UK Minister's Car Insurance Says Jesus Bumper Stickers Violates Policy, Could Lead to Canceled Coverage
An elderly British minister was warned by her car insurance company that her auto coverage could be voided because of the Jesus-phrased decals that she put on her vehicle.
The Rev. Wena Parry, a 75-year-old minister of Independent Congregational Church in South Wales who loves to drive around with phrases like "Christ is My Lord," decaled onto her car, told BBC that she was informed in a letter from her insurance provider, Age UK Insurance, that putting such "modifications" on her car violated her auto insurance policy.
"Every opportunity I have I want to tell people about Jesus. I reckon there must at least be a million people who have read the texts on my car and no one has had a problem with it before," Parry said. "But, there might be somebody within that company that hates Christianity."
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Although Parry thinks that there might have been a "religious motive" behind the insurance provider's warning letter, Age UK Insurance hold that there was no religious motivation but that they just prefer their clients to inform them of modifications on vehicles.
The insurance company found out about Parry's Christian decals after the muffler on Parry's Vauxhall Zafira hatchback was damaged and a part of her engine was stolen by thieves. Parry submitted an insurance claim along with photos of the car to the to the provider.
Although Parry's photos of the car revealed that she had placed bumper stickers that read "Christ Must Be Saviour," "Christ For Me," and "Christ is My Lord," Parry did not think that the decals, which cost her over €120, would have caused any problems with her coverage.
In replying to Parry's insurance claim, Age UK Insurance stated in a letter that due to the decals on the car, her policy could be invalidated. The letter further states that if Parry had informed the company about the stickers when she first bought her policy, her coverage would have been rejected.
The letter also informed Parry that she had 10 days to explain why she had not told the insurance company about the bumper stickers.
"The policy may be declared void," the letter asserted. "These modifications do not fit our acceptance criteria for motor insurance and [coverage] would have been declined if we had been made aware of these at the time of purchasing your policy."
An Age UK Insurance representative assured BBC that the company's warning letter to void Parry's policy had nothing to do with the religious aspect of her car's decals.
"The situation regarding Reverend Parry's claim was in no way related to the Christian nature of her graphics," the company's spokesman said.
The spokesman added that the Age UK's parent insurer, Ageas Insurance Limited, investigated Parry's policy and determined that Parry was not made fully aware of her policy's limitations and did not hold her responsible for breaking it.
"Our insurers have concluded that our request to declare all modifications was not made clear enough to Rev. Parry and therefore she did not know which vehicle enhancements should have been declared," the spokesman said.
According to The Independent, Age UK Insurance offered Parry a settlement of €725 and have waived their €100 charge.
"While all car owners have the right to self-expression and place whatever they wish on their cars, we would urge all drivers to make their insurance providers aware of any graphics applied to their cars," the Age UK spokeswoman said.
Due to the damage caused by the thieves, Parry has had her car scrapped and plans on buying a Silver Peugeot 206, according to The Mirror. But before she settles in with a new insurance plan, Parry plans on asking whether or not it is acceptable for her to put Jesus-related decals on her vehicle without having to fear loss of coverage.
