Car insurace pay out

[Badger]

Yes but you'd be dead, so it wouldn't be an issue!

I'm sure some insurance companies wouldn't see that as an acceptable excuse.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

Even before the insurance guy popped up on the thread, I'd have assumed the O/P would have had to pay the premium. As has been said, the policy is taken out for a year, whether you claim on it or not. The underwriter does you a small concession by allowing you to pay in installments rather than in one lump sum. Just because you've crashed the car and been paid out doesn't then alter the agreement: if the car had been repaired, you wouldn't have expected them to stop covering you on the basis that they've paid out some money to do it.

The same applies if your insurer cancels your policy due to non payment. I've just had to go to court (as a witness...) over someone who missed a few direct debits. After several attempts to contact her, the insurer cancelled the policy, after which point I stopped her one night in her vehicle because it was showing as uninsured.

It turned out she had contacted them a week or so previously, and they agreed to cover her again, but stated she would have to clear the outstanding year's payments on the cancelled policy, and then to pay more to set up a new one. She paid the outstanding balance, but wrongly assumed she was now covered again, when in fact she hadn't set up a new policy.

Result; 6 points and a hefty fine (and having to pay more to get her vehicle back, which had been seized at the time she was stopped). These things are always in the Ts & Cs of your policy.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

but what you are purchasing with car insurance, is a 12 month policy. its up to you if you spread it over monthly payments or not, what you have bought is a product. You have bought, to whatever value, a 12 month car insurance policy. You may claim on this policy at any point over the twelve period. At whatever point you claim, the fact still stands that you have bought a 12 month policy, it is not the fault of the insurance company if you need to claim on it two or three weeks in.

Indeed, and I'm sure if, having received the payout for your dead car and purchased a new, identical motor, if you asked for the cover to be transferred to that one, they'd probably do it, perhaps with a small fee. But the O/P went with another company, hence it's ended up costing more than he thought.

 

[Gazwag]

I've just asked the 4 other guys in my office and they've all said they have written cars off

I think your company should invest in a safe driving course

 

[junior]

Thanks for all the replies on here, i've been out of the office all day.

Having read everything on here I understand that I AM totally responsible for paying the remainder of the premium and the insurance company are not at fault.

To my detriment car insurance has never been something i've payed that much attention to. Money goes out every month for the last 14 years and i've never made a claim before so was a bit naive to how it all works. The replies to this thread have cleared it all up to me.#

Interesting point now is; I do not have £600 in the bank to give them in one go. I am in the process of starting my own buisness for when I leave the RAF in a couple of months and all my money has gone into that.

Now the insurance company have cancelled the policy and initiated contact with me, do you think they will re-instate the direct debit for the same ammount that WOULD have gone out had I not cancelled it and allow the balance to be paid that way, or are they going to DEMAND £600 in one go as it is for a policy that isnt active and I am no longer a customer so to speak?

 

[Aadam]

Hmmm, T&Cs are always what must be followed. However ....
Forgetting just for now the monthly installment bit, surely the policy is accident risk and cover for 12 months.
Doesn't sound right that if you write of the car on day 2 then you still owe for the other 363 days even though the vehicle is no longer at risk [you cant drive it and no one will want to nick it]?

Just imagine how that might work on life insurance [always paid in installments] - 25 year policy starts and you die after one week, do you still owe then 24 years & 51 weeks of the policy? Probably a big wack for most ??

The difference is that the policy is different. Live insurance premiums are paid until death or you cancel. You have annual or monthly premiums.

Car insurance is one price for a term. The fact they let you do it monthly is neither here nor there. It's usually a credit agreement and any deviation from that will affect your credit score.

Thanks for all the replies on here, i've been out of the office all day.

Having read everything on here I understand that I AM totally responsible for paying the remainder of the premium and the insurance company are not at fault.

To my detriment car insurance has never been something i've payed that much attention to. Money goes out every month for the last 14 years and i've never made a claim before so was a bit naive to how it all works. The replies to this thread have cleared it all up to me.#

Interesting point now is; I do not have £600 in the bank to give them in one go. I am in the process of starting my own buisness for when I leave the RAF in a couple of months and all my money has gone into that.

Now the insurance company have cancelled the policy and initiated contact with me, do you think they will re-instate the direct debit for the same ammount that WOULD have gone out had I not cancelled it and allow the balance to be paid that way, or are they going to DEMAND £600 in one go as it is for a policy that isnt active and I am no longer a customer so to speak?

Phone them and ask to spread the payments as it was a genuine error. It's just like any other credit agreement where you owe money. I'm sure they'll be accommodating.

 

[Icy Gull]

.

Now the insurance company have cancelled the policy and initiated contact with me, do you think they will re-instate the direct debit for the same ammount that WOULD have gone out had I not cancelled it and allow the balance to be paid that way, or are they going to DEMAND £600 in one go as it is for a policy that isnt active and I am no longer a customer so to speak?

No idea, but your best bet is definitely to ring them and explain that you accept the money is due and then explain your circumstances, telling them that you will re-instate the direct debit to run until the debt is cleared. Maybe offer to pay a couple of months upfront as that is all you can afford as a one off payment. If they are not happy with that offer tp pay the arrears upfront and the balance by direct debit. If you are reasonable and explain your naivety, they MAY be sympathetic. If you've already had heated discussions over the telephone, there will probably be notes on your file and they probably won't play ball.

 

[father_and_son]

Credit Control isn't my area of the business (I do underwriting and pricing stuff) but if you phoned, said you cancelled the DD by mistake, not realising what should have happened, then you should be able to pay off under the original consumer credit agreement.

Back when I worked in the call centre and actually spoke to customers, our policy was to deduct the outstanding balance from the settlement cheque and stop making the DD calls but this caused too many people to not be able to replace the car and so caused more problems that it solved.


Another option would be to cancel the "other" insurance policy with the new company and put the new car on cover under the old policy and get the benefit of the remainder of the term you are paying for... the issue with this will be timing...
1. the old insurer won't keep waiting for ever for a new car to go on cover so normally you have a month from the issuing of the cheque - they may be flexible - ask!
2. the new insurer will give you ALL your money back if you cancel during the cooling off period (first 14 days) but your comments make it sound like it may be too late for this. If the old insurer accepts the new car on cover you can go to the new insurer and plead the case for a partial refund on the basis that you already have an insurance contract and don't need theirs. - they may be accomodating - ask! If they are nice and will help (promise to go with them at renewal!) then you can expect to pay [at least] HALF of what you've paid so far, if not all of it. (If you have two insurances in place on the same car then each insurer will only pay HALF the claim, so should only get half the premium.)

Ultimately insurance companies don't like being seen as evil, so many (though not all) will often be as helpful as they can to keep a customer loyal. Ask, be honest, plead ignorance and most of all apologise and you may find a solution which costs less than the £600 debt you have now.