Mileage Bands when insuring

[PlacidoD]

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.

 

[Lenny HB]

It does vary between companies Comfort was 2000 miles bands, now with NFU when I took out the insurance last year it was about £50 extra to go from 8000 to 9000, I didn't nt ask about 10000 may be the same hope so as i need to increase it to 10000..

 

[MichaelT]

It does vary between companies Comfort was 2000 miles bands, now with NFU when I took out the insurance last year it was about £50 extra to go from 8000 to 9000, I dint ask about 10000 may be the same hope so as i need to increase it to 10000..

I'm on 10000 didn't ask about any other

 

[BusyBuilder]

Will they know if you exceed the mileage?

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

 

[The Wino]

On our car insurance we realised we were going to need more miles so phoned to increase from 12 to 14k it cost nothing! I was gobsmacked!

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[The Wino]

Will they know if you exceed the mileage?

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

It depends when the mot falls due and the servicing record . I wouldn't like to risk trying to under insure.

 

[AJM2]

Will they know if you exceed the mileage?

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

They will if you have an accident and the mileage is above your limit. They’ll check against MOT’s and whatever they can get their hands on. Given you have to keep it roadworthy for their insurance they can ask for service records etc which will show mileage. They don’t enjoy paying out if they can avoid it. I’ve never heard of one rolling it over. As Wino says I wouldn’t personally risk under-insuring it and usually better to buy it now rather than add it on when they have you over a barrel

 

[PlacidoD]

Will they know if you exceed the mileage?

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

That is part of my dilemma! It is 275 miles from Newhaven to Bolton and somewhere on that journey my best guess is I will pass my 4k limit. Do I phone up from motorway services at Keele or wherever and declare myself?!! The van can sit on the drive as soon as I am home and not be used for the 10 days or so before new policy inception.

I am wondering about bringing new policy inception forward to cover my return journey from Newhaven provided that Caravan Guard can honour my enhanced NCB due 10 days or so early. That would seem the most elegant solution.

P.S. My odometer is in kilometers so it is easy to get confused!

 

[MichaelT]

That is part of my dilemma! It is 275 miles from Newhaven to Bolton and somewhere on that journey my best guess is I will pass my 4k limit. Do I phone up from motorway services at Keele or wherever and declare myself?!! The van can sit on the drive as soon as I am home and not be used for the 10 days or so before new policy inception.

I am wondering about bringing new policy inception forward to cover my return journey from Newhaven provided that Caravan Guard can honour my enhanced NCB due 10 days or so early. That would seem the most elegant solution.

P.S. My odometer is in kilometers so it is easy to get confused!

I think you are overthinking it. If you are a few miles over no problem, thousands then yes. Just leave it then increase it at renewal.

 

[Lenny HB]

That is part of my dilemma! It is 275 miles from Newhaven to Bolton and somewhere on that journey my best guess is I will pass my 4k limit.

You don't need to worry about a few miles over but when you go over 500 miles over some companies increase your excess by quite a bit, others will reduce your claim by a percentage.

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[oldiesontour]

Take into account if it's sat on the drive at home over insured mileage they MAY be able to decline fire or theft...IMO highly unlikely you will have a problem...but a risk only you can decide if worth taking or not...

 

[KASPAR]

In terms of fairness and equality should insurance companies give a refund on mileages under the limit you paid for?

 

[bigtwin]

They’ll check against MOT’s and whatever they can get their hands on. Given you have to keep it roadworthy for their insurance they can ask for service records etc which will show mileage.

Without a record of the odometer at policy inception, they cannot tell. Unless of course they do way more than the annual limit with evidence between, for example, an MoT and a service. Under those circumstances there will be clear deception but for most people, most of the time, they couldn’t prove a few (hundred) miles over.

Ian

 

[PlacidoD]

You don't need to worry about a few miles over but when you go over 500 miles over some companies increase your excess by quite a bit, others will reduce your claim by a percentage.

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.

 

[PlacidoD]

In terms of fairness and equality should insurance companies give a refund on mileages under the limit you paid for?

I say not. They are insuring a risk not a certainty. Of course if you end the policy early you will (or at least may) get a rebate because then certainty of risk has changed.

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[Geistguy]

Will they know if you exceed the mileage?

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

Should you have a claim they can check your mileage on the DVLA site with MOTs, if your vehicle is less than 3 years old they could ask for mileage readings.
I have never known an insurer to "carry over" mileage aseach year insured is a new contract.

 

[Abgs]

I increased my 8000 mile limit to 16000 miles. Premium went up 15% which in my case was around £70, this is with LV.

