Is it OK to be insured twice?

[anna]

Originally Posted by Supervox

Given that insurers now have access to & utilise a single datatbase, won't it show up as already being insured when a second policy is taken out ?

HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAA erm database most likely wont be checked until a claim comes in

To be honest it is best to cancel the first insurance policy, it is illegal to have two policies running on one item. Should you have a claim during the time both policies are running, then the insurers are able to get out of the claim due to the discussion of which insurer is liable.

[TamSV]

It is absolutely not illegal. Dual insurance happens all the time for various reasons and there is an established principle for dealing with it - known as Contribution.

This gives the paying insurer the right to call on other insurers who are similarly liable to share the loss.

It is only illegal to try to make two full claims - because that is fraud.

[tigersaw]

Thanks for all your advise and debate.

The website indicated theer would be a £50 charge minimum to cancel the insurance, more if the refund was above a certain amount.
The surrender value would have been £4 (a months cover) before dedeuctions..

I've just re-insured with the same company, told them I had a previous policy with them and they said it would be cancellled, but they made no mention of a charge so all should be well.

Won't you miss out on another years NCB if you don't wait for it to run out?

[CLARKYsv]

Originally Posted by tigersaw

Thanks for all your advise and debate.

The website indicated theer would be a £50 charge minimum to cancel the insurance, more if the refund was above a certain amount.
The surrender value would have been £4 (a months cover) before dedeuctions..

I've just re-insured with the same company, told them I had a previous policy with them and they said it would be cancellled, but they made no mention of a charge so all should be well.

Cancellation charges are generally only incurred if you switch companies... they're more than happy for you to stay...

No it's illegal.

While it probably could be done without being caught, it's not recommended.

Solution:
Insure the new bike on a short-term (ie, a 1 month policy, or however long you've got left on the other policy) initially, and then insure both bikes on the annual one together.
Simples!

Originally Posted by Nick_69

i cant see why its not ok to do that, better than not insuring it

Originally Posted by bluefishman

as long as you don't claim on both of them, don't see a problem, i'd let it run out.

Bingo, its wrong because if you were to insure something twice whats to stop you doing it 10 times... then whats to stop you driving your £1000 fiesta into a brick wall and claiming the £1000 back on each policy.

I think the simple term is fraud.

[tigersaw]

Originally Posted by arenalife

Won't you miss out on another years NCB if you don't wait for it to run out?

Yup. Although NCD makes little difference at this end of the market, i.e. insuring old farts on small bikes.

Originally Posted by Owenski

Bingo, its wrong because if you were to insure something twice whats to stop you doing it 10 times... then whats to stop you driving your £1000 fiesta into a brick wall and claiming the £1000 back on each policy.

I think the simple term is fraud.

I can absolutely, definitely say that this response is silly.

Fraud requires you to have made a false representation with the intention of causing personal gain or loss to another.

Insuring an item multiple times is *not* illegal in any sense. Why would it be? All you're doing is paying more premium to different insurers - you've placed yourself in a worse position, not the insurers.

It only becomes fraudulent if you place claims on multiple policies without informing them of the fact that you're claiming with other people. It's not even illegal to claim on multiple policies - as long as you inform your insurers that you're doing so. In this event, they would all get together and split the payout to you. Again, the only person who's lost out is you in paying multiple premiums, as you would not have gained any more than you would have had you only insured once.

So to everyone who said multiple insurance is illegal: You're wrong.
To the commenter who said that leaving a policy running invalidates a new owner's policy: You're very wrong.

HTH