Car insurance demand money - spouse/son error

tony_baduk

My brother set-up my dad's car insurance policy three years ago with ecar insurance, we received a letter yesterday stating that we owe £1,645 as they have knowledge that he was a named driver on the policy as a son not a spouse.

This was a mistake by my brother not a deliberate intention to get discount or any kind of fraudlent activity.

Is there anyway out? I have contacted them basically explaining our circumstances:
1. Unemployed family
2. Brother is disabled - dropped out of Uni (got MS)

If you need any more info, let me know.

Thanks in advance for reading this.

dacouch

Technically you owe the Insurance company the money as you have unintentionally miss led them and received a lower premium than you should have paid.

Your best bet would be to write a lette to the Chief Executive explaining the situation and asking for them to review the matter. You may find they agree to settle for a lower amount although in the circumstances I doubt they will waive the amount totally.

If your still not happy you could contact the Financial Services Authoirty or Financial Ombudsman although, i doubt there is much they can do to help as you have made a mistake that saved you money. They may be able to negoiate with the Insurer for you but they would want you to contact the Insurer yourself first to give them the chance to deal with your letter / complaint.

Have the Insurer cancelled your policy / declined the renewal?

Does your dad have another vehicle as well by any chance?

tony_baduk

Dacouch - thanks for your reply.

My father is happy to pay something towards it but feels it's quite demanding ask for that sum of money "within 7 days" as requested by the insurer.

Yes this insurance policy is now cancelled by us at renewal.

My dad is currently driving through another insurer.

dacouch

To a certain extent they have to demand the money within seven days to cover themselves legally and to get your attention. If you contact them and explain you are looking into the matter and taking advice they should give you more time. (A lot of people just ignore the letters and don't contact them so the Insurers often give seven days and then take it further if they have had no contact)

If your happy to pay towards it why don't you try sending a polite letter that apologises for any miss understanding by both parties and that you understand you need to make a contribution. However you can only afford X amount (Try £300) and enclose the cheque with the letter and state on the top of the letter "Without Prejudice" and in a sentance after you mention you enclose a cheque that "This is in full and final settlement" (This would mean if they bank the cheque they have accepted your offer). Mention in the letter your families current circumstances so they are aware if they press for the higher amount they may have little chance of actually getting it.

You mention that your brother has MS, if this caused him to hardly drive the vehicle or the fact he was away at uni a lot limited his driving it might help them make a decision and accept your offer if you point this out

You could also point out in your letter that had you not made the mistake you would have Insured with a different Insurer at a much lower price
It would probably be best for you to take some advice before you do this, eg pop into your local Citizens Advice Bureau or ring the FSA and get their advice.

Incidently have you tried getting a quote from the same Insurer through the same method eg comparison site / the Insurers own website (You could use a random name). If their website is very miss leading with the son / spouse question eg it automatically goes to spouse then this may assist your case in demonstrating that it was a genuine error and was not helped by their website.

tony_baduk

Very useful thank you.

Their website did not have a son option.

I have written the letter already and sent so I hope they find this prompt reply as a means to solve this matter swiftly.

I will await a reply from them and then seek advice if the response is not satisfactory.

Quentin

dacouch wrote: »

enclose the cheque with the letter and state on the top of the letter "Without Prejudice" and in a sentance after you mention you enclose a cheque that "This is in full and final settlement" (This would mean if they bank the cheque they have accepted your offer).

Take care over this advice as it is NOT a guarantee (in UK law) that the cleared cheque means the offer is accepted.

It is likely that the post is dealt with by various departments.

Should an administrator (whose job is to deal with cheques) just pay in the cheque along with any others received, then in law this is not an acceptance of a full and final offer.

To be sure you do reach a legal full and final settlement you need to get them to agree with you they do accept a part payment being final, and that the matter will be closed by accepting the part payment. Otherwise they can bank the cheque yet still sue for the remainder.

LinasPilibaitisisbatman

Of coursse the son was just an additional driver

Tbh its not an easy mistake to make and the price differential would have been obvious. you owe the money.

tony_baduk

Just had a reply from ecar insurance - not very helpful at all:

This figure is additional to what you have paid and would have been quoted if you had entered "other family", you could have at this time not accepted this quote if it did not suit your requirements. The underwriters do require this payment as this is the correct premium you should have paid for the cover that we offered. I do understand you situation and sympathise, however there is no option to reduce this figure as this is the correct premium that should have been charged.

I understand that this is a large sum that does need to be paid, and as advised in the letter if you are unable to make the payment this will be passed to our debt recovery department who will contact you to arrange the repayment of this figure.

LinasPilibaitisisbatman

tony_baduk wrote: »

Just had a reply from ecar insurance - not very helpful at all:

This figure is additional to what you have paid and would have been quoted if you had entered "other family", you could have at this time not accepted this quote if it did not suit your requirements. The underwriters do require this payment as this is the correct premium you should have paid for the cover that we offered. I do understand you situation and sympathise, however there is no option to reduce this figure as this is the correct premium that should have been charged.

I understand that this is a large sum that does need to be paid, and as advised in the letter if you are unable to make the payment this will be passed to our debt recovery department who will contact you to arrange the repayment of this figure.

Maybe not but then what do you expect

Its hard to believe that this was a genuine mistake and even if it was not to notify them for 3 years is not acceptable.

Of course they want the cash.

tony_baduk

LinasPilibaitisisbatman wrote: »

Its hard to believe that this was a genuine mistake and even if it was not to notify them for 3 years is not acceptable.

We did not inform them. We were not aware spouse was entered until we received this letter yesterday.

They found this information from a claim we made during the time of the insurance. If we had knew about this, we would have corrected this at the time.

LinasPilibaitisisbatman

There would be annual paperwork sent out showing renewals with this info. Its rather convenient how you didnt notice.

Also the fact you have made a claim complicates the issue as you should count yourself lucky they havent cancelled the policy and chased you for the cash paid out.

Its amazing how these "mistakes" are never in the insurance companies favour isnt it.