I have a Mk 3 2litre sport which I insured through Lancaster Insurance in April of this year for a limited mileage of 7500 miles. Since I enjoy driving the car and took it up to the Lake District on holiday I am getting near my mileage limit. I have just phoned Lancaster and they said that they cannot extend the mileage on this policy and quoted me a ridiculous high figure for a 10k mileage through a private insurer
Can anyone out there help me with this? as I really need to sort something out soon.
Thanks.
Stop driving it😁
Yes stupid reply but I guess that’s the only one I can suggest👌
With most of these insurance companies they do take the wee wee if you want to change your policy, or even cancel and go somewhere else. It’ll cost to cancel a policy early too so you are in limbo.
I’ve got two cars both on 5k limit mileage. It’s about right for me as I only ever achieve around 8k ever in a year.
I don’t know what happens if you go over your stated mileage limit with insurance companies, is there a penalty or surcharge on do the null and void your insurance? Maybe read your T & C’s of said company.
BTW I don’t mind saying Lancaster is the last company I’d go with, I’ve read the reviews a while back.
I think that you need to do some legwork, unfortunately. I suggest you:
- Get some quotes through a price comparison website for your new expected annual mileage.
- Find out how much it will cost you to cancel your current policy (presumably a refund less an admin fee so if you have until next April remaining on your policy you might get something back).
- Determine what is cheaper, on a pro rata basis, to cover you until next April: switching under Lancaster vs. cancelling and going elsewhere.
Lancaster are terrible, don’t expect money back if you cancel the policy.
Very many thanks for you helpful responses especially Mick who advice I will try and follow. Watch this space.
Michelle
Hi.
If you do need any help with any alternative insurance then please feel free to drop me a line.
Regards,
Dan.
Hi Dan
Thanks for the offer. Can you give me your contact details at Adrian Flux please as I would certainly like to get a quote from yourselves.
Thanks Michelle
First question to ask, is did you have to declare the mileage when you took out the policy ?
I doubt it, as my insurance have never asked me.
If they’ve no record of what it was, how would they know that you’ve gone over.
It may be obvious from comparing the MOT history to the current mileage of the vehicle. A vehicle’s mileage can also be reported to the DVLA when a car is sold, but I think this is optional.
If you made a claim, they would probably ask for a copy of your MOT certificate and a photo of your odometer.
So you’re half way through the policy and already near your agreed annual mileage? How close are you to it now? Or is it that you think you’ll have exceeded it by your renewal date?
I was asked for my current mileage for my renewal this month, so sometimes they do ask. But if they didn’t ask you at the time of the policy being set up, then that’s certainly a grey area.
Yes, since it is a limited mileage policy I had to say what the approx reading was.
When I renewed the policy with Lancaster I was asked what the mileage was and told them it was approx 63000 it is now 68785 and the mileage limit is 7500 hence my concern.
Both of our car’s have a limited mileage policy. That as been like that for around 9 years now. They have never ask’ed us for the mileage on them. The policy was only renewed two weeks a go.
Thanks for that. Can you tell me who you insure with then?
Michelle
To be completely clear for the benefit of the OP; it won’t necessarily matter whether the insurance company asks for the mileage or not. Anyone can look up a vehicle’s mileage at its MOT testing dates using its registration. Using that information and the vehicle’s mileage at the time of any claim, in some circumstances it would be quite obvious if the vehicle had exceeded the annual mileage stated on any insurance policy. A garage will record a vehicle’s mileage when it has maintenance as well so there’s other evidence that can be gathered.
I’m with three different insurers for my cars, I declare an annual mileage on all of them. As far as I know I can adjust the mileage mid-policy and do so quickly online with two of them, the third I would have to call. Apart from the car that’s insured through a broker, it would cost me very little to increase my annual mileage mid-policy. I’m surprised that Lancaster can’t accommodate the change economically and it’s useful to know so thank you for sharing this.
I have not read the small print but shirley if you have exceeded your mileage allowance then your insurance is no longer valid, so there is nothing to cancel ? Just take out a new policy or am I missing something ?
Hi Mikey
So do you think then that if I contact the actual insurer: Ageas Insurance Ltd, that Lancaster have insured me with, they would be able to adjust the mileage limit as your companies can apparently do?
Michelle.
I don’t know, I can only speak from my own experience.
My MX-5 is insured via a broker because the car is modified. If I need to make a change to the policy, I have to phone the broker, the broker speaks to the insurer, then I get told whether there is more to pay or a refund due plus I have to pay the admin fees - I think that can be both the broker’s admin fee and the insurer’s.
My other cars are insured directly, so I login to the insurer’s website, edit the details, then pay the difference or receive a refund. There’s no admin fee unless I have to call the company (i.e., something that can’t be completed online).
- The OP hasn’t yet exceeded the mileage limit
- I think that this would be risky (just my opinion) because I believe that I’ve read in at least one insurer’s terms that they won’t pay if another policy covers the claim. If you leave two policies running concurrently, even if you think you’ve invalidated one, I suspect that could lead to problems. I am not a lawyer, though. This covers some possible issues: https://www.comparethemarket.com/car-insurance/content/two-policies-one-car/