Rules of car insurance>>>>>

[gouldc]

(1) No you can't insure your child's car as your own and put them a sa driver because it's cheaper - this is fronting. We (insurance companies) can and do cancel policies, and refuse to pay claims when we find out.

(2) Always disclose your points/driving convictions - we can and do check with the DVLA - this can result in a policy being cancelled and claims rejected.

(3) Always disclose your claims - we have databases to check and we can see if you have made any claims - see result of not obeying rule 2

(4) Always disclose your modifications - we will check the images of vehicles involved in accidents. Don't think that taking them off will help - we know all the tricks (I'm an ex-mechanic too). Again, results can be the same as rules 2 & 3

(5) When we ask for something - send it in. It is relevant, regardless of what you think.

(6) Your car is not necessarily worth what you think it is - get over it

(7) If we investigate a claim, DO NOT LIE. You would be surprised what idiocy we are forced to cover because of the ombudsman. If you lie about something we would have covered, we'll kick your claim out because you lied.

Any questions?

[Jewell]

What company do you work for? They sound friendly

[gouldc]

Ha ha - that would be telling - if you tel lthe truth, you having (almost) nothing to fear.

I used to work for Equity Red Star, dealing with the RS Owner's club claims - I have gone to a more "specilised" insurer

[Jewell]

Actually I've just passed my test and I'm looking to get insurance. What would be the cheapest way, seeing as how i'm not very tempted by (1) anymore.

[gouldc]

Try an on-line quote engine like Confused. My advice would be to buy a cheap car, because your insurance will be ridiculous.

If you do buy a cheap car, going comprehensive is pointless, as it'll likely get written off in a slight bump, so TPF&T is your best option - remember that you won't be covered for your damage though.

Keeping a car on a drive or in a garage will help reduce your premium, as will trying to keep your annual mileage low.

You will normally pay �700 - �1000 for your first year (I suspect you're under 20?). If you're female, try Shielas Wheels - they're currently undercutting all the other insurers, including Diamond by up to 30% as they're trying to corner the market - it won't last as they'll start losing money shortly

[Jewell]

Very helpful thankyou. Nope i'm 20, male and I have a nice three door ford fiesta H reg. Would it be worth doing pass plus?

[gouldc]

Pass Plus is a bit of a waste of time in all honesty - you'd get more of a discount for having an alarm.

One trick I found when I was younger was that my insurance came down �200 from a C reg XR2 to a F reg 320 BMW.

The "hot hatch" is rated a greater risk than the family saloon - strange since it's worth more, faster, and bigger than the Fiesta?

Mess around on Confused.co.uk with a few different cars (Orion's etc) and see what quotes you can get

[jake-the-peg]

And always remember that you don't have to accept Mr Gould's word as law you can complain to the financial ombudsman

www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk

Although many complaints arise from people's unrealistic expectations and are found against there are every year many complaints against insurance companies upheld.

In 2001 25% were resolved by mediation and 30% were found against of the insurance company.

[Gef]

Rule 1 is just nonsense.

[gouldc]

Pass Plus is not favoured by many "leading" insurers. Most would prefer you gain experience on the roads rather than a few extra hours tuition - not my doing I'm afraid.

Yes the FOS (ombudsman) does have the final say, but we have strict rules to follow - so long as we adhere to the conditions set in the policy, then you're screwed!

Basically, follow the above rules and you won't need to go to the FOS (although I do enjoy it when they kick out a complaint).

And rule 1 is not stupid - insurers charge a premium based o nthe risk - a 17 year old is a higher risk than a 40 year old who has been driving for over 10 years (statistically at least). Therefore when a new driver think's he's Colin McRae, we can charge the appropriate premium - this isn't to cover ourselves against the risk of our insured, but the potential injuries that the insured will cause when the spotty little ****** loses control of their Saxo.

[jake-the-peg]

So if Insurance companies stick to the rules so much I wonder why the FOS findin favour of the customer 30% of the time.

To be honest there's abuse on both sides of the fence. The sharp practice that annoys me is when somebody buys and insures a car and renews it say 3 years on the trot. The insurance company doesn't point out to them that their car has depreciated in value and that they're paying premiums based on a value that would never be paid out on. They just keep taking the premiums based on the original value.

OK it's up to the customer to realise this but it plays on the niavity of a lot of people.

On the customer side it's incredible how many Armani suits are damaged in accidents and the number of whiplash cases is untrue!

[gouldc]

Spot on with Armani suits - you'd be surprised how many 17-year old hairdresser's with C reg Fiesta's have Gucci sunglasses when their car is broken into (yes, we check this too).

FOS also deal with complaints about the length of time taken to settle/deal with claims. We get on average a 1000 complaints a month, with at least half going to the FOS. When you consider that they only support approx 30%, thern that's not bad, especially since we are a "small" insurer in the scale of things.

In regards to value of cars, this is a common misconception that the value you insure your vehicle for has a bearing on the premium - until your car is valued at �15000+, it has no bearing - it's used more to calculate potential losses during the year.

Unfortunately, due to stupid FSA regulations, we are no longer allowed to advise you that fully comp insurance on a �100 banger makes no sense, so we end up with people complaining to the FOS that we mislead them - ho hum - red tape ahoy.

Car Insurance is a very complicated matter, but most people over-simplify matters. Trust me, it was an eye-opener going from fixing cars, to dealing with claims!

Another problem with the FOS is that they assume everyone to be an idiot (policyholders).

Whilst I will happily kick out a claim becuase the person's four bald tyres caused the accident, the FOS won't allow it becuase you're not expected to be able to look after your own car!!!!!!

Same thing that I am expected to pay two people the same money, for identical cars, even if one hasn't got an MOT, but the other has.

The police don't accept ignorance as an excuse, but the ombudsman does - THAT'S why your insurance premium goes up (plus it costs us over �300 for every complaint they look into - justifed or not)

[wizzwizz]

wondering if you can help me..
wrote off car a couple of days ago... didn't realise i had to declare car was a Cat C when i was taking out insurance policy. i looked into it further after the accident as i was really worried. they are looking into how much to pay me? should i tell them now? or would they already know about it from different databases

thank you