Car Insurance - just been told i'm not insured!

debpeb

I went to renew my tax disc online today and was informed they had no insurance records for me and to contact an insurance company. As I thought i'd renewed my policy last August (I rang the company to change a couple of details) I was concerned so I rang them only to be told I haven't been insured since last year due to them trying to take out a direct debit payment and it not going through my bank! I usually pay by credit card so was concerned at this. When I asked them to investigate they confirmed they cancelled my policy (I had no notification of this by them so assumed I was covered all this time) and i've been driving all this time uninsured. I did ask for a policy there and then as I was panicking and was told as there was a non-payment on my policy before I would be refused insurance!!!

Thankfully after getting quite annoyed with the man I was talking to I asked to speak to their Manager, went through the details of what had happened and he said he was happy to sort an insurance policy out for me there and then.

I'm kicking myself for not triple checking all this and i'm still not sure the policy wasn't renewed, but what i'm really concerned about is what will happen if the DVLA contact me regarding this as I have been driving around uninsured totally unaware of this and it's something I would never intentionally do. A friend of mine who worked in insurance said as they backed down quite quickly on offering me a policy it looks like the error was made on their part but that still doesn't help me if I am fined? Does anyone know where i'll stand on this if the DVLA do want to prosecute me?

loveGSDs

hi there

i wouldnt worry bout you getting any fines. the police would have had to of stopped you when you weren't insured. the DVLA cant prove that you have been driving the car.

if your still not covered, make sure your car is off any public roads as its an offence to keep an uninsured car on a public road.

HTH

x

DGJsaver

debpeb wrote: »

I went to renew my tax disc online today and was informed they had no insurance records for me and to contact an insurance company. As I thought i'd renewed my policy last August (I rang the company to change a couple of details) I was concerned so I rang them only to be told I haven't been insured since last year due to them trying to take out a direct debit payment and it not going through my bank! I usually pay by credit card so was concerned at this. When I asked them to investigate they confirmed they cancelled my policy (I had no notification of this by them so assumed I was covered all this time) and i've been driving all this time uninsured. I did ask for a policy there and then as I was panicking and was told as there was a non-payment on my policy before I would be refused insurance!!!

Thankfully after getting quite annoyed with the man I was talking to I asked to speak to their Manager, went through the details of what had happened and he said he was happy to sort an insurance policy out for me there and then.

I'm kicking myself for not triple checking all this and i'm still not sure the policy wasn't renewed, but what i'm really concerned about is what will happen if the DVLA contact me regarding this as I have been driving around uninsured totally unaware of this and it's something I would never intentionally do. A friend of mine who worked in insurance said as they backed down quite quickly on offering me a policy it looks like the error was made on their part but that still doesn't help me if I am fined? Does anyone know where i'll stand on this if the DVLA do want to prosecute me?

Didnt it strike you as quite odd that you hadnt paid a penny for insurance since August ?

alieshia

I highly doubt you'll get fined as you've not been caught without insurance, yes you've been driving illegally but the police do not have evidence of this. The tax disk system is linked up to a database to check you have insurance and a valid mot so that they do not have to ask for copies of policies and validate it manually.

Wootball

You're absolutely fine, you can't get fined for this since there haven't been any checks made my the police against you in the time you've been uninsured. The DVLA are irrelevant - they can't prove you've ever driven the car uninsured.

debpeb

DGJsaver wrote: »

Didnt it strike you as quite odd that you hadnt paid a penny for insurance since August ?

I didn't check my credit card statement and just assumed it had gone out. School boy error and i'm kicking myself for it - my card was that high and as I hadn't been contacted to say otherwise thought it had gone out

ceejaydee23

I know this seems strange, but surely paying a monthly payment car insurance on a credit card means you're paying interest on it twice!(unless you pay your balance in full each month) If you're going to pay for insurance on a credit card you might as well pay for an annual premium.

debpeb

ceejaydee23 wrote: »

I know this seems strange, but surely paying a monthly payment car insurance on a credit card means you're paying interest on it twice!(unless you pay your balance in full each month) If you're going to pay for insurance on a credit card you might as well pay for an annual premium.

I thought i'd paid the full amount on it so it was out of the way then was going to pay it off in installments with the rest of the balance - not the best way to pay it I know, but was hoping it meant I could forget about it by paying it in one go.

tallyhoh

ceejaydee23 wrote: »

I know this seems strange, but surely paying a monthly payment car insurance on a credit card means you're paying interest on it twice!(unless you pay your balance in full each month) If you're going to pay for insurance on a credit card you might as well pay for an annual premium.

Was he paying monthly? If so dont the insurance companies normally charge even more? I thought he meant a one off payment.

ceejaydee23

tallyhoh they charge more cos effectively your "borrowing" from them and its a loan. BUT it was just the wording that the OP used, it made me think they were on a monthly payment plan for their insurance.