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read this bizzle from a chap who posted in an INS FAQ on another forum, thought it worth sharing this knowledge 
You may all know this, but I got caught out so I shall post this info anyway.
Not all insurers have the same sot of policy, and some are obviously a lot worse than others in the amount of cover they will provide you.
It appears that the Admiral group and Tescos (this includes elephant.co.uk) have added a nasty little clause in their insurance quotes that bit me quite badly.
If in the unfortunately event that your car is deemed a write off, regardless of fault, they will cancel your policy from the date that they deem your car is a write off. They will offer no refund for the remaining period of your policy, and this loss is not recoverable through any of the "uninsured loss recovery services" that are available these days. This means that if you have just paid £1200 for a year’s policy and have the car written off in the first month you have just lost £1100.
The next unfortunate effect of having your policy cancelled is that you are no longer insured 3rd party on other cars. So now, not only have you had your pride and joy written off, lost the remaining value of your policy, but you are now no longer insured to take any replacement vehicles out for a test drive. There is also no form of insurance that you can buy that will cover you for a test drive (trust me I tried)
The final effect is that you have had a policy cancelled by your insurance company, and you have to tell other insurers this. Some of them take a very dim view of this, although most realise that it was not your fault that this happened.
Like I say, I have just been the victim of this when some fool pulled out in front of me and wrote my car off.
Every insurer that I have called I have asked about this situation to see where they stand. The good news is that 80-90% of the companies out their do things properly and do not cancel your policy. The ones that do are the Admiral group (including elephant) and Tescos.
You may all know this, but I got caught out so I shall post this info anyway.
Not all insurers have the same sot of policy, and some are obviously a lot worse than others in the amount of cover they will provide you.
It appears that the Admiral group and Tescos (this includes elephant.co.uk) have added a nasty little clause in their insurance quotes that bit me quite badly.
If in the unfortunately event that your car is deemed a write off, regardless of fault, they will cancel your policy from the date that they deem your car is a write off. They will offer no refund for the remaining period of your policy, and this loss is not recoverable through any of the "uninsured loss recovery services" that are available these days. This means that if you have just paid £1200 for a year’s policy and have the car written off in the first month you have just lost £1100.
The next unfortunate effect of having your policy cancelled is that you are no longer insured 3rd party on other cars. So now, not only have you had your pride and joy written off, lost the remaining value of your policy, but you are now no longer insured to take any replacement vehicles out for a test drive. There is also no form of insurance that you can buy that will cover you for a test drive (trust me I tried)
The final effect is that you have had a policy cancelled by your insurance company, and you have to tell other insurers this. Some of them take a very dim view of this, although most realise that it was not your fault that this happened.
Like I say, I have just been the victim of this when some fool pulled out in front of me and wrote my car off.
Every insurer that I have called I have asked about this situation to see where they stand. The good news is that 80-90% of the companies out their do things properly and do not cancel your policy. The ones that do are the Admiral group (including elephant) and Tescos.
