Graham Butcher

Err, maybe I've been speaking to some insurance companies direct rather than a broker?. As it happens, allegedly, seeing as the only accidents in the last 5 years (for the record I've only ever had 1 accident that was my fault in 56 years, and that was in my first year of driving), are taken into account, and I've had 3 accidents since 2016 as mentioned in my earlier post, so only the last one in April this year should be considered, and I have declared that one in every request for a quote, one of the companies did tell that when they ran my details through the Motor Insurance Bureau database CUE, it came back with a discrepancy between what I declared and the database records. They kindly gave the contact details for the MIB, so I can get details of my claims, in order to track down where the problem is and get it rectified. I have been in contact, and they say it could be up to a month before I get anything back because they are so busy. As the insurance is due on the 17th, I'm going to have to suck it up this year and see if when the error is corrected, I can get a refund.

Glad to hear that the system is working OK now that the correct coding for the battery has been inserted. With regard to the dashcam and the suspect power lead, be very careful with it if the cable is broken, and it creates a short circuit than it is a major fire hazard, as are phone charger leads or add on after market satnav power leads, their weak spots are area within 6" of the plug as this part gets a lot or wear and tear with being pushed and pulled in and out of the socket and over time bad connections on the cable and also bad contacts on both the plug and socket will all cause problems at some point. I really can't stress enough that it is always best wherever possible to buy the optional hardwire kits for them and install them, routing the cables out of sight also tends them less attractive to the thieves as who would buy a device without its power lead and your licence will be better protected by always being ON when required along with your car from the reduced fire hazard from worn leads.

Ok, I can accept the latest one seeing as it happened this year, BUT I had declared that already, but I was told that the database was claiming there was another claim had been made, the only other claims I made were in 2017 and 2016 and both are outside the 5-year timescale. I expect that someone along the chain has entered the wrong date on the one this year. I entered the date of the accident occurred, but maybe someone entered another date?

It clearly was not saved to the systems memory.

If you can't find the makers details etc, just change the last 2 digits of the existing code number and input the correct Ah rating and save the settings. The digit change is enough to make the system understand the battery has been changed.

Yep, this a thing that the Taycan clickbait man has mentioned in many of his videos as well that you can plan your journey using these apps but all too often the apps aren't showing true information and you can arrive to find either the chargers are out of service or have been vandalised, some have even had their cables stolen, its utter madness.

I only saw the added text you wrote here. The dashcam will not switch off as long as it is connected to a power supply. If you can see it switch off when your driving means it has bad connection somewhere on the car. It is not because of the battery or the alternator not providing enough power or else the engine would stop running as it needs power, much more than the dashcam does. It is beginning to look as if the best course of action is to book car in for proper check over.

I wouldn't be too hasty to jump to that conclusion, it could be many things, loose or worn out drive belt, bad connections on the alternator, bad coding of the ECU with regard to the battery information, bad charging regulator. The forum also shows your location as being London, UK and if you have been driving for 4 hours there tonight, it means that you had your lights on. It could even be something like the heated rear screen relay might be welded up so that all the time the ignition is on, so is the heated rear screen. You say the AC is off and so is the fan, which fan are you talking about, the heater/AC fan or the big powerful cooling fan at the back of the radiator? If you don't have the knowledge and the equipment to test each of these possibilities in order to eliminate them from the equation, you ought to get your garage to check it out. It could be that the comms network has intermittent connections somewhere in the circuit, or even a short circuit on the comms line of the CanBus. If you took the battery to the store that you purchased it from, and they tested it with a proper tester that applies a load to the battery and measure the voltage under the load, and it passed, then it is unlikely to be faulty as their tester would certainly have shown it. Just in case the person who tested it wasn't sure of how to use the tester, you could also try taking it to another branch, there are many in London to choose from.

I was told that by the underwriters, they told me that once they have recovered the money from the other company, that they would pay me out, and that happened a few days before the end of May. Price gouging is best described here Price gouging - Wikipedia

Maybe it was doing a regen of the DPF? Mine also stops at times after a long trip the day before or on a really warm day, at the first stop.

Yep I did, I had a phone call coming in and just wanted to post it, so I could concentrate on the call, it was an important one.

@J.R.I did a test last night with another online quote with a major provider, first quote I did, I decided to omit any accidents and the quote was for £888.84 and the second one I submitted the accident and that quote came in at £1042.37, a jump of £153.53. The other information was identical, but I did have the protected NCB box ticked. I think that if the third had tried to lodge a claim for whiplash or whatever I think he would be foolish to claim from me or my insurer as he admitted to me that he was 100% to blame, my insurer also rang the next day and asked him if he thought he was to blame, and he openly admitted it, knowing that they were recording the conversation, and lastly he was fully aware that I had his actions in his car all recorded in full HD quality on my dashcam, in fact he spotted the camera in my windscreen. Hopefully I can this error resolved before I have to renew the cover. In my previous 2 no-fault accidents, I was with a different insurer and both times come the renewal time there was hardly any difference in the quote, so when I've been told many insurers I've spoken to about these quotes now and they say that is because I have made a claim that is why they are so high, even for a no-fault claim and the other insurer has paid up, is putting it bluntly, is just pure bo****ks, it is blatant price gouging.

