A couple were forced to sell their nearly brand new top-of-the-range Land Rover at a £14,000 loss after an insurance company cancelled her policy just one month after buying it.
Stay-at-home-mother Hannah Platts, 40, and husband Kareem Chester, 39, bought a new Land Rover Defender in October last year, and after fishing around for an insurance quote, got one for £2,300 a year.
‘The only reason we have an SUV is because where we live is rural. The roads are terrible, they’re full of potholes, they don’t them grit in the winter so it’s dicey to drive,’ Mrs Platts, from the rural village of Audlem, in south Cheshire told MailOnline.
After owning the car for just a few weeks, the couple received an email from insurers Adrian Flux while visiting friends in Sweden in November, which said: ‘We can no longer insure your Land Rover Defender.’
The mother-of-two dedicated an entire day to finding a new quote but the best she found was around £11,000 a year, despite being a ‘model driver’ – but unwilling to pay more than 10 per cent of the car’s value in insurance each year she decided to sell it, even if it meant taking a loss.
Have you faced issues insuring your Range Rover? oliver.price@mailonline.co.uk
Stay-at-home-mother Hannah Platts, 40, and husband Kareem Chester, 39, were forced to sell their nearly brand new top-of-the-range Land Rover Defender (pictured) at a £14,000 loss in November after an insurance company cancelled her policy just one month after buying it
Hannah and Kareem with their two children on a family holiday in December 2022, when they were told by insurers they would no longer insure their 2021 Range Rover Sport a year earlier
Land Rover have not been able to insure any vehicles Mrs Platts has tried to get a quote for
‘We called up Saxton 4×4, a dealership in Essex who specialise in high-end SUVs and are reseller for Range Rover,’ said Mrs Platts. ‘They said it was a major issue and they were struggling to sell the things.
‘The Defender we had was a specialist Carpathian Edition. It had all extras like hunter lights. We bought it for about £100,000, but we sold it to them and took a hit of £14,000 or £15,000.’
It was reported that Range Rovers could be Britain’s most uninsurable car after data from the DVLA last May revealed the Range Rover Velar R-Dyn was the most sought out car by criminals, with two in every 100 of the model stolen.
Land Rover was the most stolen brand at the time, with 924 stolen per 100,000 in the 12 months to March 2023. It also made up six of the top ten most stolen car models overall.
But JLR said that new police data shows that Range Rover now ranks third in vehicle thefts – and that for all Land Rover Brands (Range Rover, Defender and Discovery), the brand is fourth. The firm also said there is a downward trajectory in thefts of all their vehicles.
The firm previously said that of the 8,500 (now 11,000) quotes offered since the launch of their own insurance product in October the average quote is £200 per month.
Strangely, this exact problem with car insurance was not the first time this had happened to the couple with a Jaguar Land Rover vehicle.
While on holiday over the Christmas period in 2022, Adrian Flux said it could not renew a policy on Mrs Platt’s 2021 Range Rover Sport, which cost around £80,000 new.
She said: ‘We got an email from the insurer saying they could no longer insure your Range Rover.
‘When we got home and tried to insure it and the best policy we got at that point for the car was £9,000 a year. We were paying £2,000 a year before, which is not not cheap, but not £9,000.
‘We just thought that’s ridiculous, so we just got rid of the car and swapped it for another SUV. It was good but it wasn’t ideal.
‘Where we are we have a lot of standing water – two to three feet is quite common in the lanes around Audlem – as the council don’t jet and drain the gullies anymore.’
While on holiday over the Christmas period in 2022, Adrian Flux said it could not renew a policy on Mrs Platts’ 2021 Range Rover Sport (pictured), which cost around £80,000 new
The Land Rover Defender that Mrs Platts and her husband had to sell for a loss after they were unable to insure it
‘We thought Land Rovers are the best thing for that kind of situation there’s a button that raises the chassis. If it’s in deep water, the car raises itself so you can drive through safely. For an SUV they’re the best,’ said Mrs Platts, explaining why she bought the Land Rover last year.
After selling her Land Rover towards the end of last year, Mrs Platts said she spent the Christmas period looking at what Range Rover or Land Rover she could get insured. ‘I looked at older Range Rovers, 2019 or 2020 models, basic models, everything,’ she said.
‘The prices of used Range Rovers are very low – I looked at basic models and tried to get a quote through Jaguar Land Rover’s own insurance.’
She spoke to three dealerships about six different models, including a Land Rover Discovery, Defender and 2019 diesel Range Rover Sport, but found JLR’s own insurance product would not offer a quote on any of these cars at her address.
‘I live in a low crime area, we have double gates, we’re at the end of a dead end road. I’ve never been a crash or had a speeding ticket. I haven’t made a claim in 20 years of driving,’ the exasperated mother said.
‘I’m the model driver.’
She has since tried to find even quotes for more used Range and Land Rovers she has seen up for sale, and found deals from various brokers in excess of £8,000 a year for a 2019 Discovery advertised for sale at £33,000. Again, JLR’s own insurance would not provide a quote.
Mrs Platts even experimented by searching for quotes from JLR by using addresses of two friends in the Yorkshire Moors and South Shropshire which were so remote that deer outnumber people. ‘No insurance was offered by Land Rover, and on the comparison sites it was £10-11,000. I thought ‘this is b******s’.’
‘Obviously, I’m not going to buy another Land Rover, which is a shame, as it’s perfect for out needs. But I can insure myself on a sporty Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT for £700 a year.’
‘What’s going on? I don’t have a bloody clue. We’re a brand loyal, typical Land Rover customer – it’s got us out of serious trouble with steep hills, black ice and water.
‘That’s why we stuck – but now we have to give up.
‘It’s bizarre, it’s a huge problem, as any other car I can get insured on.’
JLR, which is owned by Indian giant Tata, said its latest security technology will create a virtual barrier that will block the recent spate of breaches of driverless system in its vehicles.
Criminals usually go in pairs to steal keyless cars. One holds a transmitter and stands next to the vehicle while the other stands close to the house holding an amplifier
Manchester City footballer Jack Grealish behind the wheel of his Range Rover in April last year
It has said its latest anti-theft systems in its newest models manufactured from last year onwards are far less susceptible to breaches of its keyless technology.
JLR said that the low rates of theft of Range Rovers, particularly of new models, show their new proactive action on vehicle security is robust.
Since January 2022, 10 of the 12,200 new Range Rovers (0.08%), and 14 of the 13,400 new Range Rover Sports (0.1%) have been stolen, which JLR says shows that newer vehicles are resilient against theft.
JLR added that 74,500 vehicles are received security updates to protect against keyless car thefts as part of a £10million investment.
A spokesperson for JLR told MailOnline: ‘Unfortunately, a record increase in car insurance premiums is an issue affecting the whole industry.
‘We are fully committed to doing everything we can to support clients who might be struggling to get insurance. As such, in October, we launched our own insurance and so far we have provided more than 11,000 insurance solutions to clients and we are working continuously to expand our offering.’
Adrian Flux has been contacted for comment.
