We're not going to offer to renew your car insurance??

BarryJoe

I’ve had the same letter from Churchill. They won’t renew my policy for my 22-y-o Citroen Saxo. I’m 69 with my partner as a named driver. Churchill have sent me a confirmation letter proving my 8 years’ NCB. I renewed my insurance with another company before I had the Churchill letter, on a comparison site, so I naturally answered no to the questions about refusal of renewal. It hadn’t happened. So where does that leave me?

DullGreyGuy

BarryJoe said:

I’ve had the same letter from Churchill. They won’t renew my policy for my 22-y-o Citroen Saxo. I’m 69 with my partner as a named driver. Churchill have sent me a confirmation letter proving my 8 years’ NCB. I renewed my insurance with another company before I had the Churchill letter, on a comparison site, so I naturally answered no to the questions about refusal of renewal. It hadn’t happened. So where does that leave me?

Did they actually ask about a refused renewal? It's a non-standard question but is asked by some.

Ultimately you need to inform your new insurer that the situation has changed, hopefully they won't care as most dont. 

BarryJoe

Yes, the new insurers asked and I answered no - which was the truth, as it was prior to my hearing from Churchill. I would have declined a renewal from Churchill in any event as I had found a good policy elsewhere. I don’t see why I should go to all the trouble of retrospectively reporting it and also imperil my new insurance. The fact remains that I did not apply to Churchill for insurance - I simply received their renewal letter.

DullGreyGuy

BarryJoe said:

Yes, the new insurers asked and I answered no - which was the truth, as it was prior to my hearing from Churchill. I would have declined a renewal from Churchill in any event as I had found a good policy elsewhere. I don’t see why I should go to all the trouble of retrospectively reporting it and also imperil my new insurance. The fact remains that I did not apply to Churchill for insurance - I simply received their renewal letter.

Then dont but also dont come here in 6 months time saying your insurance has been voided and you are now being sued for £100,000 for a car accident without insurance. 

Whenever you buy insurance you are obligated to advise them of any changes that occur between purchase and inception. So if your car had been involved in an accident on the day you got the Churchill letter you'd also be needing to inform them of that.

RoyR1

Good Afternoon,
Jusr received my Churchill car insurance and it states that they will not be renewing my policy, as other folk have mentioned here.
I phoned them to ask why and was helpfully informed that Company Policy excludes cars over 26 years old. 
A shame, as my 1998 Land Rover Discovery 1 is well maintained and has yet to receive any "Cautions" at MOT time, but it is 27years old. 
Just a thought, is this Govenment driven, in order to get the older cars off the roads???
Has anyone reading this got insurance on a 27 years and over car please? I will look at that Insurance Campany for renewal.
Regards
RoyR1
 

DullGreyGuy

RoyR1 said:

Good Afternoon,
Jusr received my Churchill car insurance and it states that they will not be renewing my policy, as other folk have mentioned here.
I phoned them to ask why and was helpfully informed that Company Policy excludes cars over 26 years old. 
A shame, as my 1998 Land Rover Discovery 1 is well maintained and has yet to receive any "Cautions" at MOT time, but it is 27years old. 
Just a thought, is this Govenment driven, in order to get the older cars off the roads???
Has anyone reading this got insurance on a 27 years and over car please? I will look at that Insurance Campany for renewal.
Regards
RoyR1
 

Using a randomly found 30 year old Vauxhall Carlton registration plate Confused.com comes back with at least 22 different quotes from providers. As it's using dummy data some will have declined to quote due to failing ID checks and so I'd expect you to get more quotes than that. 

Mass market consumer insurers operate under the 80/20 rule, everything fits into broad categories in the name of efficiencies and so automated logic can do everything without the need for human intervention. Your car may be in the "20%" of old car that isnt on its last legs just scraping through the MOT each year but an insurer isnt going to spend the time reviewing all your service history and MOT results etc to confirm that. 

Similarly parts can be very difficult to come by for old vehicles when not using specialist garages and when needing to use new OEM parts and so even minor damage can cause the car to be a write off because though economical to repair a policy compliant part cannot be. Again some models of vehicle are exceptions to the rule but its the time and effort to maintain a DB of exceptions that just isnt worth the effort. 

At its age it may be worth a conversation with a specialist broker like Lancaster or Adrian Flux who may suggest a "modern classic" type policy which occasionally can come out at really good value even for a daily driver. 

Herzlos

I suspect it's more about getting parts for a 26+ year old car, and lack of safety features, meaning it's not worth it to them from a cost/benefit perspective.

HillStreetBlues

RoyR1 said:

Has anyone reading this got insurance on a 27 years and over car please? I will look at that Insurance Campany for renewal.

Use a few compare sites. If the quotes are high it's more to do with any combo of you, the car  & area than age, my car is getting on a bit and last year was £115 (with cashback) with 2 years NCB.

Grey_Critic

Some insurance companies operate an age limit. If you are over a certain age then they decline. They can also do so for cars of a certain age which is why *specialist insurance* comes in just as with classic cars.

lordmountararat

Grey_Critic said:

Some insurance companies operate an age limit. If you are over a certain age then they decline. They can also do so for cars of a certain age which is why *specialist insurance* comes in just as with classic cars.

My renewal came up this month with a 40% increase on last year's premium (no accidents or convictions). I will reach 80 years old during the year and I think that must be the reason. Perhaps some companies just refuse cover at any price for old age. I managed to get cover at a reasonable price using Compare the Market.