Mileage Bands when insuring

[bigtwin]

An excess of £700 will
apply to any claim under Section 1 of this policy in the event the
annual mileage limit as shown on your schedule is exceeded by 500
miles or more in any one period of insurance.

That’s very comforting to know. Worth checking our own policies.

Exceeding the limit is most likely to be a simple oversight so draconian responses would be inappropriate.

Ian

 

[The Wino]

Unless the MoT dates align with the policy dates then you cannot surmise the mileage during the policy period.

For example, if the MoT date precedes the policy date by two months and in that two month period you do 3000 miles and then you do a further 3000 miles during the term of the policy that has a 5000 mile limit, what do you conclude? Would you conclude that they did 6000 miles that year, or 3000 miles?

The only way to conclude mileage during the policy term is to have evidence of the odometer reading at policy inception and at policy termination.

Of course, if you blatantly exceed policy limits then it might be possible to look at two, in policy, events such as between an MoT and a service. Under those circumstances it is blatant deception on the part of the policy holder and they deserve what comes to them.

Ian

Not just that if your mot history shows an average of 10k miles a year and you insure for 4000 you might need a good explanation of the change in circumstances that made you get a quote on that basis. Also if you have been with the same insurers a few years and the MOT history shows consistently a lot more miles than the policy it could be difficult to explain

 

[L' Hobo]

Thanks for the input (both)! My inclination was to do nothing but it seemed sensible to ask. I am happy enough to take the risk of an extra couple of hundred pounds added to the excess. That seem fair given it will cost me circa £120 if I make the phone call!!

All manner of things may yet get in the way of putting on those miles so it is still a "What if?" minor problem. I have always been under my insured miles on cars and bikes over the decades to date.

Why not extend your holiday in the South of England for 10days?

 

[VXman]

Working out the miles is annoying. I initially went for 8000 but was very slightly over in year one so I upped it to 10000.
That's was fine for year 2 and 3 but last summer I had an accident which spoiled all our Autumn plans. Insurance renewal is next week and i have only managed a embarrassing 4000 this last year!!!!

What a waste of 6000 miles of insurance!!!

Most companies I have seen seem to do it in 2000 mile chunks.

 

[Gareth_Kelly]

Out of interest, this is Comfort's response to me asking a similarnquestion about mileage bands last week for our policy:

"Our mileage bands are as follows

1500

4000

6000

8000

10000

Unlimited

For us to go from 6,000 to Unlimited would increase the premium by £144 incl the £25 admin fee.

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[Steve I]

Will they know if you exceed the mileage?

And if do less will they let it roll over to following year ?

Easy to check, MOT’s if 3 years old or service history if newer. If bought used it will have a mileage on the invoice and insurers have access to HPI records which will show all mileages when being valued by dealers. Be honest, cough up or not be insured is the reality

 

[The Wino]

Out of interest, this is Comfort's response to me asking a similarnquestion about mileage bands last week for our policy:

"Our mileage bands are as follows

1500

4000

6000

8000

10000

Unlimited

For us to go from 6,000 to Unlimited would increase the premium by £144 incl the £25 admin fee.

That's going up three bands I wonder what the cost is to go up by one which would be the most likely change

 

[Gellyneck]

c8% in our case - 4k to 8k.

 

[BRND]

I am gearing up to be better armed to deal with the pain of re-insuring the van this May. Given that the optimum time to reinsure is 3-4 weeks before renewal and that I am away then I hope to to be sorted before taking a ferry on 27th April and that is not much more than a month away.

I restricted my mileage last year to 4,000 miles. That has cramped my style. I am likely to exceed that figure on the M6 on my way back from my week away end of April with just one week to go before a fresh policy! I was quoted £120 last year to increase my annual mileage to 8k and declined to do so.

I am guessing different insurers have different bands? I am a certainly used to more flexibility with car insurance. My best guess is that 6k would suit my needs and I don't want to pay through the nose for 8k.

Anybody got any observations on which insurers to approach or commonly used mileage bands? I am currently with Caravan Guard.

TIA for replies.

I just wouldn’t risk anything with Insurance. Ring them and say you will exceed this year by xxx then get quote for next year with increased mileage.

 

[Philemery]

Yes I am aware of that but with 12 plus years NCB on my car policy I did not want to risk that because of a minor shunt in the MoHo where I say the other party is to blame and claim but the insurance company decides to go 50/50.

