Hybrid car insurance refusals, LV=, etc ........

[bigblock]

This is becoming a very grey area indeed. Proper clarification should be worded in the policy about factory fitted extras etc. Seems to be something the insurers don't want to tell us so that they can nail you when the issue may rear itself when making a claim. Looks like another win win stitch up as if you tell them about factory extras they will bump up the premium anyway.

[Miseryguts]

Lets look at this from a different perspective.

You are in your car waiting at a junction.

Boy racer back ends you,with enough force to make his car undriveable.

Boy racers car will be examined by the insurance company.

You didn't tell us about the wide wheels did you boy racer or the body kit.

Sorry we have cancelled your policy,you are not insured.

You have been hit by an uninsured driver.

How do you feel now?

Better or worse.

An extreme example,but not impossible.

[smudge-1991]

Ye but he has been and done aftermarket stuff ... That's exactly what happened to me some Mong in his "my first golf" crashed into halforda thing he didn't get a payout but his insurance had to pay me off because it wasn't my fault he had lied to them about his car and boom new car for me ... My insurance told me that because something on my insurance in the small print in case of such events that they would have to pay out due to some insurance regulation body

[FROSTYBALLS]

From an insurance viewpoint, the insurers need to establish as accurate a picture of repair or replacement costs as possible should a claim be made, and if additional or non-standard items are fitted, this can affect this picture.

For example the fact that a car may have had a DAB or sat nav option fitted may not be apparant when an insurance assessor is evaluating an insurance claim, and some of these options are quite expensive.

At the end of the day the onus is on the owner to provide the insurer with an indication of a vehicle's value, and whether the vehicle has additional or non-standard kit. An idea of specs for older vehicles can be obtained from reviews on sites like Parkers, etc, and also from specs of similar cars on sale at dealers, etc. Obviously there will be some instances where it will be difficult to ascertain whether vehicles are to standard spec - in which case the best option would be to declare the vehicle has something fitted which may or may not be standard, and let the individual insurer decide whether it is a modification or not. Ignorance is no defence.

[StevieH888]

I would think the 3rd party aspect obligations are intact, albeit as was said earlier your insurer may sue you for it.

When I contacted Adrian flux for my mods they seemed more interested in what the mods were worth.

My Auris SR180 is chipped (205bhp), lowered\stiffened and has a pedal box.

Its now not far off the speed of light. Engine sounds sexy under acceleration too.

[smudge-1991]

What pedal box is it

[Heidfirst]

" it depends what your insurer is like and if they are bumping up the price for optional extras I would move on to another who takes the car as it comes from apart from aftermarket modification"

or alternatively mine is actually charging me as per my risk & a lot of others are charging people for cover that they don't really need.

Every year I do an exercise on my renewal & they have always been within the top 3 lowest quotes (& when I go back to them with a better quote they have always managed to get closer) with many well known ins. companies often quoting premiums that are multiples of theirs. To give you an idea, before extras like legal etc. my premium is £170 fully comp.

[StevieH888]

DTE systems.

[GeoffTu44]

Whilst shopping around for renewal insurance for my Prius Excel 2016, I went to the LV site, which, by the way, has a specific advert aimed at Toyota owners.  After filling all the necessary details, I received the message that they do not insure this model! (They could have said that as soon as I entered my car details on the first page).
Not easy to contact LV but LV Customer Care on Twitter confirmed that this is correct but could offer no explanation.
I wonder whether anyone else has come across this and whether anyone could explain why this may be.

[Cyker]

Who knows! Maybe Aquarius was falling in Jupiter and the east trade winds were unfavourable or something.

MoreThan initially quoted £600 to insure my Mk4, but when I told them I had put steel rims on it, they declined to insure me unless I put the 17's back on.

When I enquired as to the reason they were unable to provide one, and in fact clammed up and got super defensive, telling me they would put me in contact with the complaints department. (I never did get any, and given they're apparently closing down, I'm not expecting them to...!)

So far they've been the only one - Everyone else previously just noted it as an uncharged modification, or - in the case of my current insurer Adrian Flux - listed it as generic aftermarket alloys (??). Yeaaaah check out mah 15 inch steel alloys! Booyah!

 

[FROSTYBALLS]

Insurers don't need to disclose why they refuse business. Underwriters may have their own policy as to which models they cover, and that could be down to various factors including claims history for that model.

