Now Ye're Talking - to an Insurance Underwriter

Liam McPoyle

jimgoose wrote: »

?

What I mean is that a van is a commercial vehicle so should not be taxed privately.

A car is a private vehicle and should not be taxed commercially.

Cleveland Hot Pocket

Business Cat wrote: »

When the whole nonsense with the tax kicked off in 2010 (iirc) I was getting calls every single day from people concerned that if they were using their commercial motor for non commercial purposes eg going to the shops, mass, etc, that they werent covered which of course is not true.

A motor policy in this country has to provide some kind of s, d + p cover, without it then the vehicles could realistically never be driven unless going to or from work or during working hours, for the purpose of your job.

You may well have gotten a commercial motor insured privately however I will take my 5 years + experience over the time you got a policy if its all the same with you.

So just in case there are any more ambiguities, in my experience I have never encountered an insurance company that was happy to insure a commercial motor or car van as a private vehicle, that ok with you?

Fine, but that's your opinion, perhaps it is colored by the one broker/company you worked for. It is certainly not an industry wide view.
But I don't want to distract from your AMA any further so I'll leave that one there.

Business Cat wrote: »

What I mean is that a van is a commercial vehicle so should not be taxed privately.

A car is a private vehicle and should not be taxed commercially.

Tell that to AGS, the tax offices, and the legislators. If you buy a commercial vehicle but cannot sign the "goods only" declaration (eg you don't own a business or have a vat number) then you tax the vehicle as private.

jimgoose

Business Cat wrote: »

What I mean is that a van is a commercial vehicle so should not be taxed privately.

A car is a private vehicle and should not be taxed commercially.

Yes, so I hear. My point is I am genuinely surprised to hear that. Are we therefore of the view in this haywire little jurisdiction that private use of vans is unconscionable and universally disallowed?

Liam McPoyle

jimgoose wrote: »

Yes, so I hear. My point is I am genuinely surprised to hear that. Are we therefore of the view in this haywire little jurisdiction that private use of vans is unconscionable and universally disallowed?

Of course not, as I said above, a commercial motor policy automatically includes sd&p use.

Yes, it's primary purpose is in general supposed to be commercial use however an insurer has to allow some level of sd&p use as it simply wouldn't be possible to not have it on a commercial policy.

It was the retarded rules implemented by John Gormley that tried to force drivers to declare their commercial motor wouldn't be used for any sd&p use.

Biggest load of bollocks there is, completely unenforceable and not an insurer in the land would agree to it as the very foundation of it is inherently flawed.

Natati

Hi Business Cat,

Firstly - thanks for your help

I have a three bedroom semi detached house and would like to convert the attic into a usable space (office + storage). I wanted to ensure that it is done correctly from a structural POV so I contacted a structural engineer to prepare the drawings but he cited an amount of fire regulations that had to be adhered to which would add significant cost + time to the project. New doors, re plaster all the walls of the house.

Let's say I decided not to change the house to comply with fire regulations and went ahead with the conversion and the worst case scenario was realized and we had a fire. From an insurance perspective what would I be able to claim back? I have a friend who works in the insurance business and he believes that I would be able to claim the cost of all the house back EXCEPT the additional cost we did to convert the attic? Can you confirm this?

jimgoose

Business Cat wrote: »

...It was the retarded rules implemented by John Gormley that tried to force drivers to declare their commercial motor wouldn't be used for any sd&p use.

Biggest load of bollocks there is, completely unenforceable and not an insurer in the land would agree to it as the very foundation of it is inherently flawed.

Ah yes, so it was the venerable Captain Green himself who constructed this particular hames. So it goes. I'd imagine insurance types don't like it any more than regular folk. :pac:

Dav

Let's wrap it up there folks. Big thank you to all of you for the questions and to Business Cat for all his time - this has been the busiest AMA yet and I think has given us all a great peek behind the curtain into the industry as well as some money saving tips for renewal time!