Graham Sykes Insurance

[Rob]

I have just been told that Graham Sykes does not cover greenlaning Is this legal? I thought that every company has to provide a minimum of third party insurance regardless of what type of policy it is.

 

[Paul]

I had that argument with them years ago which is one reason i moved to Flux. I can understand not covering pay and play sites or breakdown cover but a green lane is technically a road but they didn't seem to care.

 

[Rob]

Would that be any different than saying "we don't provide insurance for dual carriageways"? Police check if the person driving the car is insured or not and sometimes if its business or personal use. They do not need to check if you are covered to drive on a particular road, AFAIK if its a UK company it needs to provide the minimum 3rd party insurance so no need to check.

Anyway put the phone down and called somewhere else.

 

[Crispin]

AFAIK if its a UK company it needs to provide the minimum 3rd party insurance so no need to check.

Nope - they don't have to provide you with anything. Dorris and Mavis sure but they can choose as they wish who does and does not qualify for cover.

Yes, a greenlane is an unsurfaced road and by rights you will be covered if you have an accident on one but if it states in the T&Cs or is said / asked and answered on the call, they can refuse cover.
Elephant, Admiral and another one in the same group all explicitly say they will not cover you if you do anything deemed 4x4. A question was "What if I am not covered for 4x4 stuff but have an accident on the M25?" Nope. Not covered. Even asking the question and admitting to it caused them to stop proceedings. The reason given: You could have an accident on the greenlane and then get your friend to drag the wreckage to the M25 and claim you got hit by a mud truck.

Their game, their rules.

 

[Rob]

What I meant to say is if you got insurance from a company that claims to not provide you with greenlaning insurance would they still need to provide 3rd party insurance regardless of the policy on all public roads by law? If not then how would the authorities to able to keep track of it?

 

[Crispin]

Nope. They don't have to provide any insurance to you in any form. I was talking to one of the underwriters when Chas has his issues. The law says you have to have insurance. There is no law that forces all or any insurance companies to provide insurance. The company will charge you based on their perception of risk - How likely is Rob going to put in a claim. I guess their stance is green laning with create claims both for self as well as 3rd party and they don;t want that risk.

 

[Rob]

Crispin, it looks like we are talking about 2 different scenarios.

Scenario A. Customer asks an insurance company for a quote. Insurance company assesses the risk and then makes a decision whether or not to offer insurance to the customer. I agree with you Crispin that the insurance company has the right to not offer you insurance.

Scenario B. Customer asks an insurance company for a quote. Insurance company assesses the risk and then makes a decision whether or not to offer insurance to the customer. Insurance company offers insurance but with some T's&C's like limited to 5000 miles a year or no cover for greenlaning. Customer agrees to these conditions and goes ahead and purchases insurance. Now I know for a fact that if the customer exceeds the mileage allowance the insurance company still needs to provide at least 3rd party insurance by law. This means that the policy is downgraded from fully comp, TPFT, legal cover etc. to just the bare legal minimum which is 3rd party only if the mileage clause is broken. Vehicle use eg. business or motorsprot etc. may invalidate your all your insurance if you are not covered by the your insurance company and the authorities check this as I have been asked to provide proof of insurance additional insurance for business use when I was stopped while delivering pizzas as a part time job. They did a check and discovered that I only had SP&C. AFAIK greenlaning falls under the same category as limited mileage, you will still have 3rd party cover if you break this clause as its a public road, nod different from any other public road as far the law is concerned.

So my question is this, in scenario B would the customer still have have 3rd party insurance if they choose to drive on a greenlane? If not then how would the authorities check this? Where do modifications fit into all of this?

 

[DaveN]

So long as you have the certificate, and it hasn't been revoked, then yes, you have 3rd party insurance in the whole of europe - whatever you're doing (even if it's illegal). There will be wording on the certificate something along the lines of "nothing on this certificate affects the rights of a third party to make a claim".

 

[Rob]

I have been asked to provide proof of insurance additional insurance for business use when I was stopped while delivering pizzas as a part time job. They did a check and discovered that I only had SP&C

Forgot to mention that I was covered by my employers insurance.

Thats what I thought Dave.

 

[Crispin]

ah, I see what you're saying. Dave's answer seems right. If I have an accident while drunk it's obvious they won't pay for me but it's pretty wrong to not pay the person I crashed in to...

Pretty sure though you'll have your insurance canceled there and then and struggle from then on to get it based on the question "have you ever had insurance canceled by a company"

I wonder then what would happen with a 4x4 response group? While doing stuff for them I am covered by their insurance. if I then go recover a stuck fiesta down a local lane and told my existing company I won't do that... Should not make a difference I assume. pray: )