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On my travel insurance,one bag was stolen from our car but as it contained four peoples' possessions they charged me four "excesses"-needless to say,next time I claimed,I made sure I was not out of pocket.
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Did you not read the small print?
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"It added that at £1 636 the average car insurance claim was four times higher than the average annual premium of £409."
Interesting, I read in the Times earlier this week that the average premium this year is over £800.
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It's sloppy reporting:
"Average car insurance premiums rose by 2.5% during the three months to the end of June, increasing the average cost of annual comprehensive cover to £822, the AA said yesterday.
This compares with £408 when it launched its insurance premium index in July 1994."
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When did they segregate "commuting use" from "Social, Domestic and Pleasure"? - They've always given me S.D.P insurance on a private car, and i've used it to drive to work. I have never been aware of (or seen) any small print that has asked me to specify commuting use.
Billy
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This all leads to some anomalies. SWMBO informs me that she is covered for 'commuting' to the school where she teaches. However, she is paid on a 'self-employed' basis so, I suppose strictly speaking, the car should be insured for 'business' use - even though it's exactly the same journey?
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Talk about being confused...I obtained an internet quote for SD & P only and when I obtained further seperate quotes from the same company but specifying the additions of 'commuting' and 'business use' the quotes were cheaper? It was also cheaper to specify my wife as an additional driver??
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A month or so ago my third party F&T came up for renewal. I was strapped for cash and the broker said I could pay half. Today I opened the second reminder letter they had sent me and saw to my horror that they claimed all cover had been withdrawn. I telephoned forthwith and a young woman said reassuringly that that letter had been sent by a colleague and that she would make sure I was still covered. I said the cheque, for £109, would be sent today.
As an afterthought I asked for my wife to be added to the policy as a named driver, and said that if there was any extra to pay she should let me know. She mentioned some sum of the order of 29 quid. I did the calculation.
No, no, the young woman said, it wasn't extra I had to pay, it was a rebate. I only had to pay £80 because husband-and-wife policies are on a special offer.
Well, blow me down.
They told me a lie, and then gave me thirty quid.
I do hope she doesn't drive the car and crash it.
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specifying the additions of 'commuting' and 'business use' the quotes were cheaper?
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That happened to my teacher daughter - she had to drive from school to school during the day so was advised to change to business use from SDP & Commuting - her insurance company sent her a refund when she made the change mid-year.
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I was under the impression that commuting referred to travelling to more than one place of work, ie. being on the road for a greater portion of the day than most drivers. Most SDP policies specify travel to a single place of work only.
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i've had all this with more than one insurer.....there's difficulties with 'commuting' i.e. to and fro work, if you have to drive whilst you're at work, but not necessarily 'for' work.
e.g. you go to your usual workplace and then whilst there you find out you need to work somewhere else for the day. Even though you're not using your car for work purposes and are only going form A to B to facilitate your own journey.......you are using the vehicle after the time you've arrived for your working day and it's beyond your usual commute..
was easier to have business usage, even though i don't use it for that
(hope i've made sense, i think i've even confused myself)
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no wonder it is confusing.
the aa say:
www.theaa.com/car-insurance/help.html
Social, domestic and pleasure use
This covers you, for example, if you intend to use the vehicle to:
visit friends ; shop ; travel to and from your permanent work place
You'll need extra cover if you or other named drivers travel to various work places, or use your vehicle for work. In which case, choose the 'Social, Domestic, Pleasure, Commuting and Commercial' option.
norwich union say:
www.nud.norwich-union.com/RetailSS/help/CarHelp.htm
Norwich Union Direct offers you the following levels of cover for use of your car
Social, domestic and pleasure only (SD&P)
This excludes use of travelling to and from work or other personal business use
Social, domestic, pleasure and commuting only (SDP&C)
This includes travel to and from work by any named driver on the policy (excluding other personal business use)
SDPC and business use 'A' only
As above but this also includes cover for the personal business use of the policyholder and spouse/domestic partner ONLY
SDPC and business use 'B'
As above but ALL named riders will be covered for the personal business use of the policyholder and spouse/domestic partner and for the business of the policyholder's employer or business partner
others make statements similar to norwich union:
www.moneyhighstreet.com/insurance/81/
There are 4 categories that insurers use to rate you car usage; social, domestic & pleasure, commuting, business use and commercial travelling.
Social, Domestic & Pleasure - covers you for normal, every day type driving eg visting family and friends, going to the gym or shopping.
Commuting - additionally this covers you for commuting to and from your place of work and parking your car during the time you are at work, at a station for example.
Business use - is required if as part of your work day you use your car to travel to other business locations in addition to your normal place of work, for example for meetings or to visit clients.
Commercial Travelling - additionally covers your car if it is used for commercial activity, for example in a sales related business.
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I found that you can't nominate more than one workplace....e.g. in the past i'd work from one of two places......it might vary on any given day, but i'd normally know in advance. I would only drive to and fro one of them and stay at that place all day.....but could only use one of them as the 'usual work place' and the other would not be covered in a commute.
so had to have business cover, which was a bit of a fiddle really, especially as they were only 2-3 miles apart
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I found that you can't nominate more than one workplace.
I've never (and I've used many, many insurance companies) been required to nominate any workplace. In fact I don't think I've ever been asked who my employer is.
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I've never (and I've used many many insurance companies) been required to nominate any workplace. In fact I don't think I've ever been asked who my employer is.
i'm quite pedantic and want to ensure that i'm covered properly, so ask when sorting the cover out.
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"i once got a quote for the same job to be done privately and via the insurance company and there was about a 20% difference. Why? "
Because once people have decided to claim on the insurance, they want brand new replacements of everything that has a faint scratch, whereas if they're paying themselves, they'll accept 'good enough is good enough' - mostly!
Hence, the insurance job is probably 'better' on average, although whether that attitude is realistic is another issue!
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The commuting fact doesn't consider how far one travels for commuting. You pay same "commuting" premium if your office is either 1 mile or 100 miles from your home! Isn't that unfair?
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The commuting fact doesn't consider how far one travels for commuting. You pay same "commuting" premium if your office is either 1 mile or 100 miles from your home! Isn't that unfair?
No you don't - If you are commuting 100 miles you will do around 50k a year and will pay a much higher premium than someone doing 5k!
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No you don't - If you are commuting 100 miles you will do around 50k a year and will pay a much higher premium than someone doing 5k!
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You'd pay the same unless the latter was a limited mileage policy or you'd rather stupidly gone for the NU pay as you go policy....
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