Car Insurance cancelled | Legal matters | Back Room Forum

Sat 9 Jul 2011 00:39

Car Insurance cancelled - maintenanceman

I have had my car insurance cancelled because I did not provide an upto date photo copy of my driving licence. I have the old paper drivers licence and submitted a photocopy copy as per ththe request of the insurance company. it has my old address on it. They sent out automated requests for a new licence and i told them that I was in the procces of apply for a new one with my current address. I recied an answermachone message stating that If I did not call them before 5 that day my insurance would be cancell. No emai, no letter. no moble phone call. I missed the answer machine message, I called them next day and the insurance had already been cancelled and that they couldn't do anythig about it.

My policy was paid upfront and in full by credit card. They did not state that they required paperwork when I paid for the policy over ther phone. The request only came after in the documentation. I have never had an issue like this in 24 years of motoring and my licence is completely clean.

My full yras premiun was £475. They have refunded me only £175 for aprrox 2.5 months of cover and charged me a cancellation fee after they cancelled the cover. I told them that was outrageous and the reply was thet I was charged on a temporay cover basis. I am fuming and feel completely ripped off by the insurance company. I feel completely defrauded and want do something about this. I am considering a complaint to the FSA, and possibly small claim court action against the insurance company. What other avenues can I pursue?

Edited by Avant on 09/07/2011 at 13:52

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Sat 9 Jul 2011 09:01

Car Insurance cancelled - bonzo dog

Hi MM, on the face of it the Insurance co have behaved poorly. However I would suggest that the rights & wrongs are very much dependent on the timescales of both parties correspondence.

Whilst I know first hand how poorly insurance companies can behave from an administration point of view, assuming they requested the DL within 7 days of your purchase, it does not take over 2 months to get a new licence

Clearly an incorrect DL is no use to anyone; so my view is that the FSA / courts decision would depend on when they first requested the DL & when you applied for the new one.

Good luck

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Sun 10 Jul 2011 10:06

Car Insurance cancelled - Simon

Well the way I read it is that they have given you two and a half months in which to provide them with a copy of a current correct and up to date licence and all you have done is fobbed them off and sent a copy of your aged licence that doesn't even have the correct address on it. I am not surprised that after ten weeks they have cancelled the policy. I would dare bet that this is mentioned numerous times in the correspondence that they have sent you as being the outcome if you fail to provide them with the documents that they have asked for.

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Sun 10 Jul 2011 15:16

Car Insurance cancelled - jamie745

The OP states the insurance company sent out automated requests (plural) how far apart were these requests? Every week? Once a month? This information was left out of the original post, If they've sent you three odd over three months then theres really no excuse for not providing them with an up to date licence. When i changed my address i informed the DVLA the following day and i had my new one in 15 days (and there was a bank holiday in the middle of that).

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Wed 13 Jul 2011 00:11

Car Insurance cancelled - maintenanceman

I have had car insurance for over 6 years with the same circumstances and having a paper licence with the previous details has never been an issue. I was not told that I had to provide these details befor I paid for the insurance. If I knew that it was a requirement I would of put it in order ofr just used my existing insurance company. It seems insurance conpanies are very keenand eager to take your cash over the phone but don't give you any idea what you are letting yourself into. I wasn't told it was a stipulation that I had to provide any further details.

Also do you think it is fair just to leave an answer machine message giving me a few hours to respond? The underwriters also took £250 and Barry Grainger helped themselves to their fee and left me with £175 refund out of a £475 years policy. That amount for just 2.5 months. Sorry that is daylight robbery in my eyes and completely unfair. The underwritters were Trident. Needless to say I won't ever reccommend Trident as an underwriter as they simply have taken what they like and been completely unreasonable or fair.

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Wed 13 Jul 2011 00:13

Car Insurance cancelled - jamie745

When did the insurance company FIRST contact you (phone, email, post, whatever) asking you for an up to date copy of your licence? Was the answerphone message the first you heard of it? Judging by your OP it isnt. You mention "automated requests" when did you receive the first of these automated requests?

Edited by jamie745 on 13/07/2011 at 00:22

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Wed 13 Jul 2011 00:23

Car Insurance cancelled - Simon

>> I have had car insurance for over 6 years with the same circumstances and having

>> a paper licence with the previous details has never been an issue.

So are you saying that you have failed to update your driving licence to your current/proper address for the last six years? What are you trying to hide from and what are you hoping to achieve by doing this?

Sooner or later it was going to bite you on the bum and now it has. I have little sympathy...

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Wed 13 Jul 2011 00:59

Car Insurance cancelled - jamie745

Right i think we're putting this together now. The OP changed address when with his previous insurer, had insurance with them for a following 6 years, has now switched insurance companies and the new company has requested for a licence which carries an address tallying with the other details provided. Presumably this insurance company has been asking for this since shortly after the policy was put into action (which is lenient, they could demand it before the policy becomes active but then you could be left with a few weeks without insurance whilst that is sorted) and the OP has failed to do so.