 

[Lenny HB]

That seem fair given it will cost me circa £120 if I make the phone call!!

That's a lot, who are you insured with, a lot of companies charge a £25 admin fee but that amount seems excessive. NFU don't charge any admin fees.

 

[bigtwin]

Should you have a claim they can check your mileage on the DVLA site with MOTs,

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

 

[swemmy666]

That is part of my dilemma! It is 275 miles from Newhaven to Bolton and somewhere on that journey my best guess is I will pass my 4k limit. Do I phone up from motorway services at Keele or wherever and declare myself?!! The van can sit on the drive as soon as I am home and not be used for the 10 days or so before new policy inception.

I am wondering about bringing new policy inception forward to cover my return journey from Newhaven provided that Caravan Guard can honour my enhanced NCB due 10 days or so early. That would seem the most elegant solution.

P.S. My odometer is in kilometers so it is easy to get confused!

I'm thinking its an estimate and as such can be a little over....

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[Kannon Fodda]

By limiting your mileage you are indicating the amount of risk to the insurer. If you drive less probably less opportunity to bump into stuff (although drive too little and you may become a new risk for inexperience).

One would also expect insurer to be more upset, if there was a claim, by going over allowance by a little, when you have a low limit than high. 5% of say 4,000 miles is only 200 but 5% of 10,000 is a greater 500.

First thing my repairer had to provide to insurer as part of estimate was photo of the current odometer reading.

 

[Lenny HB]

By limiting your mileage you are indicating the amount of risk to the insurer. If you drive less probably less opportunity to bump into stuff (although drive too little and you may become a new risk for inexperience).

I've notices when getting quotes for the car with some companies 4000 miles is cheaper than 2000.

 

[Gellyneck]

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.

Comfort quoted me about a month ago an additional 8% premium to make exactly the same change you're thinking of (insurance + breakdown for us though).

 

[Gellyneck]

I've notices when getting quotes for the car with some companies 4000 miles is cheaper than 2000.

Exactly the same when I was changing the car on our Aviva policy a couple of weeks back! Sizeable increase in premium for reducing annual mileage!

Premium stayed exactly the same for a car worth 10x more than the one it was replacing!

Needless to say I didn't change the mileage!

 

[PlacidoD]

That's a lot, who are you insured with, a lot of companies charge a £25 admin fee but that amount seems excessive. NFU don't charge any admin fees.

Caravan Guard (It is in my OP post). When originally insuring I asked what it would cost to up the mileage to their figure of 8k miles. I have just checked my emails. They said £112. Do bare in mind that that was a new policy with zero NCB as I chose to go down that route rather than threaten my maximum protected NCB on the car.

I had too much going on last year to do a thorough shop around and Caravan Guard gave me cover for EU use etc, etc all in one premium. So maybe the figure above also reflected an enlarged risk of breakdown abroad with 8k rather than 4k miles. This year I have more time to shop around but Caravan Guard will insure vans over 20 year old for existing clientele. I am not there yet (2007 Hobby T500 LHD) but I have that in mind and therefore might renew with them if the cost penalty is modest. P.S. They also insure over 80 for existing clients. But I am a long way off that!!!

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[wolfie2]

PlacidoD ....just check the policy wording for what happens if you exceed the declared figure. Some insurers, maybe all (I haven't done the research), automatically reduce cover to Third Party only or even RTA cover. If they have any suspicions of over mileage I would expect a vigorous investigation!!!

 

[Gellyneck]

This is what Comfort (Aviva) policy states in relation to exceeding mileage limit.
+++++
If your premium for your motorhome has been based on a selected
annual mileage as shown on your policy schedule, the criteria has
changed if you have a claim under the policy. 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.
+++++

 

[gus-lopez]

I think you are overthinking it.

This^^^^

Without a record of the odometer at policy inception,

^& THis^^^^

Should you have a claim they can check your mileage on the DVLA site with MOTs,

Only if the speedo works .Use a gps then it needn't

as I chose to go down that route rather than threaten my maximum protected NCB on the car.

You will have increases on the car anyway if you have an accident in the motorhome.They increase everything,usually for 5 years.

 

[PlacidoD]

You will have increases on the car anyway if you have an accident in the motorhome.They increase everything,usually for 5 years.

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.

 

[Landy Andy]

I swapped my mileage from 6 thou to 10 thou on the second year of insurance and had no noticeable difference in insurance cost. Last time i insured I wanted to lower my premium, so asked, whilst renewing to quote for dropping the mileage back to 6 or 8 thou (can’t remember which), and with the lower mileage my insurance went UP. The insurance agent was also surprised. I didn’t reduce my mileage.

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