My wife totalled our brand new car last week.
It is now an insurance write off.
Good old Plod turned up on the scene and issued the usual producers.
Turns out that our car insurance has ONE digit wrong for our car registration and plod believes that we were not covered.
Of course, if the insurance is invalid then she's possibly got a ban and fine and we're out of pocket by about 11k (plus you can imagine the cost of the storage, assessment and the £350 excess to pay .......)
Insurance broker is shut and we're, quite understandably, worried sick ....
Edited by Pugugly on 30/09/2008 at 21:31
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I had this with the Porsche one letter incorrect, luckily I spotted it & now check docs when they come through MUCH more carefully. But yes it would be easy to get an ANPR pull.
As for an accident ummm... not sure?
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does the insurance have the correct car info - model/engine/spec etc?
I would hope that the insurer would accept that there has been a trivial error and put things right.
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The make, model and engine size are all correct.
I'd *hope* the insurance company would admit to a mistake, after all I've been paying my premium in good faith.
I cannot find any good informtion on the interweb of knowledge this time of night. Needless to say; nobody sleeps tonight .....
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friend tried to get one of the big insurance companies to take payment for his next years insurance on the phone
they refuse to take immediate payment by credit card on the phone, via web, or cheque
they only take credit card number which is charged on the day the new insurance starts
and on that day they will be half way through a long journey, out of email contact, probably out of mobile range
so if there are any problems with the credit card they will be uninsured, despite trying their best to pay in advance and make sure everything is sorted well in advance
in this kind of circumstances i think the police anpr and associated approaches to insurance policing is inappropriate
they would be better off trying to encourage the insurance industry to do better
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so if there are any problems with the credit card they will be uninsured despite trying their best to pay in advance and make sure everything is sorted well in advance
That's a very odd situation - normally you're charged a few days before so the new Certificate can be issued.
Presumeably they'll have already had the Certificate anyway, as technically, you're not insured anyway until the Certificate is in your hand, and, also technically, if you're holding that Certificate then the insurer is liable, regardless of the payment status.
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I'd *hope* the insurance company would admit to a mistake after all I've been paying my premium in good faith.
I'm sure it's just a simple clerical error and will be corrected without a problem. One of my neighbours had a new car with such an error on the registration plate and didn't notice for months.
Edited by Bill Payer on 30/09/2008 at 21:12
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Clearly the only party that can put your mind at rest is the insurer, but assuming they are a reputable company it would be very surprising if they even thought about trying to avoid a claim because of an error. If the circumstances allow of no other reason for the difference in the vehicle mark, then they would find it difficult to demur.
Small comfort until they say it I know.
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One of the advantages of buying insurance on-line is that you often put the registration in and, because it's hooked up to the MID, the details come up automatically.
It would be most unlikely that a registration one digit out would apply to an exactly identical model; in any case the VIN number would differ.
If it's the broker's error (which seems likely) the OP should be safe, since he should be able to prove that he gave the correct details.
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Who's mistake was it? Yours for giving them the wrong number or theirs for recording it wrong?
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Are you showing as insured on the MID www.askmid.com/
i.e. is it merely a printing error or a real error (I suspect real as everything is computerised, but worth checking.)
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One of the advantages of buying insurance on-line is that you often put the registration in and because it's hooked up to the MID the details come up automatically.
I thought about that - wondering how the reg number could be wrong yet the car details all correct, unless an identical car had that registration - possible, but unlikely with the way plates are formatted these days.
However my daughter just got quotes through the post based on enquiries made last year. Two came from the same company, both with the reg correct, and while one was correct, the other was a completely different car. So the system isn't infallible.
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I really cant see a problem. A premium has been paid based on the drivers age, history, NCB etc against a particular model of vehicle of an agreed value. The actual registration number on that vehicle is a side issue. Sect. 143 (1) a of the 1988 Road Traffic Act states:
A person must not use a motor vehicle on a road unless there is in force in relation to the use of the vehicle by that person such a policy of insurance or such a security in respect of third party risks as complies with the requirements of this Part of this Act.......
Doesn't say anything about registration numbers there!
Might have caused a problem with ANPR though. But as the vehicle is now a write off that is no longer an issue.
Edited by Fullchat on 30/09/2008 at 23:28
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You aren't allowed to weasel out if the police get one letter wrong on an NIP etc, see no reason why it should be the other way around for the insurance company.
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It is still not clear from all the above what exactly is wrong. Is all the insurance company documentation incorrect - ie they have you on their books as having a car with a different registration number from the one you actually own, or have they merely made a mistake in printing off a certificate?
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Has the insurance company refused to pay or is all this correspondence HYPOTHETICAL???
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>>HYPOTHETICAL??
Currently as the broker is shut.
As for driving uninsured... does the insurance not have (assuming it is in the wife's name, not yours) third party cover for driving other cars?
On the other hand, as the car "insured" does not exist, even though premiums are being paid, it is quite possible that there is no such insurance.
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Just a comment looking at things from another perspective.
How have you managed to tax the vehicle until now? If the docs dont match the tax should not be issued!
So the problem is either major or very minor !
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How have you managed to tax the vehicle until now?
Probably taxed by dealer as it is brand new.
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Yorkie - OP wrote "My wife totalled our brand new car last week.
It is now an insurance write off.", so perhaps it came taxed from the dealer.
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I'd hope so. I'd expect any dealer of new cars to do it for me.
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When you insure a car, the car (when driven by specific driver) is insured, not the number plate!
So, insurer should pay off.
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>>So, insurer should pay off.
That suggests that if you own two identical motors A123 SYX and A124 SYX then you only have to pay one lot of insurance?
I do recall reading on here of somebody with a friend with two identical classic cars - Bull-nose Morrises, or suchlike, but only one set of numberplates, one tax disc and one insurance premium...
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Friends of my parents back in the 70s had a car whose registration they simply couldn't remember. They eventually stood one at each end, and realised that the plates differed by a single digit front to rear!
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one tax disc and one insurance premium..
Classic cars (pre 1973) don't require tax :)
Yes, this is not really uncommon. People have done this all the time. Not just with classic cars but with white vans as well.
In OP's case, it's clearly an oversight.
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Classic cars (pre 1973) don't require tax :)
They require a "tax disc" they just don't have to pay for it
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They'll cover it - I'd bet an hour's wage.
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I dont have a registration number on my Insurance. As far as I know its only recorded to assist the authorities to catch those who are not insured.
Its not the car that is insured, Its the driver(s) to drive a certain type of car designated as a certain risk.
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£500, a lot of money.(sorry P.U.)
Edited by CQ on 02/10/2008 at 09:51
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