Insurance Companies and Mileage

[Haggisman]

The estimate I have given has always turned out to be pretty accruate, but I do wonder why they ask as I'm not really sure what the 'right' answer is!

More miles = More experienced driver = Less chance of accident
More miles = More time spent on road = More chance of accident

As is always the case for insurers if they can attach more risk to a statistic and bump up your premium, they will, so to answer you question westy, it is the latter

Conversely:

Less miles = Less time spent on road = Less chance of accident
Less miles = Less experienced driver = More chance of accident

They can't both be right

 

[IAmATeaf]

I find around 6k gives me the best results with cost, it's actually taken me just over two years to put 6k miles on the clock though.

That's what I also found. I do around 6k miles, my wife does significantly less but I put 6k on both policies.

 

[Iamzod]

Out of interest .. whats the sweet spot with mileage and insurance quotes at Direct Line then?

It seemed to be around 6k as mentioned above, it did seem to vary a bit from policy to policy though.

 

[Jono8]

If it was just an estimated annual mileage you gave and you have gone over slightly i doubt there would be much problem. If you did double the mileage or a lot more than estimated then obviously that gives them a nice way to worm their way out of a claim.

Never give them a way to worm out of a claim

 

[Spartacus]

It seemed to be around 6k as mentioned above, it did seem to vary a bit from policy to policy though.

cheers

 

[Zbornak]

If it was just an estimated annual mileage you gave and you have gone over slightly i doubt there would be much problem. If you did double the mileage or a lot more than estimated then obviously that gives them a nice way to worm their way out of a claim.

Never give them a way to worm out of a claim

But it would seem the only way they could tell is if you had a vehicle where the mileage readings are saved online?

 

[Iamzod]

But it would seem the only way they could tell is if you had a vehicle where the mileage readings are saved online?

Wouldn't matter anyway, just tell them you have lent your car to a friend a few times & they did the additional on doc cover.

Or that your rev counter packed in so you got a 2nd hand cluster with a different reading. I once put a 110k mile cluster in a 96k pug 406 for this very reason.

 

[Amos91]

But it would seem the only way they could tell is if you had a vehicle where the mileage readings are saved online?

Insurance companies could do a HPI check as the mileage is recorded there.

 

[Basher]

Given that they have no way of finding out how many miles you've actually done, I wouldn't worry.

 

[Jono8]

But it would seem the only way they could tell is if you had a vehicle where the mileage readings are saved online?

True, although they could look at previous MOT's, check when you bought car e.t.c.

I personally wouldnt want to tell my insurance company i was going to be doing 5000 miles and then end up doing 10000 or more. As i said, i think giving them any possible way to weasel out of a claim is not a good idea.

But also, as i said, i wouldnt worry about going a bit over.

 

[rodenal]

I don't see an issue for the OP at all, as said so long as you're not doing excessively more there will be no issue. The wording of the form is an "estimate", anyone could theoretically drive the car with their own doc cover and tbh I've never heard of them actually checking.

Sure if you said you done 6k but done 20 it may be scrutinised slighty more but anything up to about 50% (probably more in reality) variance will likely be a complete non issue. I'd love to see a justifiable instance of a % reduction payout due to an incorrect mileage estimate.

I guestimate my miles every year based on my previous actual usage and what I think is coming up in the next 12 months, sometimes this puts me a few thousand under or a few thousand over the estimate but i'm never that close to being bang on - I can guess the response if I went back at the end of the year and said I'd done 4k less than estimated, no doubt they'd ask for more money!

 

[Spartacus]

Sure if you said you done 6k but done 20 it may be scrutinised slighty more but anything up to about 50% (probably more in reality) variance will likely be a complete non issue. I'd love to see a justifiable instance of a % reduction payout due to an incorrect mileage estimate.

Agree with that 100%

 

[Peerzy]

Not useful for the OP but when doing insurance quotes with Admiral last year I found my price didn't change by a single penny with the mileage from 2000 miles to 8000 miles, above that it changed.

I was just gonna put in 5000 miles but ended up going for 8000 as it didn't change the price at all.

 

[NathWraith]

but what if you do 5000 miles a year on the track where normal insurance doesnt apply

 

[MeEsH BaKkA]

As long as you have not signed a limited mileage policy and shown photographic proof you are fine.

 

[Colbaker]

The estimate I have given has always turned out to be pretty accruate, but I do wonder why they ask as I'm not really sure what the 'right' answer is!

More miles = More experienced driver = Less chance of accident
More miles = More time spent on road = More chance of accident

You would think this was the case but insurance company's actually take more miles as more chance in accident or driving convictions as you are on the road more.

I know this because when I worked as a driver from a computer engineer my premium went up by average 100 pound per year, and the insurance companies said I am more likely to have an accident or driving conviction as I spend more time on the road.

 

[Deleted member 66701]

I find around 6k gives me the best results with cost, it's actually taken me just over two years to put 6k miles on the clock though.

Ditto. 3K adds about 10% to the 6k quote and 12k adds about 15%. That's on the Westfield - which I did about 300 miles in last year

Doesn't make as much difference on the Scorpio but still put 6k down even though I only did 2k last year.

 

[Barks]

Just leave it and declare the new mileage as a new quote as opposed to a renewal.

 

[phil-k]

Given that they have no way of finding out how many miles you've actually done, I wouldn't worry.

I don't know but as the examiner has to put your mileage on your MOT, I imagine its viewable online, although I cant see why the insurance company would want to check unless they were trying to find a reason not to pay out after a claim

 

[Basher]

I don't know but as the examiner has to put your mileage on your MOT, I imagine its viewable online, although I cant see why the insurance company would want to check unless they were trying to find a reason not to pay out after a claim

But the mileage of the car doesn't prove how many mile's you've driven it under their insurance policy. For instance, I could have done 2,000 miles on a private track ...