A quick update on my position, the first year I was with my current insurer, my total bill was £328.09 for a year, the second year it was £396.35 and may be around £420 at the end of the policy (it is miles driven based). This coming year if I don't move, doing the same 6,000ish miles is going to be £998.95. I think that this could well be down to an error in the information held in the Underwriters database that all insurers work from to decide if what you are declaring on the application forms is correct. This I found out by arranging a quote over the phone rather than online and the nice lady I was speaking to gave some information that there was a discrepancy between the accident I declared and what the database indicated. All of my accidents have been no faults ones as they only need those that occurred within the last 5 years, I only gave details of the one in April this year. When she told the database shows different to what told her, I then mentioned the 2016 one where I was sideswiped by a foreign lorry on the M25 and then about the time in 2017 when I was stationary at a roundabout and got rammed in the boot and neither those were the problem. So now I have got to track where this error has come from and get it corrected ASAP and maybe the renewal figure might be more palatable.

The thing to remember with Start/Stop is that the engine has, and the air needs to at a certain temperature before it will kick in, so on colder days it will take quite a bit longer to become operational. and then of that is very dependent on how the system is seeing your battery charge level etc, if the battery monitor things that the battery does not contain sufficent charge, it will not allow the Stat/Stop to operate. On my old car sometimes if I had been using the radio or DVD player while the engine was off for any length of time, it would allow the system to operate until I had driving for some considerable distance while it topped the battery up again.

I thought you said that the Start/Stop sometimes worked and not at other times? Is that not the case? Mine sometimes works and not at other times. I have tracked mine to what I think is the cause as it never stops if the rad fan is running because the engine is hot, or if the aircon is set really low as the system seems to favour comfort over economy, this I discovered by slowly turning the temperature up until it gets almost to the point of the outside temperature, at which point, start/stop works OK. Lower the temperature and the engine kicks back into life again to power the aircon. I thought you said that the OBDelevan was displaying error messages about being not being authorised? If so then you cannot rely on the log it provides?

Good, so we seem to have cured the battery problem, so it was the dashcam after all then? Take my advice and get yourself the hardwire kit so that it automatically switch ON and OFF with the ignition and then that issue should never occur again and more to the point, you won't forget to switch on. If an accident is going to occur, you bet that its more likely to happen the time you forget to plug the camera in.

Well, consider you may be spending money for no reason here as your OBDeleven you said is now playing up and is displaying "Device is not authorized" so it might be that the device has been lying to you about the misfiring, you did say before that you were getting some odd results with the claimed misfiring apparently jumping around various cylinders. Is the car currently drivable or not? If it is, and appears to be running OK, it might pay to book in at your garage as the 4th Sept is only next Monday so you could maybe drive it till then? Its your call at the end of the day. What you do is a risk either way.

I think I'd be inclined to the dealership for checking. They have factory approved tools and should be able to resolve your problems once and for all. I had Halfords autocentre do the headlight alignment for me twice I had to take it back as with their aiming the only safe speed at night was about 20-30mph on country roads as the headlights only shone up the road for about a car length giving me a great pool of light and darkness beyond, very dangerous. They said it was done on their MOT approved head adjustment machine, said that if they were any higher drivers would be dazzled and flash me. I ended up doing it myself in the end using a brick wall and aiming the headlights up until they looked OK. Much better now, can see just as good as I could with my old car and all the others before it. That was nearly 3 months ago and not a single person has even flashed me to say they were being dazzled by them. I won't be going back Halfords autocentre anytime soon.

Is there a way to beat them?

Your guess is good as mine on those issues, or indeed do they really indeed to do anything at all. Is this all smoke and mirrors?

Well in that case, you do really need to get a plug removal tool and clean / check them and if required adjust the gaps. Perhaps even replace plugs with new ones.

What diagnose system are you running? Does the car feel / sound / different to normal? Has it been suffering from lack of power? When was it last serviced and by whom, i.e., was it done by a garage / dealer or did you do yourself? Does the car run hot, do you have to keep topping up the oil or water? Do you have any warning lights in the instrument cluster etc? It is common for the start/stop system not to operate, I believe if the engine cooling fan is running or if the aircon is working really hard. It sounds as if it would be a good idea to book the car in with a Skoda service centre for them to cast an eye over it and do their diagnostic checks.

Either way, @Breezy_Pete and myself have advised them to get the battery checked by another garage for peace of mind, but currently the dash cam is chief suspect as it appears to be plugged into the 12v power socket which seems to be always live and OP is checking that and will report later.

That is from my Skoda service agent. There is a plug that connects to the negative battery terminal but on my old car that was impossible to extract for some reason that disconnects the sensor. Anyway, I think we may have discovered that their dashcam has been left plugged in 24/7 and discharged their battery. Awaiting their reply.

Today I came across this in my mailbox. What I'd like to know is why has it taken the government so long to respond to this crime wave, and also why was the equipment to capture the signal from keyless entry cars and then use it to steal the cars even allowed to be on sale? Secondly, following the jump in my renewal policy after the shunt earlier in the year which was through no fault of mine and zero cost to my insurer, has it made such a massive impact on policy. I did a test quote with another company last night, one without declaring the accident and then another declaring it. 1st quote was £888.84 and the second was with the same details but with the no-fault accident declared £1042.37, that is £153.53 uplift for something I did not contribute to. That to me is clear evidence of price gouging and is 100% not justified. Keyless car hacking equipment to be banned as rise in thefts urges Government to act | Regit