JohnMcC

Re-newal time for me in just over a month, so I thought I would dig out my insurance stuff so I had it at hand.

Was perusing through some of the paperwork and noticed that I had put down an estimated anual mileage of 12,000.

Now, with regular trips between London and Leeds, and with many a weekend blast just for the sheer hell of it I have now passed this estimation.

What is the deal with this?

The mileage estimation is not on my actual certificate of insurance. I do not have a limited mileage policy.

Will this affect my current premium now (ie pre-renewal)? Or will the extra mileage estimation simply need to be taken into account come the renewal? Or what....? What action needs to be taken?

On one hand, as I said, it is not a limited mileage policy. On the other hand, I appreciate that the mileage estimation is something, I presume, that is meant to be taken into account when coming up with the premium.

Thanks for any help,

John

PhilA

Depends on the policy. Sometimes there is small print which says if you exceed this mileage they will automatically add another £400 to your excess. Others may simply not pay out. Come renewal time try and go for a more relevant figure. If you exceed it during your policy your can always ring up and extend it for a small fee.

douglasb

I was in a similar position last year. I've just had a look at some of my documentation and, while the insurance certificate makes no mention of restricted mileage, the Schedule states my estimated annual mileage is "not more than 30,000". The Schedule also says that it forms part of the policy. On that basis, I reckon that Direct Line could argue that I have a limited mileage policy and could refuse to pay a claim if they can show that I have done more than 30K miles.

I had originally taken the policy out for an estimated mileage of 25,000 and phoned them about 3 months after the renewal date to increase the mileage when I realised that it was more likely to be nearer 30K. The increased premium for this was £27.

Doug

Jiggerypokery

I estimated 6K for the scoob, and found it was hard not to exceed it, so I upped it to 14k, this cost me (I think) £160.

On the other hand, if you have estimated 12k miles and you do 20k by the end of the year, then you may have to start thinking of relatives / friends who have been driving the car on TPO (i.e. their own) insurance. YOUR policy cover YOU for 12k miles, any extra milage driven by anyone else under TPO cover is done on THEIR policy.

JohnMcC

Cheers for all your help everyone.

As so much is at stake (ie if they do kick up a fuss then that could void any claim - would rather pay a few quid and be safe!!) I bit the bullet and phoned up Tesco......

I raised the estimated mileage from 12,000 to 16,000 for tha grand total of £14.70-odd.

Pretty relieved now

Cheers for your help everyone - case closed

John

Terminator X

iTrader: (7)

Guys.

Why would it even come up in the event of a claim? How would they prove the mileage anyway ie if not limited mileage they won't have a record of the mileage when the cover started so won't know how much has been done since. Anyhoo I agree that the actual mileage advised to them should be reasonably accurate ie don't say 5k miles if your annual mileage will be more like 30k.

X.

JohnMcC

Thats what I was thinking too - but in my case the car was new for a start!!



Also, if they really wanted to, I have been told that they could ask for records, service invoices, MOTs, sales invoices etc... to try and determine (or guesstimate) the true mileage.

Unlikely IMHO but for the sake of less than £15 I thought it better to get everything sorted.


Also, the fact that mine was from new means that even if I am out by only a couple of thousand it looks quite a lot im comparison to the total lileage - ie I estimated 12,000 and have then extended this by 1/3rd (4000miles). I know mileage isnt the only consideration in coming up with a premium but as I was saying it I saw it that way and was very relieved when she only said £14 something!

John

PhilA

"On the other hand, if you have estimated 12k miles and you do 20k by the end of the year, then you may have to start thinking of relatives / friends who have been driving the car on TPO (i.e. their own) insurance. YOUR policy cover YOU for 12k miles, any extra milage driven by anyone else under TPO cover is done on THEIR policy."

If your car is new, or they record your mileage when you book the policy they could use it against you not to pay out.
How would you prove you didn't do all those miles????

Insurance companies will use ANY minor detail they can to void a claim. Saves them money...

Jiggerypokery

How would they prove that anyone else didn't drive the car? If my wife comes on holiday with me (highly likely) she may drive the car for a few thousand miles, on her own policy, not mine.

Gump

Did they actually ask you what the mileage was sitting at on your car when you renewed your policy,if they didnt how they gonna prove youve done more than 12,000 m8

PhilA

Your correct, I agree, if they don't take you mileage reading when you book the policy they are not bothered. If they do, then POTENTIALLY they could be a pain over a claim. The fact is you are insuring the car to cover 12K per year, if the car covers 15K then they will assume you covered that mileage, it will most likely be down to you to prove otherwise.

