Insurance premium owing after a write off...

[rosie631]

Does anyone know how this works? If you pay insurance for 12 months and your bike is written off in the 9th month do you get refunded 3 months premiums. I thought you did because if bike written off you are effectively paying for another 3 months when there is nothing to insure.
In my case I pay monthly. My insurance year gos from 3rd october 2008 to 3rd october 2009. So I'm 9 months through the insurance year. Payments are all up to date. Bike was written off on 3rd July. Insurance company now say I owe them 220 dollars for premiums for July, August, September. Is this right?

Sorry, I know you're probably all sick of my insurance threads but trust me not as sick as I am of the whole bloody business.
Thanks for any opinions and advise, Rosie

[James Deuce]

Yep. Ugly isn't it?

Give these folks a call and see where you stand. http://www.iombudsman.org.nz/

Always read the fine print.

[Devil]

It is correct that they expect the entire premium. It's in your contract that the entire premium must be paid in the event of a claim. Thats what you're paying them for.

This is the norm.

[rosie631]

Really? I stand corrected then. For some reason I thought I remembered getting a refund once but must have dreamt it. Thanks for info.
What about registration? If you are registered for 12 months and bike written off after 6 do you get the other 6months refunded, or can you transfer it to the new bike, or just tough shit??

[Devil]

Really? I stand corrected then. For some reason I thought I remembered getting a refund once but must have dreamt it. Thanks for info.
What about registration? If you are registered for 12 months and bike written off after 6 do you get the other 6months refunded, or can you transfer it to the new bike, or just tough shit??

If you cancel insurance during your term, expect a refund for the remainder of the period. I *think* you can get the same thing with rego.

[Squiggles]

If you are registered for 12 months and bike written off after 6 do you get the other 6months refunded, or can you transfer it to the new bike, or just tough shit??

Insurance company usually collects on this when they deregister the vehicle...

[rosie631]

Insurance company usually collects on this when they deregister the vehicle...

And then they pocket it?? Price of bike reg nowdays it's not peanuts

[YellowDog]

Really? I stand corrected then. For some reason I thought I remembered getting a refund once but must have dreamt it. Thanks for info.
What about registration? If you are registered for 12 months and bike written off after 6 do you get the other 6months refunded, or can you transfer it to the new bike, or just tough shit??
My experience is as Rosie says. Upon write-off the insurance is cancelled and you get a refund, or stop monthly payments.

[rosie631]

My experience is as Rosie says. Upon write-off the insurance is cancelled and you get a refund, or stop monthly payments.

What company are you with? They stopped deducting my premiums after the claim so I thought that was the reason. But then they hit me with owing them 3 months.

[Drew]

Holy crap! That's mental.

Would have thought they would take it out of the cheque, rather than bill you later though.

[davebullet]

Your premium covers you for a term which is usually 1 year and is usually calculated on an annual basis. The instalment payment is a convenience option for the customer.

If you didn't claim insurance for the write-off then yes you could get a refund, but typically when you make a claim, 2 or 3 - you only pay the one premium for 1 years cover.

[yachtie10]

My understanding is
All premiums are yearly, They can let you pay on another frequency but you still owe the years premium.
If the policy is cancelled after a claim then a refund would be normal
If the policy continues to cover new or old bike then you would keep paying

But it depends on your policy

[YellowDog]

Hey Rosie, I haven't had a claim in many years and also not ever in NZ.

But the principal should still be the same. It could be because you had it on an HP in which case the payments need to complete before a refund can be considered.

As has already been said, the policy document will cover this. I would suggest you call them and ask them to point you to the relevant clause in their policy document.

IME Write-off = Same as Cancellation = Refund due.

[Devil]

If you make the claim (ie, your fault) then expect the premium to be forfeited.
Remember you are paying these people to carry the risk. If you make a claim, they are paying out on that risk. They have held up their end of the bargain. Full premium to be paid.

If you claim and it was another parties fault, your insurance will just continue on after the repair, or in the case of the write off and no replacement bike insured, then you should expect a refund.

It's all about who is carrying the risk.

[Shadows]

Perfectly legitimate.

I have to pay the $600 odd owing on my premiums when I pick up my new bike (only had the policy for a couple of months :doh:).

[rosie631]

Have been through the fine print on my policy. Seems if i buy a new bike they will credit the premiums to that. So that's fair enough.

[James Deuce]

See, they're not total bastards after all.

[davebullet]

See, they're not total bastards after all.

Correct, we're more like just bastards with a little b.

[FJRider]

Have been through the fine print on my policy. Seems if i buy a new bike they will credit the premiums to that. So that's fair enough.

Just watch for increase in excess ....

[rosie631]

Just watch for increase in excess ....

Yep, expecting that. No more no claims bonus. Bugger

[FJRider]

Yep, expecting that. No more no claims bonus. Bugger

I just hope NO MORE CLAIMS ... :no:

[Suzi Q]

My experience is as Rosie says. Upon write-off the insurance is cancelled and you get a refund, or stop monthly payments.

If you cancel the insurance because you have soldthe bike you get the refund. if the insurance company cancels the policy because of a write off they do not give a refund. effectively your policy has paid you outin full, you have used the wholeof your policy, so you do not get the refund. The policy wording will state that in the event of a write off there will be no refund of premiums. think of this, has the premiums you have paid for this bike, to this point been enough to replace your bike?

[p.dath]

Really? I stand corrected then. For some reason I thought I remembered getting a refund once but must have dreamt it. Thanks for info.
What about registration? If you are registered for 12 months and bike written off after 6 do you get the other 6months refunded, or can you transfer it to the new bike, or just tough shit??



Don't forget on write off the insurance copany owns the bike, and as a result, and potentiakl credit.

[mowgli]

Don't forget on write off the insurance copany owns the bike, and as a result, and potentiakl credit.
Until it expires....

Be very careful here. If the bike is written off then it must either be de-registered or transferred into their ownership. If they do nothing then eventually you, as the registered owner, will be sent a rego renewal. You'll naturally ignore it because you don't own that bike any more. Later on the wreck is sold with the rego intact and the new owner lodges a change of ownership. Then you get sent a bill for the outstanding rego since expiry. Of course I'm making this up and it never happened to me, tui anyone?

If your bike is written off call NZTA (or whatever their name is now) and confirm that it is no longer in your name. Don't assume the insurer has done it.

[rosie631]

If your bike is written off call NZTA (or whatever their name is now) and confirm that it is no longer in your name. Don't assume the insurer has done it.

Thanks for that mate. Probably would have just assumed they did it, but will follow it up.

[MSTRS]

The only time I've ever been involved in a write-off situation, the Ins Co asked me to deregister the bike and send them the proof, they sent a cheque for the value of the bike, and then sold me back the bike for fuckall. The 'unused' premium was refunded...mind you, the cover was third party and the accident was the other's fault. The bike and pertinent paperwork never actually left my possession, so twas easy to re-comply once I'd fixed it.
Sometime down the track, a renewal notice was sent, under the original number plate. It appeared as if the policy was never cancelled. Sucks to be them, cos they (you guessed it) refunded the unused premium...
Who was I to argue?

[crazyhorse]

......What about registration?

Yeah, unfortunately this is your loss too - had that experience with my son, and he had only just registered his vehicle for a year.