To ask about car insurance

[WhyCantIuseTheNameIWant]

Is it ok to have two policies, both for me, for the same car, at the same time?
My insurance runs out later this month. Due to the incompetence of current insurer, I am looking to change.

I was involved in a minor accident before Christmas, other lady ran into back of me.

Had my car repaired, by insurers.
But they keep sending me letters saying my insurance is suspended as my car was a write off.

If you manage to get hold of them on the phone, the poor bloke who answers is no help. One sentence, he agrees that I am still driving my mended car. The next, he says there was no letter (its in my hand!), the next, he just doesn't know.

So, apart from spending a few extra quid (probably about a tenner, nothing major), can I just start a new policy from tomorrow?

Take out any uncertainty from old insurer and know I am covered?

The overlap would be for about a week, and if I had an incident, I would be claiming on the new one.

You can't have the same car insured twice no,

you'd have to cancel one policy once you've taken out the second policy.

it's not as simple as 'if I had an incident, I would be claiming on the new one' the MID would show you insured twice so it is then a question of liability and the insurers can deny liability.

Arrrgh! How infuriating!

The thing that would bother me is whether your old insurer has registered your car being a write off on their insurance database. If they have, then you might have trouble insuring it or getting your new insurer to pay for repairs in the event of a further accident. Be sure to keep all your documents from the repairing garage to prove it was fixed.

If you have written confirmation from them that your insurance is suspended (whether or not they say different on the phone) then you'd be silly NOT to get a second policy out on it. I don't see how QforCucumber's scenario would happen, you could just produce a letter showing that your first policy is no longer valid, and so you are only insured once.

It was mistakenly listed as a write off on the database.
They removed that, not long after Christmas.

You can't have the same car insured twice no

Utter rubbish. Of course you can. It's only a problem if you claim for the same incident on 2 policies to double your payout. That's fraud. But 2 policies on the same car is fine.

Like Marmalade car insurance for learner drivers. The parents have their car insured, just them only driving, and their teenage son/daughter takes out a separate policy on the same car just for them to practise in.

But you say they KEEP sending you letters saying it's suspended. As long as you have that I don't see how a second policy could be a problem.

I used to work in car insurance, and we were told no, you can't have the same car insured twice. I understand TTWK has said the problem is only there if you had an accident and claimed on both policies. However, how would you choose who to claim from?? Both insurance companies would be insuring the car, therefore both insurance companies would be equally liable for the cost of the repair, or refuse liability as Q says. That's what I was told anyway, unless that's changed...if it has, I apologise!

Penguin, it hasn't changed and you were told wrong. Go online and try to find a single piece of legislation prohibiting multiple insurances on the same car. There is none. Perfectly legal, so long as the purpose behind it isn't conspiracy to commit fraud.

Maybe it isn't a question of legality, but a question of how a claim would work in practise with two insurers for the same driver on the same car. Perhaps it's legal but leaves the insurers free to say "I'm not liable, talk to your other insurer"?

What Tuskerfull said. I never said we were told it was illegal, just that you couldn't do it because there's then a question of who pays out for the car because both insurers have been covering it.
Best thing to do is phone your insuance company and ask OP

Maybe it isn't a question of legality, but a question of how a claim would work in practise with two insurers for the same driver on the same car. Perhaps it's legal but leaves the insurers free to say "I'm not liable, talk to your other insurer"?

Yes, they could end up sharing the claim, or usually one policy is more specific. In this case the new policy would be the one specifically for the purpose of picking up a claim, because the OP was told the original one was suspended. So the new insurer would have to pay the claim.

But in terms of legality, it's no problem.

ttwk different situations, then the 2 policies are in different names. Small print in t and c's of most car insurance states that if the same cover for the exact same thing is In place elsewhere then the company can refuse liability. If you were to have an incident and both company's refused liability the op could end up having to pay their own repairs as insurer would only admit liable for 3rd party damage. If you have 2 policies in different names- one for op and one for teenage son as your example this again is only ok as long as both insurers are aware of the dual insurance. Checks on the MOD on vehicles which have been dual insured can sometimes also show as not insured.

However -I'm with you on the matter that as there is documentation to show the original insurance is suspended I'd use that as my proof if there were any queries.

My current insurance, due to run out later this month...
They sent me "suspended" letter around Christmas.
So I phoned them (wasted over 2 hours for a blooming answer, but I was really panicking about driving without insurance).
Bloke initially said 'car was a write off'
I corrected him. He read the next bit on his screen and saw I was correct.
He emailed me, to say this was their error, and I was fully insured.
I went into town the next day, (by bus, with 11 yo and toddler in pram) to ask the police for their view on this. If I was to get stopped for anything, would it flag up as "no insurance"?
He said 'print the (looks like it was typed by a toddler) email and staple it to my insurance certificate. That should be enough for anybody.

Haven't heard from them for a couple of months, but this week, I got two identical letters, telling me my suspended car insurance is due to end soon.

Still no text from the ombudsman, so I guess they still don't answer their telephones...

So I still don't know if I am insured!
The ombudsman and police say I should assume that I am, with the same scenario as last time.
My car IS showing up as insured on the askMID.
I have never known such an incompetent company.

Penguin, I have been asking for 6 months and they don't know. It is frustrating.
They say I am covered when I speak to them, but then send letters saying I am not.
I have given up with the phone, as I want. Paper trail!