We had the same a few years ago when Direct Line said they wouldn't insure our Honda, and instead referred us to another part of their group who did.

[DAN@ADRIAN FLUX]

Hi.

If you need any help with insurance at all then please feel free to drop me a line.

Regards,

Dan.

[Harters]

I have been insured with LV before and not had a problem.  Mine is also an Excel (2017)

I am Currently insured with Flow who are part of LV and have just renewed for £285.  Two named drivers with maximum no-claims.

[GeoffTu44]

2 hours ago, Harters said:

I have been insured with LV before and not had a problem.  Mine is also an Excel (2017)

I am Currently insured with Flow who are part of LV and have just renewed for £285.  Two named drivers with maximum no-claims.

Hi - thanks for the response.  I hadn't heard of Flow but went onto their website and filled in details for a quote - same response "we don't insure this model".  I suspect that this is LV "code" for we won't insure you - I'm in my late 70's.
Thanks for all the responses. - I'll go with Toyota (and Quidco).

[Eddiefh]

2 hours ago, Harters said:

I have been insured with LV before and not had a problem.  Mine is also an Excel (2017)

I am Currently insured with Flow who are part of LV and have just renewed for £285.  Two named drivers with maximum no-claims.

That’s a good price but I live in Wild West so anything under 500 is good to me 

[cobh18]

Had a bit of a surprise this morning when shopping for car insurance renewal. LV, my insurer for several years (until I switched last year) point blank refund to quote as the current car is a hybrid. No discussion: just "underwriters have decided - we know not why" They quoted last year.  Haven't even loaded the premium if, as I suspect, they re wary of CC theft, which would be reasonable.  Wonder if Allianz, the LV owner, refuse to cover the German market?

Got insurance elsewhere and none of the potential companies made any comment online. 

Any views?

[jthspace]

Article on EV and insurance. Repair costs are a factor.

John Lewis insurance have also stopped offering cover, according to other articles.

The Car Expert article December 2023

[Cyker]

Idiots; It's a Toyota hybrid and one of the most reliable cars, not to mention the cheapest and easiest to repair hybrids! I hate that they tar all hybrids with the same brush because they're too lazy to do their research - I can understand it with e.g. the german and high performance ones as they are a nightmare to deal with, but not Toyotas - It's not been a problem for the past 2 decades yet suddenly now it is? Ridiculous.

The Battery in mine isn't even that much more expensive than a full clutch kit for my old Mk2 I think (i.e. pressure plate, friction disc and CSC!)

 

2 hours ago, jthspace said:

Article on EV and insurance. Repair costs are a factor.

John Lewis insurance have also stopped offering cover, according to other articles.

The Car Expert article December 2023

EVs are a whole different problem - The biggest issue is because the Battery is so big and is nearly the footprint of the car, it's very likely to get damaged in a collision, and because car companies are so concerned about the environment and sustainability they don't provide ways to repair them so the whole pack has to be replaced for even a small dent.

I'm hoping future vehicles will start to use modular packs so only modules the size of my Mk4's would need to be replaced when damaged rather than the whole thing, but we need a significant Battery capacity breakthrough before we can even look at that. Currently none of the current major EV players give a single thought to insurance and repairability when they design their EVs. It's not a "them" problem.

 

 

[cobh18]

By the way, I've raised this issue with Which, who give prominence to LV as an insurer of repute. Not in my eyes judging by this farce. 

 

[MagicBoy]

LV have been doing this for at least 12 months. I got a refusal to quote on a Auris Hybrid last year.

[davidif]

I have a multicar policy with LV covering both my Corolla Hybrid and GT86 which renewed in June of this year without issue so they definitely cover Hybrids.

[MagicBoy]

Not for new, or in my case returning customers. Tried to get a quote again this morning  and got this  : 

 

Having to look around after a 57% increase on renewal from Direct Line.

 

[davidif]

Just now, MagicBoy said:

Not for new, or in my case returning customers. Tried to get a quote again this morning  and got this  : 

 

 

I'm guessing a change of policy (no pun intended) on their part since the end of June!

[MagicBoy]

Just now, davidif said:

I'm guessing a change of policy (no pun intended) on their part since the end of June!

As said yesterday, I got the same same last year when I tried just as a sanity check against the Jan 2023 renewal quote.

[bigblock]

I tried LV on 31st Dec 2023 and got a quote of £485. Didn't pay as I was only checking them out. Very strange as my hybrid was excepted.