Tony_W

What happens if you'd said 12k but only do 8k? Do you get a refund then?!

PhilA

If you did less then your okay. You were less than a risk than you paid for. By the time the full period is over your right for any refund as passed, sorry.

supertouring

Before the Scooby, my Golf TDI only did about 10k per year so on my insurance I put the ESTIMATED mileage at a reasonable 14k.

With Scooby, I am never out of the damn thing and go out for weekends with fellow drivers all over the country, so reached 20K actual.

Just rang up to amend my renewal quote (with Tescos) and the premium went from 680 to 780!

Had a claim recently and was never asked about mileage during the claim process (but only small claim). So, do I keep it at 14k or go to 20k? And why does no-one ask for proof when taking out a policy, in a similar way to proof of Tracker etc.

kimera9988

i asked one of my pals who works in industry, it isnt used for anything other than bumping up the price UNLESS it is a "limited mileage policy"

how can they prove how many miles you have done in any year? they dont ask your start mileage, they dont ask your end mileage! tell them whatever you want, i do.

supertouring

Thanks, I'll be on the phone tomorrow asking it to be dropped to 250 miles, after all it is an estimate!

kimera9988

LOL errr i do 25k a year and told em 10k

DISCLAIMER: if anyone from insurance is ready im just lying

douglasb

If you haven't given a starting mileage when you start the policy then maybe they can't. Unless like JohnMcC and myself you have insured the car with the same insurer from new. Having a claim at 55K miles in a 2 year old car on an estimated mileage of 10K would obviously lead to questions along the lines of, "And you say that the delivery mileage was 40K, Sir?!".

More seriously, insurance companies already have links to the DVLA computer. (If you've done an online quote, you just have to put in the reg. no. and it finds the details of the car). Road Tax records are already on the DVLA computer, hence the Police camera vans that can identify non-taxed cars. When MOT records go on to the DVLA computer, the camera vans will be able to identify non-MOT'd vehicles. It doesn't take a huge leap of the imagination to work out that insurance companies can access MOT data such as your mileage at the last MOT, mileage at the previous one, and your mileage at the time of the claim.

Obviously that only applies to cars over three years old.

Doug

supertouring

Just renewed with L&V - unlimited millage, so that makes life easier.

Tesco wanted another 100quid to go from 14k to 20k miles per annum.

coulty

can they not ask for your mot to prove your mileage? (only for cars over 3 years obviously!)

Stuart

kimera9988

i think the word "estimate" would cover anyone in a court of law, ill ask the misus 1 tic

speedking

I asked Tesco about this situation. I estimated 12000, raised to 15000, and ended up doing 16000. As said above if you overestimate you will not get a refund, which is grossly unfair. The girl said that "it is only an estimate, don't worry about it". So that put my mind at rest

Another irritant with Tesco is that every 1000 miles puts you in the next price bracket. Why not group say 10-15k, 15-20k, etc. Then it would be far easier to estimate correctly.

SiDHEaD

I was told by the person on the end of the line to put less than what i'd estimated as it would greatly reduce my premium. So i did. Guess I lend my car out a lot then

Andy

PhilA

is this topic still going. at the end of the day it is an estimate, unless they record your milegage when you book the policy AND/OR the small print says otherwise.

My ins company did both and said if I claim and I'm over my mileage then I would have an additional £400 excess to pay.

JohnMcC

lol, yeah, I didnt realise this was still going

I agree, if we are to estimate the mileage it should be in mileage bands, like 10k-12.5k, 12.5k-15k etc....

My problem initially is that I was going to end up 4k over my estimate of 12k. So if anything had happened in the last month or so they could have screwed me if they had wanted to (as I have had the car from new). I was also worried that if I didnt say anything and went so far over my 'estimate', it would gradually get out of hand. Eg, say I still estimated 12k the next year, and did the same milage, I would end up 8k over etc...

So thats why I bit the bullet and told them - I have the higher mileage for the next year too (just renewed). I actually ended up a couple of hundred miles over again, but I would imagine that this would be deemed acceptable - I would certainly argue the case if it wasnt.

I agree that if they havent taken the mileage themselves then it is less of an issue - however, if I had continued as above (going a lot over the estimate) and needed a big claim, I'm sure they would do their utmost to get a picture of the mileage via services etc.

For the sake of a few quid it was worth it IMO.