Vehicle stolen, am I insured?

Sean88661046

Hi everyone, need some help...

My car was stolen from my drive a few days ago. It's a keyless entry vehicle and there were no signs of break in and both keys are still present in the house. I'm assuming it was stolen via 'relay' theft. The keys are in a special box overnight and most of the time during the day as well. On this occasion they were on the side in the hallway. When I found the vehicle missing I informed the police immediately and insurance company. The problem: 

The vehicle is registered to my main correspondence address where I live/sleep at 2-3 nights per week. My bank accounts ect are at this address as well. 

The vehicle is insured at my parents address where my business is also registered. I work from this address and sleep here 4-5 nights per week. This is where the vehicle spends most of it's time during the day and night. My driving licence is also registered to this address. 

I asked the insurance company upon application which address I should insure the vehicle from, they advised it should be insured from where the vehicle spends most of it's time. Typically the vehicle has been stolen from my 'correspondence' address where I live at during the weekends. The vehicle value is around £50k so I'm expecting the insurance company to be as difficult as possible.

Legally speaking, which is correct?
Register the vehicle to the address where it spends most of its time (at night)
Register the vehicle so it's the same as the registered keepers driving licence address
Register the vehicle to the registered keepers correspondence address 

Have I registered the vehicle to the wrong address? Am I screwed? I don't want to ask this question to the insurer for obvious reasons but i'm sure it will come up when they see the V5 document that they've asked to see. I need my defence ready but I'm finding conflicting info on search engines...

Thanks in advance for any advice 

DB1904

Sean88661046 said:

Hi everyone, need some help...

My car was stolen from my drive a few days ago. It's a keyless entry vehicle and there were no signs of break in and both keys are still present in the house. I'm assuming it was stolen via 'relay' theft. The keys are in a special box overnight and most of the time during the day as well. On this occasion they were on the side in the hallway. When I found the vehicle missing I informed the police immediately and insurance company. The problem: 

The vehicle is registered to my main correspondence address where I live/sleep at 2-3 nights per week. My bank accounts ect are at this address as well. 

The vehicle is insured at my parents address where my business is also registered. I work from this address and sleep here 4-5 nights per week. This is where the vehicle spends most of it's time during the day and night. My driving licence is also registered to this address. 

I asked the insurance company upon application which address I should insure the vehicle from, they advised it should be insured from where the vehicle spends most of it's time. Typically the vehicle has been stolen from my 'correspondence' address where I live at during the weekends. The vehicle value is around £50k so I'm expecting the insurance company to be as difficult as possible.

Legally speaking, which is correct?
Register the vehicle to the address where it spends most of its time (at night)
Register the vehicle so it's the same as the registered keepers driving licence address
Register the vehicle to the registered keepers correspondence address 

Have I registered the vehicle to the wrong address? Am I screwed? I don't want to ask this question to the insurer for obvious reasons but i'm sure it will come up when they see the V5 document that they've asked to see. I need my defence ready but I'm finding conflicting info on search engines...

Thanks in advance for any advice 

To counter any allegations of fronting etc. Why do you live at your parents during the week and return home at weekends. If there's a simply explanation then it appears you've done nothing wrong. 

Grumpy_chap

Sean88661046 said:

Legally speaking, which is correct?
Register the vehicle to the address where it spends most of its time (at night)
Register the vehicle so it's the same as the registered keepers driving licence address
Register the vehicle to the registered keepers correspondence address 

Normally, I would say the individual's main address is where they spend most nights most weeks.  Then that address would be used for registered keeper address plus insurance address.  

Car_54

Grumpy_chap said:

Sean88661046 said:

Legally speaking, which is correct?
Register the vehicle to the address where it spends most of its time (at night)
Register the vehicle so it's the same as the registered keepers driving licence address
Register the vehicle to the registered keepers correspondence address 

Normally, I would say the individual's main address is where they spend most nights most weeks.  Then that address would be used for registered keeper address plus insurance address.  

