Admiral Insurance Drink and Drugs policy

Convicted Driver Insurance
I didn't know about the 40mg prosecution threshold. Makes it an even more bitter pill to swallow.

The Drink and Drug clause doesn't require a conviction, you just need to be over the 35mg limit.
I guess they will focus on the higher reading too at 39mg.

Admiral must surely have settled the third party claim by now. They have to under the road traffic act.

Presumably they've not asked you to pay for anything yet and you haven't been asked to sign the indemnity form.

I don't know if they can have cancelled your policy. Technically no cover is provided under the policy. Unless they told you they cancelled the policy you won't have to declare it to future insurers. Take care to answer the questions truthfully.

It's been over three years since the accident and I am not aware of any other case where they haven't already started pursuit within a few months.
You can never tell with Admiral what they will do next but I would sit tight and wait. They have 6 years from the date of the accident to take you to a civil court. You're at least half way through that.
 
I think the 40ml threshold has been in place for many years, at least since the early 90s. You used to get the option of a blood test at 40-50ml (which could potentially put you below the limit as they had to call out a doctor) but that went a few years ago.
 
I didn't know about the 40mg prosecution threshold. Makes it an even more bitter pill to swallow.

The Drink and Drug clause doesn't require a conviction, you just need to be over the 35mg limit.
I guess they will focus on the higher reading too at 39mg.

Admiral must surely have settled the third party claim by now. They have to under the road traffic act.

Presumably they've not asked you to pay for anything yet and you haven't been asked to sign the indemnity form.

I don't know if they can have cancelled your policy. Technically no cover is provided under the policy. Unless they told you they cancelled the policy you won't have to declare it to future insurers. Take care to answer the questions truthfully.

It's been over three years since the accident and I am not aware of any other case where they haven't already started pursuit within a few months.
You can never tell with Admiral what they will do next but I would sit tight and wait. They have 6 years from the date of the accident to take you to a civil court. You're at least half way through that.

You're right, thank you for your responses. I hope your nightmare with them is over by now.
 
The more I think about this the more it annoys me.

I know there will be some people who will argue you should know what you've 'signed up to' in the T&C's but very few people bother to read the policy document or heed the warnings. It's usually just about the price.

A DD conviction and sentence is more than enough punishment, plus the stress, embarrassment, possible job loss that goes with it.
Admiral set an even lower bar and impose potentially bigger punishment and stress. I guess they impose the exclusion even if you blow over at the roadside and under at the station.

I notice they've beefed up the wording from 'we reserve the right to recover from you or the driver' to 'we will recover from you or the driver'
Pursuing the policyholder if they can't get the money from the named driver FFS!
I never felt they would pursue me in my son's case but maybe they are getting more aggressive about that.

Accidents are almost always caused by driver error. So many people get distracted by phones, smoking, sat navs, kids screaming, tiredness, prescription drugs, etc.

If someone is convicted of DD then I can understand the insurer not paying out for the policyholder's vehicle. The insurer has no choice but to pay out for the third party claim (subject to scrutiny and challenge). This is surely factored into the cost of the policies across all customers. They clearly don't recover all the costs in DD cases, just a proportion. I guess it is a relatively low number compared to the rest of their total annual payout.

Had the police decided to charge you it sounds like you would have had the right to request a blood test (presumably more accurate) which may have come up negative. You were denied this right.

Best advice I can give to anyone is don't drink any alcohol at all when you drive, always read the policy T&C's before you buy motor insurance and never, ever buy an Admiral Group insurance policy if you or a named drive is ever likely to consume any alcohol and drive.

I hope in your case Wendy that Admiral have had their pound of flesh and don't take it any further. If they do then challenge everything and consider taking them to the FOS and drag it out as long as you can. They have 6 years from date of the accident (RTC) to take you to court to recover costs.

My son's case is closed. The 6 year statute of limitation kicked in over 3 years ago. They either consciously gave up, or more likely lost the paperwork.
 
Found this today. Worth a read.

FOS decision when no DD conviction

Includes:
'So this means that if Admiral thinks that Miss W was found to be over the prescribed limit for alcohol at the time of the accident, it’s entitled to decline her claim. It also means that Admiral is able to recover its outlay from Miss W where it’s obliged to pay for third party costs associated with the accident.'

