Car Insurance Estimated Mileage

venomx

Hadn't driven for a few years so I made an estimate of my mileage when taking out the policy a couple of months back. I have been driving more than expected and have calculated roughly what I will actually be doing for the year. Is it best to update this as soon as possible on my policy ?

Thanks

Sandtree

It'd be sensible to unless you predict your mileage to tail off and average out to your declaration. 

jimbo6977

Hopefully you will be insured with a proper insurer rather than one of the lunatic organisations that come up top on the comparison sites then sting customers with outlandish charges for minor discrepancies and alterations. 

Herzlos

How far out are you going to be?

If you predicted 7k and are doing 10k I wouldn't bother, but if you predicted 7k and are doing 20k I would let insurer know.

mgfvvc

Herzlos said:

How far out are you going to be?

If you predicted 7k and are doing 10k I wouldn't bother, but if you predicted 7k and are doing 20k I would let insurer know.

That's a risk I wouldn't take. Most insurers have specific policies on how much you can exceed the declared amount before you have to inform them. 7k to 10k is more than 40% and I would be surprised if your insurers would allow that. Last time I had to increase my mileage limit an increase from 12k to 15k cost me about £7, if I remember correctly. That's a small price to avoid a dispute over a claim.

Penelopa.Pitstop

I would wait to the limit of currently specified mileage and then update it. That's what I do, when I'm close to the limit.

movilogo

Mileage is not cast in stone. If you say 5000 miles a year and then 6 months later discover you are going way over it, you can just ring insurer and update them. 

Grey_Critic

Estimating mileage can be difficult at the best of times. Several years ago mine shot up due to family health problems and regular 100 mile round trips - the following year it was back to normal. When I spoke with the insurers they were quite understanding. I do think it is of more concern if you tell them 5 k for the year and do 15/20k A thousand or so miles over does not make much difference.

jimjames

Insurers don't know the start mileage for the policy (and many drivers wouldn't either!) so it also depends when the MOT/service was done and what mileage was at that stage to prove in the event of a query or claim. My MOT is mid policy year so it's very hard to apportion mileage to which year it was done. Obviously if you state 2k miles a year but have done 20k then that would be an issue but the difference between 8000 and 10000 is in the range where it could easily be across policy years.

Herzlos

Plus any miles put on the car by someone under a different policy wouldn't count, so even the MOT to MOT figure may not be accurate.

jimjames

Herzlos said:

Plus any miles put on the car by someone under a different policy wouldn't count, so even the MOT to MOT figure may not be accurate.

That's a very good point. So if someone uses your car under their own third party cover then it's not part of your policy mileage either.