Car Insurance - Still active after total loss?

elsien · 13 February 2018 at 10:18AM

My insurance company refused to re-insure me on a new car last month following an accident and my original car being written off, and no rebate. The only "concession" I got was to not have the admin fee for cancelling the policy charged. Where would I stand with this on the Ombudsman front? It was only a few weeks, so I've not lost much but I'm curious to know if they've acted correctly.

EdGasketTheSecond · 13 February 2018 at 11:15AM

I'd say your insurance company were in the wrong. You could make a complaint, refer them to the above ombudsman link and if they still won't compensate you, refer it back to the ombudsman. Which company was it?

agrinnall · 13 February 2018 at 1:51PM

EdGasketTheSecond wrote: »

"When an insurer declares a vehicle a write-off, we expect it to offer a consumer the option of bringing a replacement vehicle onto the insurance policy so that the remainder of the policy term can be used. Depending on the make and model of the replacement vehicle, an additional premium may be required by the insurer. This should be calculated on a pro rata basis for the remainder of the policy term."

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/technical_notes/motor-valuation.html

I can't see the quote you've provided anywhere in that link.

Aretnap · 13 February 2018 at 4:40PM

agrinnall wrote: »

I can't see the quote you've provided anywhere in that link.

It's in older versions of the guidance, eg.

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/technical_notes/motor-valuation.html

The current webpage has had most of the useful information removed in an attempt to make it more "consumer-friendly", but AFAIK the underlying policy is still the same.

Aretnap · 13 February 2018 at 4:44PM

elsien wrote: »

My insurance company refused to re-insure me on a new car last month following an accident and my original car being written off, and no rebate. The only "concession" I got was to not have the admin fee for cancelling the policy charged. Where would I stand with this on the Ombudsman front? It was only a few weeks, so I've not lost much but I'm curious to know if they've acted correctly.

That would depend - was it the same make/model of car, and if not was it one that they would normally have been willing to insure you to drive? If so then they should have allowed you to bring a new vehicle onto the policy (possibly with a bit of extra premium). However if it was not a car they would normally have covered you to drive at all they would have been entitled to refuse to tgransfer the policy.

paddyandstumpy · 13 February 2018 at 5:04PM

Which is digressing from the OP - which is how long does one have to put a new car on cover...

EdGasketTheSecond · 13 February 2018 at 5:33PM

paddyandstumpy wrote: »

Which is digressing from the OP - which is how long does one have to put a new car on cover...

I'd say until the policy you paid for expires; i.e. up to 12 months if you paid for 12 months.

elsien · 13 February 2018 at 7:24PM

Aretnap wrote: »

That would depend - was it the same make/model of car, and if not was it one that they would normally have been willing to insure you to drive? If so then they should have allowed you to bring a new vehicle onto the policy (possibly with a bit of extra premium). However if it was not a car they would normally have covered you to drive at all they would have been entitled to refuse to tgransfer the policy.

Newer version of the one I killed, your bog standard skoda fabia. I asked if a different car would make a difference and was told no, it was because of my claims. The accident I had, plus 2 windscreen replacements in the last 5 years. No other accidents, penalty points, driving convictions or anything else.
I was less than impressed with the decision. The company was the co-op - CIS

With apologies to the OP for hijacking the thread.

Car Insurance - Still active after total loss?

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