An Admiral policy holder blew 81mg at the roadside. No conviction due to errors in the urine sample procedure.

The Ombudsman supports Admiral's lower bar approach. They take the view that if Admiral pursued this in a civil court it would be decided on the balance of probability. The high reading is clearly against her but I wonder what would have happened if it was just over.

Basically the FOS support Admiral's T&Cs
 
Depressing reading ?
It’s been nearly 18 months since my crash, expecting to hear from admiral soon. Dreading it.
Seems they are getting quite aggressive these days. I read something earlier today about admiral staff each receiving a £500 bonus due to the company’s high profits.
 
Depressing reading ?
It’s been nearly 18 months since my crash, expecting to hear from admiral soon. Dreading it.
Seems they are getting quite aggressive these days. I read something earlier today about admiral staff each receiving a £500 bonus due to the company’s high profits.
Hi Tessa1234, I am new here. Sorry if I missed it in the threads but were you convicted?
 
Sam1234, welcome, I’m sure Tess1234 will tell you her story (she was convicted).
If you click on a persons title in the left of the screen, then click on Their title in the box that appears, you can see all the items they have submitted or commented on. That will help you follow what has happened with someone.
 
Sam1234, welcome, I’m sure Tess1234 will tell you her story (she was convicted).
If you click on a persons title in the left of the screen, then click on Their title in the box that appears, you can see all the items they have submitted or commented on. That will help you follow what has happened with someone.
Thank you Price1367, I have seen now, cheers.
 
Hi sam
Yes I was convicted. Still haven’t heard anything from admiral.
Not that I’m chasing them!
if you have any questions that I might be able to help with let me know.
 
Hi sam
Yes I was convicted. Still haven’t heard anything from admiral.
Not that I’m chasing them!
if you have any questions that I might be able to help with let me know.
Hi Tessa1234 thanks for replying,, Ok are Admiral fully aware of this? The steps I hear is that the stronger your credit ratings are the more they target you regardless. So if you have a bad credit rating they leave you alone.
 
Hi Tessa1234 thanks for replying,, Ok are Admiral fully aware of this? The steps I hear is that the stronger your credit ratings are the more they target you regardless. So if you have a bad credit rating they leave you alone.

yes they know the score with me and what happened 😔

Oh really? Where have you heard that? Interesting!!
*opens several high interest store card accounts, upgrades car immediately and secures 3 payday loans* haha
 
Admiral have 6 years to pursue a claim in the county court.
What they often do is said for 3-4 years, because they realise someone may have lost their job and be hard up after a conviction.
Just when you are back on your feet, up the pop with a claim!
 
Admiral have 6 years to pursue a claim in the county court.
What they often do is said for 3-4 years, because they realise someone may have lost their job and be hard up after a conviction.
Just when you are back on your feet, up the pop with a claim!
Yes makes sense Price1367, do you know of any stories where one has been taken to county court?
Tess1234 would be interesting to know if EUI Law (Admiral legal company) have done a sneaky credit check on you, Clearscore will show this?
 
yes they know the score with me and what happened 😔

Oh really? Where have you heard that? Interesting!!
*opens several high interest store card accounts, upgrades car immediately and secures 3 payday loans* haha
Hi Tess1234 would be interesting to know if EUI Law (Admiral legal company) have done a sneaky credit check on you, Clearscore will show this?
 
companies can ask for a credit check to be done, the only criteria is paying the fee!
No permission required for the credit check at this stage, as you will have agreed to a credit check as part of your initial insurance application and this carries forward throughout the process - or someone with a bad credit rating would not give permission for s further check, defeating the object of the enquiry!
 
companies can ask for a credit check to be done, the only criteria is paying the fee!
No permission required for the credit check at this stage, as you will have agreed to a credit check as part of your initial insurance application and this carries forward throughout the process - or someone with a bad credit rating would not give permission for s further check, defeating the object of the enquiry!
Thanks Price1367, do you know of any cases that went to court?
 
Hi DD - any advice on re-insuring - did you leave it for many years to re-insure your son or did you find providers where it wasn't horrendous cost and restrictions. Does LV do good here?
 
Thanks Price1367, do you know of any cases that went to court?

there is a long thread on Admiral cases, including adjudications by The Financial Ombudsman.
they sided with Admiral for the most part.
none of them appear to have resulted in an outcome being reported in the County Court that I can see:

 
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