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Insurance companies like to ask where you keep the car overnight. In my case, some nights its on the drive and others its parked outside the house (very much depends on if the wife needs her car before me in the morning) - we live in a cul-d-sac so no through traffic problems. From a quote point of view, its the same premium if I specify either location. My concern is that if I specify on the drive and its damaged/stolen when its parked in the street then the company may not pay up and equally if its pinched off the drive and I've told the insurance company I keep it on the street, they won't pay up either! Anybody got any thoughts on this ?
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I'd tell them where it would be "worst case" - in your case, on the street. That way you're covered whatever. Only my opinion.
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If the insurance company are charging the same premium whether on drive or on the road you haven't a problem.
To be safe, I would always declare the worst case scenario. Best is garage, then carport, then drive, then road. Say you declare the car is garaged and it is stolen from the road, the insurer would have to prove that it would not have covered you at all for them to refuse the claim. Otherwise, they would just charge the extra premium.
When I did insurance, I always used to stress that getting a garaging discount was like taking the Kings shilling and only to go for it if the car was ALWAYS garaged. Lets face it lots of garages are junk stores and not used for keeping cars.
Remember definitions of garaging can vary between insurers. Some may insist on garaging say between 10pm and 6am, others within the vicinity of the owners house (this could be defined as say 1 mile), with variations inbetween.
I would stress that to sleep easy knowing an insurer is there to protect you, be brutally honest. It really is the only way.
Finally, always check your proposal form and amend any errors. Two places I worked at disciplined sales staff for quoting discounts that were not applicable purely to ramp up sales and therefore the commission due to the salesperson.
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Forgot to say, I could not be bothered with the hassle of paragraph 2 and would not want to rely on it!
Insurers have deep pockets for solicitors and can string things out for ages if they want to.
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My insurance company doesn't give discounts for keeping the car in a garage! Does anyone know is this becoming general practice?
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Depends on the car and area at a guess.
I couldn't find an insurer for my bike if it wasn't garaged.
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I queried this once with my insurer (Saga), as it sometimes happens to me (the car normally being left on the drive) and I was told that if the car is parked on the street occasionally, it doesn't matter. I don't know how they would know how often it was left on the street.
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I have always been asked where it is 'usually' parked.
Only time otherwise was when getting a quote for a motorcycle I was told that theft claims could only be made if the theft is 'from a locked, brick garage at your home address'!
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My insurance company don't even ask where it's parked or how many miles I do or how much the car is worth and they are alwyas good value. I am becoming increasingly cynical at the number of questions being asked by insurance companies and whether they do influence the amount charged to you. Some ask where the car is parked during the day as well as at night, the split between business miles and private miles, how many miles my wife will drive etc etc. My conspiracy theory is the more questions they ask the more info they have so when you have a claim they can go through the questions, find a discrepancy and refuse to pay out. Some companies ask so many questions I won't even bother going for a quote.
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Write to them and tell them! That the premium is no different makes no difference. If the premium for Penzance were the same as Skegness, then you wouldn't be surprised if they told you that they weren't going to pay out after you'd moved from one to the other without telling them, would you?
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"I am becoming increasingly cynical at the number of questions being asked by insurance companies and whether they do influence the amount charged to you"
I must admit when I worked in insurance (and since) I have had that thought a number of times.
Having asked insurers a direct question about it, as you would probably expect, I have no doubt that if you give a wrong answer it could result in a claim being thrown out or being charged extra subject to caveats in post above.
In a nutshell, I think it gives the underwriter more opportunity to appear clever (do you know people with blue eyes driving Mondeos in SW10 have twice as many claims as green eyed drivers of the same ilk for example)and more than enough rope for people to hang themselves possibly inadvertantly.
The thing about statistics and why very large insurers tend to be more profitable than smaller ones is that you need a large sample for statistics to work. A smaller insurer asking loads of questions is probably pointless unless they collate the information with a number of other insurers.
The large insurers have got it sussed and probably know more about you via your profile than you would like to admit.
We are all individuals!!
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It's funny that insurance companies ask where the car is kept at night, but apparently aren't bothered about day time parking.
My car is kept in a locked garage in a neighbourhood watch leafy suburb with private security guards, but I park round the corner from work on a bit of waste ground notorious for vandalism, joyriders and rough sleepers. Which box do I tick on the proposal form?
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My insurance company don't even ask where it's parked or how many miles I do or how much the car is worth and they are alwyas good value...
Which company is this? Frizzell (also known as Liverpool Victoria) didn't ask this either. So surprised was I not to be asked that I specifically queried it when I first phoned them for a quote.
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It's Frizzell I use. They used to be very relaxed on modifications too, but I've noticed they have tightened their policies on this recently.
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