Unfortunately for you, if you had an accident in your moho, whether or not your fault or you made a claim, when you renew your car insurance you will have to inform them of that accident even if under a different policy with a different company. Your renewal will almost certainly increase for the car you may also lose a portion of your NCB. If you fail to declare ANY claims or accidents your insurance would be invalidated, and cover withdrawn. This then shows up on your insurance record, it may then be difficult to get future insurance or cover offered at vastly inflated premium.

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[Buddy1012]

I am gearing up to be better armed to deal with the pain of re-insuring the van this May. Given that the optimum time to reinsure is 3-4 weeks before renewal and that I am away then I hope to to be sorted before taking a ferry on 27th April and that is not much more than a month away.

I restricted my mileage last year to 4,000 miles. That has cramped my style. I am likely to exceed that figure on the M6 on my way back from my week away end of April with just one week to go before a fresh policy! I was quoted £120 last year to increase my annual mileage to 8k and declined to do so.

I am guessing different insurers have different bands? I am a certainly used to more flexibility with car insurance. My best guess is that 6k would suit my needs and I don't want to pay through the nose for 8k.

Anybody got any observations on which insurers to approach or commonly used mileage bands? I am currently with Caravan Guard.

TIA for replies.

I've just renewed with Lifesure (slight priced reduction which was unexpected and welcome). I have a 6,000 limit which was no extra when I added it - it just had to be stated. I queried this at renewal and said that in the event of a future claim and found to have exceeded the mileage limit then the excess payable would be 'pro-rated' e.g. 20% over the limit then excess payment would be increased by the same percentage. I had no issue with this as I have excess protection insurance as part of the policy.

 

[Dduallt]

PlacidoD You maybe ok if you are using the recorded milaege.My 5 year old boxer has a recorded milage of 24580 but the tracker says 775 miles less about 3% out. 120 miles extra over 4000 to get you home.

 

[The Wino]

I've just renewed with Lifesure (slight priced reduction which was unexpected and welcome). I have a 6,000 limit which was no extra when I added it - it just had to be stated. I queried this at renewal and said that in the event of a future claim and found to have exceeded the mileage limit then the excess payable would be 'pro-rated' e.g. 20% over the limit then excess payment would be increased by the same percentage. I had no issue with this as I have excess protection insurance as part of the policy.

It would seem bonkers if they just charge a small incease in excess then said that the excess insurance would still cover it! Usually if it sounds too good to be true it's is!

 

[PlacidoD]

Unfortunately for you, if you had an accident in your moho, whether or not your fault or you made a claim, when you renew your car insurance you will have to inform them of that accident even if under a different policy with a different company. Your renewal will almost certainly increase for the car you may also lose a portion of your NCB. If you fail to declare ANY claims or accidents your insurance would be invalidated, and cover withdrawn. This then shows up on your insurance record, it may then be difficult to get future insurance or cover offered at vastly inflated premium.

After a fair few decades of driving I realise all of that. And I have more than a passing acquaintance with the principle of uberrimae fidei. It is still worth me having a separate policy. I would not be able to have a guaranteed no claims bonus and could thus risk losing a 12 years NCB as well as having a general rise in premiums.

 

[Buddy1012]

Excess

It would seem bonkers if they just charge a small incease in excess then said that the excess insurance would still cover it! Usually if it sounds too good to be true it's is

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[Buddy1012]

Excess Insurance not with same company

 

[The Wino]

Excess Insurance not with same company

I've never heard of insuring the excess separately is it less than just paying a higher premium for the insurance?

 

[peterc10]

I have been with Comfort for about 8 years and, until last year I was on unlimited. At renew time last year I decided to limit it to 10,000 miles. I asked them over what annual year to year count. They said the period would run from policy start date. That suited us because, for other reasons, we were not going to Europe in the Autumn as well as spring.

Given that my policy started in mid July and my MOT runs from mid November they will not be able to use the MOT. I have made a note of the mileage on July and will make another note on renewal.

 

[Gellyneck]

I've never heard of insuring the excess separately is it less than just paying a higher premium for the insurance?

One of the comparison sites (Go Compare) cover up to £250 excess cover paid after a successful claim settlement assuming your policy was set-up via their website.

A number of years ago we claimed off our home insurance for lost food in a freezer after it defrosted when we were away on holiday for a few weeks. More Than settled within a couple of weeks (from memory £4-500) but with an excess of £200 and GoCompare covered this and settled a few weeks after that.

 

[Tony50]

Will they know if you exceed the mileage?

And if do less will they let it roll over to following year ?

Probably if you have a bang, or if it's old enough Mot to MOT .

