So quick one, because I have overhead a discussion and would like maybe a confirmation regarding this topic → if you drive more kilometers than what you initially wrote down on your car insurance / you might not be eligible to use it to repair your car ?
My situation : car is not leased / already bought → insurer is Axa : I set initially a value of 15 k / year … but I already did more than that. In this situation should I call the insurer and ask to bump up that limit ? / does it actually matter since the car is not leased ?
If it’s an insurance clause, of course it matters. Call the insurer ASAP and clarify the situation, you don’t want to drive without insurance coverage! They might not care, but worth checking.
There may be confusion with limits that are agreed when leasing (these are sometimes in the lease contract) but this not your case…
Partially an insurance clause on my side.
So: the insurer does not know the current nr of km of the car, atm. → because legally, I guess, they are not allowed to ask.
The km problem comes in this situation:
You have an incident → then your ACTUAL nr of km gets recorded.
You have a SECOND incident → then they compare the 2 values and see if you are in the interval declared or not.
Keeping in mind that I did not use the insurance / the agreed solution is to keep it like it is … and hope I do not need to use the insurance.
Alex
Whenever I’ve checked insurance quotes, I don’t remember seeing a difference on the premium based on the Km declared. Call an insurance agent (a generic one), and ask a general question about car insurance and how it works. I would not worry too much about it, I think the only way they can find out is between recorded incidents, or if they request records from STVA from MFK or something.
But I also think you could argue that I overdrove one year, the next or the previous not so much, and that it’s an estimate at the end of the day.
But all of the above responses (including mine) look like just speculation and assumption - best to check with an insurance agent or even call your insurance company anonymously, say that you are thinking of a new insurance for your car, and ask what would be the consequences if you drive for more than the declared annual mileage.
Is this really a game you want to play? What if you have a bad accident, the police get involved, they ask/look at your maintenance/MFK records, etc? Are you sure there is no mileage record in your car’s computer?
Frankly, for the few extra chuffs that extending your coverage costs, this is not a risk worth taking. Many other ways to reduce your insurance cost (reduce Casco, increase franchise, etc) if you like to take risks but don’t want to pay in advance…
P.s. very likely that the insurer will just update your coverage without extra cost, or the cost will be a small percentage of the overall cost…
They actually don’t … as stated in my previous post (and do keep in mind that the car is owned / not leased) → right now my car could have done in the last 2 years 200.000 km … they don’t know, because I did not have an incident and did not use the insurance … if I will use it (hopefully NOT) then just at that moment they will record the odometer … and hence that is the starting point of the “count”
Asked, out of curiosity, how much would it cost to raise the limit from 15k to 20k / year → 100 CHF
When there is a large claim they will make enquiries, obviously if you have gone over the limit they will decline to pay any repairs to your car. If you can’t show documented evidence that you have complied with the agreed terms, you will be on your own. Insurance is based on utmost good faith, you have to give them relevant information even if they don’t specifically ask for it. Obviously the sales receipt with a given milage is a good starting point decided by the years insured.
And when you imported the car, mileage was recorded at the border? When have you last done the MFK on the car?
At the end of the day, sure, it’s all a matter of risks you take vs how much you gain. And the risk it depends a lot on what car you have, where you drive and service it, etc. If it’s an always connected Tesla I wouldn’t dream about hiding the mileage, if it’s an old 200k+ banger sure it’s hard to tell 5k more or less
But if (and I don’t wish this to anyone) you end up causing an accident and the insurance has to pay big the big bucks in 3rd party damages, then you can be sure they will look for any, absolutely any excuse not to pay. With serious accidents the insurance can get access to all the police reports, even to your car wreck, and many other data from other insurers.
Insurances have people whose job is to find how not to pay back claims, and know all the tricks in the book. If you think you can outsmart them when big bucks are at stake… sure, have a go… If they suspect something is wrong (say looking at your workplace commute distance), they can just invent something and refuse to pay. Then you have to fight them in court - just doing that is a massive balls ache and expense, even if you win in the end.
As I said before, many other ways to reduce your insurance cost and sleep in peace. You wouldn’t have asked if it didn’t worry you…