HOW DO THEY KNOW!?

[Clutchy]

When an insurance company asks how many miles you do a year, how do they check this?
How do they know if you've gone over your quota?
Do they check this in the event of a claim?

The same with social and domestic or commuting, when you claim, do they ask if you were on your way to a friends or on the way to work etc?

Some of the questions insurance companies ask are odd as I see no way of checking these from their point of view, if you were on your way to work and you knew you weren't covered for that surly you could just turn around and say actually I was on my way to a mates


Anyone enlighten me? Thanks
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Malaguti F12 Phantom-Dead, Suzuki AY50- Dead, NRG power DD LQ, CBR125.
*33 BHP restriction up on 10/12/14* Current bikes/car: SV 650 S/ MKIV GOLF
Guide to pass your test with no lessons!

[CaNsA]

The current mileage get noted on your MOT.

However, "I bought some used clocked from ebay as mine were broken" should do the trick.

[J4mes]

[bombom]

I used to get asked what the current mileage was on the car/bike but havnt been asked this in years
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Current: 97 zx6r f3
Previous: suzuki gsf400 bandit

[Poseidon]

I'd presume, especially in this day and age of online databases, that the insurer could look at the MOT data to see what the mileage was on the previous certificate and what the current mileage is on the bike. Of course, you could say you spend a lot of time off road (track-days, fields etc), but whether they believe you and therefore payout without a fight is another matter.

As for commuting and such, if it got pinched from an office car-park, it might be difficult to explain how/why you came to be parked at your place of work, yet haven't declared commuting. If the accident occurred on the way to work then you could probably just blag it. They might try and catch you out on the phone though... i.e, casually ask you a few questions about what happened and drop in a sly "and where were you travelling to?" etc.

There are some questions they never check up on though, or at least they haven't in my experience. According to my insurers, I've been a homeowner and married* with kids since I was 19 (obviously at 19 I didn't have any of those things). Had a couple of claims in the last 9 years and not once been questioned about it, despite home-owning, marriage and kids bringing my premiums down.


*had to put a female on the policy. I just used the details of one of my mates.
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1977 Honda CG125
2002 Ducati Monster S4 (currently restoring)

[No 6]

THe whole mileage thing really annoys me, I recently got cover with an agreed 5000miles a year, I asked them how they would know and offered my current mileage(ish).

The sales rep said they do it from MOT to MOT cert, I informed him I had done 4000 miles since the last and another 1000 would put me over. He just added another 2500 miles and said it didn't matter. Somehow I think it would come claim time.
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Your ego is not your amigo

[DrDonnyBrago]

The MOT-MOT thing is a load of balls though.

I.e. MOT in Jan, insurance in June.

That leaves you 6 months to do stellar miles, change insurer come renewal time then change your riding habits.

They will not be able to prove which policy you did the mileage on so I struggle to see how it is enforceable. Not to mention that changing your clocks and having a non-working odometer are not illegal.


Screw them all.

[Ariel Badger]

My best advice is never tell the truth to an insurance company if it is something they can not prove. i do not normally advocate telling lies but these people are criminals that make bankers look like saints.
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Bikers make great organ donors, get 115 on your licence today.

[steven_191]

depending on the insurance company, some send out a letter sometimes with details for you to fill out and send back, eg current mileage or make model condition etc for pricing the bike up in case it gets damaged and they want to work out what its worth.

how much more does it cost to change things like work use or another thousand miles?

probably worthwhile if you plan on doing it as you never know.

[Derivative]

Just out of interest, I ran a few quotes for the same bike with differing mileage. 21 year old, 1 years NCB, GPZ500. Class 1 business use (commuting to several places of work).

5000 miles, £202.76 with Express Insurance
10000 miles, same
20000 miles, same
"More than 50000 miles", £202.76.

So here it made no difference at all to ramp up the mileage.
Check that first I guess.

When it comes to social vs commuting vs business use, etc, for me the difference has been £10-£20 annually. So really not worth the hassle over. My work also ensure you have business insurance to cover their own arses.

[Gazza M]

i've found it cheaper when i've been running quotes to put more mileage than i actually do - last year i only did 2000-ish miles as i was just bimbling about.

i found a policy for 2000 was more expensive than a policy for say, 5000....
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Past: '07 YBR125, '00 GPZ500S, '99 ZRX1100, '98 CBR600 track bike, '97 ZX9R
Present: '05 R6 track bike, 140 pit bike

[Derivative]

[G]

I have quite a few times leant the bike to someone else that has done decent miles on it.

I'd like to see an insurance company try and make a fuss if that were the case - can't see that standing up in court, to the ombudsman etc.

[Gazza M]