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[VXman]

I've just renewed with Lifesure (slight priced reduction which was unexpected and welcome). I have a 6,000 limit which was no extra when I added it - it just had to be stated. I queried this at renewal and said that in the event of a future claim and found to have exceeded the mileage limit then the excess payable would be 'pro-rated' e.g. 20% over the limit then excess payment would be increased by the same percentage. I had no issue with this as I have excess protection insurance as part of the policy.

I read 'excess payable' as paying an additional 20% on the premium not as increasing your excess (the amount payable by you if you have a claim) Slight confusion in terminology?

 

[sarumsteve]

Took out new policy yesterday with Comfort. Unlimited mileage (they describe it as 10000+) made no noticeable difference to my premium.

 

[bigtwin]

if it's old enough Mot to MOT .

The mileage from MoT to MoT is irrelevant (you can’t deduce from that if a policy holder has exceeded their stated annual limit); the only mileage that matters is from policy inception to policy expiry.

Ian

 

[Daffy64]

This thread made me think, I’m at 10.5k miles since June last year and I’ve put my mileage at 8k!!!

A quick phone call to LV and it’s now 12k for a premium increase of £15.42 and no admin fee…

 

[Gellyneck]

This thread made me think, I’m at 10.5k miles since June last year and I’ve put my mileage at 8k!!!

A quick phone call to LV and it’s now 12k for a premium increase of £15.42 and no admin fee…

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[The Wino]

This thread made me think, I’m at 10.5k miles since June last year and I’ve put my mileage at 8k!!!

A quick phone call to LV and it’s now 12k for a premium increase of £15.42 and no admin fee…

I think it was LV that increased it on our car at no charge.

 

[Jev88]

If you have the time and patience you can play games with mileage and value.

A real example when helping a friend switching car...

Valued 2009 Insignia at.....

£2000 - insurance wanted £65 extra
£1800 - insurance wanted £85 extra
£2200 - insurance refunded £45

Bonkers.

 

[Tony50]

The mileage from MoT to MoT is irrelevant (you can’t deduce from that if a policy holder has exceeded their stated annual limit); the only mileage that matters is from policy inception to policy expiry.

Ian

They take an average and or if there is more than 2 MOT's and you have a bang they will work it out , insurance companies are not a charity

 

[Bertilak]

Fascinating! All about perceived risk of people who have cheap cars or do little motoring...
We tend to buy cars at 4 years old, and sell at 12-14 years old. Frequently a replacement's premium is no dearer than for the old banger it replaced.

I would love to know the breakdown between the different risks: eg if

• theft of the vehicle is more likely at home / storage. (inversely related to period being used, very post-code based).
  • Are daily drivers less likely to be locked down hard every time? Is "number of other vehicles" a crucial question?
• total loss from own accident etc can be very, very expensive compared with a car.
  • But high value vans might indicate more experienced owners, or them being more careful.
• Accident risk should be higher with more miles;
  • but very high milers might be safer on average, and low milers more dangerous.
• Contents loss, break-in damage, possibly with fire, is more likely when on tour (possibly proportional to mileage, but also more to amount of use).
  • Certain van classes, or van values, might attract regular users, others the single summer trip types.
  • Retired vs employed might be more significant for mohos; then confused by working FLT types!
• Certain van brands or types (eg PVC) might be theft targets for breaking etc.

 

[The Wino]

Fascinating! All about perceived risk of people who have cheap cars or do little motoring...
We tend to buy cars at 4 years old, and sell at 12-14 years old. Frequently a replacement's premium is no dearer than for the old banger it replaced.

I would love to know the breakdown between the different risks: eg if

• theft of the vehicle is more likely at home / storage. (inversely related to period being used, very post-code based).
  • Are daily drivers less likely to be locked down hard every time? Is "number of other vehicles" a crucial question?
• total loss from own accident etc can be very, very expensive compared with a car.
  • But high value vans might indicate more experienced owners, or them being more careful.
• Accident risk should be higher with more miles;
  • but very high milers might be safer on average, and low milers more dangerous.
• Contents loss, break-in damage, possibly with fire, is more likely when on tour (possibly proportional to mileage, but also more to amount of use).
  • Certain van classes, or van values, might attract regular users, others the single summer trip types.
  • Retired vs employed might be more significant for mohos; then confused by working FLT types!
• Certain van brands or types (eg PVC) might be theft targets for breaking etc.

I'm not sure it is perceived risk or based on recent claims history by other drivers with similar profiles. Certainly I think that's the reason even a no blame accident affects premiums I think they know that the stats show people who have had a claim even a no fault one are more likely to have another.

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