card bill so there could still be a period where I have no insurance and am in the same situation as the OP. Fortunately I don't have a £65k car and have to use a key to open mine which may make it less likely to be targeted although a cheaper car might be for other reasons.

HansOndabush

HansOndabush said:

If it is uninsured and being driven around by the thieves, is the OP liable for any damage they cause and if not, who is?

Can anyone answer this? A brief internet search is rather vague as to the vehicle owner's liability; it would seem the car being stolen does not necessarily absolve the owner from any third party damage caused which is why, for an insured car, the insurance has to cover it; but in this case there is no insurance so how does it work? Does the owner pay ? does the MIB pay? Is it just tough luck on the third party?

Aretnap

HansOndabush said:

HansOndabush said:

If it is uninsured and being driven around by the thieves, is the OP liable for any damage they cause and if not, who is?

Can anyone answer this? A brief internet search is rather vague as to the vehicle owner's liability; it would seem the car being stolen does not necessarily absolve the owner from any third party damage caused which is why, for an insured car, the insurance has to cover it; but in this case there is no insurance so how does it work? Does the owner pay ? does the MIB pay? Is it just tough luck on the third party?

The owner is not liable for the actions of thieves. That would be absurd and grossly unfair.

The insurer can be required to pay for an accident caused by thieves - that's got nothing to do with the over being liable, but it's one of a number of measures put in place to ensure that victims of uninsured drivers have someone to compensate them. The (rough) principle is that the insurer with the closest connection to the car pays, unless the car has no insurance whatsoever or the car cannot be traced, in which case the MIB pays out of central funds. 

strawb_shortcake

With autorenew you still get a quote come through prior to it autorenewing, how would you know how much to budget for your next year without this? You could equally have agreed to pay a £10k premium for not reading your emails

macman

HansOndabush said:

HansOndabush said:

If it is uninsured and being driven around by the thieves, is the OP liable for any damage they cause and if not, who is?

Can anyone answer this? A brief internet search is rather vague as to the vehicle owner's liability; it would seem the car being stolen does not necessarily absolve the owner from any third party damage caused which is why, for an insured car, the insurance has to cover it; but in this case there is no insurance so how does it work? Does the owner pay ? does the MIB pay? Is it just tough luck on the third party?

In this case, it's not the sort of vehicle that gets nicked by teenagers for a spot of joyriding. It'll either be in a shipping container on it's way to somewhere warmer, or been stripped for parts. 
The owner's liability will cease once it is reported as stolen to the police.

rudekid48

OP, you need to be very specific about timelines here...  Your insurer MUST give you sufficient notice of renewal terms, regardless of auto-renewal.  You should have received an initial email/letter before your policy expired advising you of the renewal terms - including if they did not wish to offer renewal.  They cannot just email you on the day and say 'no thanks'.  If the insurer did not follow the correct process then the FOS may well be inclined to find in your favour.  Can you post the timeline here? i.e. what was the renewal date of your policy, when did you get the email from the insurer, was it just one email or were there a number that you ignored etc.  Either way you will have to raise a formal complaint with the insurer first and wait for their final response or 8 weeks (whichever is sooner) before the FOS will review your case... 

bartelbe

I have some sympathy with the OP. I always change insurers each year, so this hasn't been an issue for me but I was under the impression that auto-renewal was there to ensure that nobody ended up in the OP's situation and was left uninsured. It never occurred to me that an insurer could decline to renew.

If they are going to do that, they should make it absolutely clear in the title of the email that is what the email is about.

[Deleted User]

delete 123

fred246

A car accident is capable of producing claims for millions of pounds. I don't want claims like that against me which is why I am obsessive about making sure I am insured before driving. I have never really heard of anyone going from multi millionaire to bankruptcy though because of a car accident where they hadn't got insurance. Do people end up having to pay or do the MIB always end up paying? Just out of interest.

Grumpy_chap

fred246 said:

A car accident is capable of producing claims for millions of pounds. I don't want claims like that against me which is why I am obsessive about making sure I am insured before driving. I have never really heard of anyone going from multi millionaire to bankruptcy though because of a car accident where they hadn't got insurance. Do people end up having to pay or do the MIB always end up paying? Just out of interest.

Multi-millionaires employ a PA to manage the dull admin type things of life so that they are always insured and don't, therefore, go to bankruptcy in the event of a claim.  Think of it like auto-renew but with a personal touch.