Discussion
My Elise is insured with Ensign through Adrian Flux.
I had the policy book out yesterday and noticed a clause that said the car is only covered against fire & theft if it is locked, with the windows up and the hood on.
If the roof comes off mine it only goes back on when it starts chucking it down, and I regularly leave it parked without the top on.
I phoned Adrian Flux and, at first, they said it wouldn't be insured if it got nicked whilst the top was off! I explained that the Elise is a bit different to other convertibles in that it is totally impractical to put the roof up every time you park up (unless you have a lot of spare time on your hands).
I expected the usual 'tough luck' response, but to their credit they agreed to go away and raise the issue with Ensign.
I received a call back today to say that Ensign were going to reprint their policy documents just for us Lotus owners, and to replace the clause with one that says the car is covered provided you take 'reasonable care' to secure it. They explained this as meaning that the car would be insured against theft if the top is left off if, say, you stop off at a pub or something, but it wouldn't be if you parked the car on the street overnight without the roof on.
Adrian Flux will send out the new policy books to all Lotus owners as soon as they are available, but have confirmed that the new interpretation will apply immediately.
I don't often have nice things to say about insurance companies, but I've got to give Adrian Flux (and particularly Nicola) their due for acting so quickly once they had been made aware of the problem.
It might be worth checking other insurance companies' small-print to make sure that similar exclusions don't apply.
I had the policy book out yesterday and noticed a clause that said the car is only covered against fire & theft if it is locked, with the windows up and the hood on.
If the roof comes off mine it only goes back on when it starts chucking it down, and I regularly leave it parked without the top on.
I phoned Adrian Flux and, at first, they said it wouldn't be insured if it got nicked whilst the top was off! I explained that the Elise is a bit different to other convertibles in that it is totally impractical to put the roof up every time you park up (unless you have a lot of spare time on your hands).
I expected the usual 'tough luck' response, but to their credit they agreed to go away and raise the issue with Ensign.
I received a call back today to say that Ensign were going to reprint their policy documents just for us Lotus owners, and to replace the clause with one that says the car is covered provided you take 'reasonable care' to secure it. They explained this as meaning that the car would be insured against theft if the top is left off if, say, you stop off at a pub or something, but it wouldn't be if you parked the car on the street overnight without the roof on.
Adrian Flux will send out the new policy books to all Lotus owners as soon as they are available, but have confirmed that the new interpretation will apply immediately.
I don't often have nice things to say about insurance companies, but I've got to give Adrian Flux (and particularly Nicola) their due for acting so quickly once they had been made aware of the problem.
It might be worth checking other insurance companies' small-print to make sure that similar exclusions don't apply.
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