It doesn’t matter where the OP lives, it’s where the car is kept, and he seems to have told the insurers that. The RK’s address is irrelevant.

TheProfessional

How would the insurance company know where you spend most of your time though? Are the addresses close by?

jimjames

If you've declared the address correctly as the one where the vehicle spends most of the time then it shouldn't be a problem. Even better if the call was recorded of you asking the question at the time of taking the policy.  It's not a particularly unusual situation, I know a lot of people that work in one location during the week and return to their home at the weekend.

If the vehicle wasn't covered at another address then you'd potentially have a claim rejected if it was stolen when staying with friends for a weekend.

BOWFER

jimjames said:

If the vehicle wasn't covered at another address then you'd potentially have a claim rejected if it was stolen when staying with friends for a weekend.

I've read this umpteen times and can't fathom what on earth you mean

ontheroad1970

jimjames said:

If you've declared the address correctly as the one where the vehicle spends most of the time then it shouldn't be a problem. Even better if the call was recorded of you asking the question at the time of taking the policy.  It's not a particularly unusual situation, I know a lot of people that work in one location during the week and return to their home at the weekend.

If the vehicle wasn't covered at another address then you'd potentially have a claim rejected if it was stolen when staying with friends for a weekend.

Insurance would be pretty pointless if it didn't cover for theft away from home.  It would only be an issue if the OP was declaring Location A in a low theft/damage area as main keeping place for car when Location B with lots of vehicle and other crime was actually where it was kept more often than not.  It would also have to clear that the OP was actively gaming the system - this is why the comparison sites get wary if you put in multiple different addresses.

Ebe_Scrooge

BOWFER said:

jimjames said:

If the vehicle wasn't covered at another address then you'd potentially have a claim rejected if it was stolen when staying with friends for a weekend.

I've read this umpteen times and can't fathom what on earth you mean

I get it totally - I was going to post a similar thing.  Take a very typical scenario - you have the car declared to be "usually kept" at your house.  You go to visit friends or relatives, many miles away, for the weekend.  The car is stolen from their driveway.  Do you think the insurers would quibble over that?

ontheroad1970

Ebe_Scrooge said:

BOWFER said:

jimjames said:

If the vehicle wasn't covered at another address then you'd potentially have a claim rejected if it was stolen when staying with friends for a weekend.

I've read this umpteen times and can't fathom what on earth you mean

I get it totally - I was going to post a similar thing.  Take a very typical scenario - you have the car declared to be "usually kept" at your house.  You go to visit friends or relatives, many miles away, for the weekend.  The car is stolen from their driveway.  Do you think the insurers would quibble over that?

For the reasons I stated above, no.  They might decide to run checks, but that's not quibbling, that's normal.

AdrianC

Ebe_Scrooge said:

BOWFER said:

jimjames said:

If the vehicle wasn't covered at another address then you'd potentially have a claim rejected if it was stolen when staying with friends for a weekend.

I've read this umpteen times and can't fathom what on earth you mean

I get it totally - I was going to post a similar thing.  Take a very typical scenario - you have the car declared to be "usually kept" at your house.  You go to visit friends or relatives, many miles away, for the weekend.  The car is stolen from their driveway.  Do you think the insurers would quibble over that?

Except the OP's V5C and licence are at the weekend address, from where the car was stolen.

It's still a common scenario, though. People get a job in a different area, but leave the paperwork to their family home. They commute weekly - usually leave the office on Friday and go "home", then back to the week address on Sunday for Monday in work. I've house-shared in the past with people who've been doing this for years on end - one guy owned a flat in Hertfordshire for the week, with me as a lodger, then he spent the weekend with wife and kids in Bristol.

The insurer should be told the weekday is the primary address. If it's stolen from the weekend address, then so be it. The insurer was informed correctly. The claim is valid.

BUT...

You can bet they'll do some digging, especially if the weekend address is a higher risk...