Car Insurance Weirdness

[Matblack]

Right bare with me

I drive (as you are probably all too painfully aware) a Mini Cooper S John Cooper Works edition, remember that last past because that's important.

Today I get two letters in the post, one from Elephant demanding £560 for my renewal and one from MoreThan (with whom we have our home insurance), totally unsolicited and presumably using the details I have given them before for a new policy £350.

What I notice is that the MoreThan one does not have my naughty speeding conviction from 2006 which got me 3 points and £60. So I call up MoreThan and like a good boy I tell them about my points and confirm all the other details, the guy pulls the car info from the computer using the reg and away we go, he confirms the cars is a MINI Cooper S (which it is) doesn't mention JCW which it also is and reruns the quote.

Now I have a feeling that in all their calculations MoreThan have run the car as a Cooper S without the JCW part, if JCW were a trim level that wouldn't matter, but it isn't its an engine upgrade, factory fitted, but still a faster car than a standard Cooper S. I could tell them they have slightly duff info, this would probably cost me £100+ or I could sit on the fact that they (may or may not) have screwed up. I'm pretty sure that if I had deliberately withheld information like not telling them I have put a bloody great turbo on the car then it would invalidate my insurance, but THEY told me the car I drive so I haven't withheld anything.

WWBDD? (what would BD do?)

MB

[Feek]

I'd tell them. Insurance companies use every excuse under the sun to avoid making payouts and heaven forbid you prang it and need to make a claim, I'd imagine that it's good grounds for not paying out. You may say that they got the model wrong, but it's your responsibility to ensure that it's correct.

[Nutcase]

I'd tell them too, it's a specific model that has different performance to the one they mentioned.

[Matblack]

Hmmm, I had a feeling that people would say that, I'll give them a call once the paperwork comes through double check it and then call and make the change, that said the online quote I got through them was £450 and I'm supposed to get 20% off for having their home insurance so that works out at slightly less than then the price I got so it could be he just didn't mention it on the phone :)

MB

[Burble]

If they are basing the quote on the registration plate then you may need to contact the DVLA to get their records corrected.

For some reason my previous car showed as an import when the registration plate was checked which ramped up the insurance quotes a bit. A few phone calls and a form later all was well.

[Dr. Z]

Hmm. Tough one.

Here is a RealWorld(tm) example:

Some facts:

ALL MR2 Turbos are Imports - they never released a UK turbo car.

ALL MR2 Turbos are GTs

If you go to elephant (or admiral etc) they have three options for the MR2 - GT, Turbo, GT (Import).

Choosing that last option means you have told them the absolute truth about what your MR2 is, they just don't seem to charge you any more for the fact its significantly faster than a UK (N/A) GT.

Jez on OcUK stacked his MR2 in circumstances I wont go into, but he cut his car in half with two lampposts.

Elephant paid out even though the car wasn't what they "thought" he had insured. Several other people on the owner's clubs have apparrently had payouts after insuring their cars using that loophole.

Its also worth noting that unless they can prove that they categorically would not have insured you if they had known what you were trying to insure, they will almost certainly pay out - simply deducting the difference in premium from your payout. If they can prove they wouldn't have insured you from the start then your policy can be declared void from inception and they wont give you a penny.

[Justsomebloke]

WWBDD? (what would BD do?)

MB


WWBDD = :cool:

Even though I choose uber cheap insurers I nail down the terms Dude, I was in the seat behind my mate who ran a school girl over :( I picked 2 of her teeth up out the road & put them in her shoe & walked back towards this little might flattened on the road :(
My mate was doing less than 30mph as we had just pulled out of his road 4 up in an old Chevette, Loads of witnesses Thankfully. Turns out some lad was grabbing her Bum & she just legged it out into the road & us. We hit her with the near side head lamp.
Although she was in hospital for a couple of days she made a Full recovery, Nothing will take that Sick feeling out of my stomach.
Things like that stay with you for a Life time & have a Brilliant effect on your state of mind when it comes to the Future & how you carry yourself.

[Will]

I'd go to a more specialised insurance company... I've used Greenlight for a while now for my modified cars and just told them all about it. 9/10 times if it's just engine mods they tend to not flintch too much, it's iff you add alloys and stereos and other visible mods that tend to push the price up.

[Burble]

I don't know if Greenlight would touch a car that was modified at the factory, I thought they only insured after market mods.

If they do then they're well worth a shot. My quote from them was about £80 cheaper with all my mods declared than most insurance companies were quoting for a completely standard car.

[Justsomebloke]

I should have mentioned that when I had my Heavily Modified Sj my quotes were Cheaper with mods claimed than without, Go figure :huh:
Go to a specialist.

[A Place of Light]

If if states the car is a Cooper s Works on the V5, then you HAVE to fess up and tell your insurers.