Ignore blizzard of bad advice on Facebook
TWITTER and Facebook were full of horror stories last week about car insurance and the cover drivers would have if they took their cars out during the worst of the bad weather.
The view seemed to be that if you drive during a red alert then your car insurance becomes invalid and any claim you had to make following an accident wouldn’t be paid by your insurance company.
That’s just not true and it’s clear that the rumours online caused lots of drivers to panic, and also caused organisations like the AA and the Association of British Insurers, as well as many car insurance companies themselves, to post useful information online.
While these organisations were all at pains to point out that driving in the snow might not invalidate your insurance, they were also very clear that lots of things drivers do during spells of bad weather might.
Driving away from your house in the morning without clearing the snow from your car is one such thing. Your insurers would be entitled to say that you were negligent if snow falling from the roof of your car onto your windscreen blocked your view and caused an accident. Likewise, you are leaving yourself open to claims from other drivers if snow falling from your vehicle obstructs their view.
Switching the engine on to defrost the car while you go back inside for a hot cup of tea is another absolute no-no.
Most insurers insist you remain in control of your car at all times and would argue that if your keys are in your car while it defrosts in the drive and you are in your kitchen then you’re not in control and they could legitimately refuse a claim.