Car Insurance cancelled; no refund will be given!

ladycorsair

Hi there,

My friends elderly father crashed his car into a ditch in the ice in Winter. His insurance company wrote the car off as a total loss, and issued him a settlement. He loves his Jeep, so paid to have it repaired (about £1200), had it MOT'd and reinsured.

He's just had a letter from his insurers stating the following:

We have been advised by your insurers that your vehicle registration number WXXX XXX has been declared a total loss.

In view of this please note that may not use a vehicle under this insurance unless the details have been notified to us and cover agreed.

Your insurers will allow a period of 30 days during which time a replacement vehicle may be substituted on the policy.

In accordance with instructions received from your insurers we will cancel the policy if replacement details are not received by the 29 May 2011. No refund of premium will be given.

Is there any chance of him getting this premium back? He didn't knowingly defraud anybody by not telling them the car was a total loss, as he wasn't asked.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

dacouch

Who has he insured the car with noiw ?

ladycorsair

dacouch wrote: »

Who has he insured the car with noiw ?

The same company, AA.

dacouch

He needs to ring them to advise them he still has the car and for them to add it back to the existing policy.

I take it he only has the one policy with them

mikey72

Did he pay to take out a new policy after the settlement from the original one, or is it on the original policy still?

ladycorsair

mikey72 wrote: »

Did he pay to take out a new policy after the settlement from the original one, or is it on the original policy still?

They just sent him a renewal letter in April of this year (accident was at Christmas) and he paid to renew.

We're not even sure if he should even have the car lol after receiving a settlement!

Thanks for the replies.

mikey72

Well, if they wrote it off, declared it a total loss, then offered to re-insure it, you could argue they knew the details.
They should continue to insure the car, but if not, make a formal complaint, and refer the matter to the FOS if they do not give a complete refund.

atrixblue.-MFR-.

to at wich degree did they declair it a total loss? cat D cat C cat B cat A? cat B's are pretty stringent and insuring them is like trying to find a needle in a hay stack. cat A should NEVER EVER BE PUT BACK ON THE ROAD. by the amount paid out to repair it sounds like a cat C, or D. cat D not requiring to have a VIC (vehicle identity test) cat C meaning it would be.

so the AA paid out on it and your friends dad effectivly bought the car back from them and took a cut in the settlement figure by doing so, nothing wrong there. but the AA should of advised him that either they cancel the existing policy on settlement (requiring him to find another insurer) or let the insurance continue to its expiry date and not renew dut to having paying out on it.

the fact they let it run on an existing policy after settlement, and then renewing that policy and taking the cash for it suggests they have made a grave error on their part, after all your friends dad did not need to inform of its CAT status as the details would have been there on the policy file for them to see.

tell him to call the AA, and see whats happening, if they spiel off about not informing of the vehicles status, he has amunition to say why would i need to inform you ITS A RENEWAL from the last policy to wich this vehicle was deemed a CAT X by you and should be on record, you did not inform me you would cancel the policy on settlement and you did not do so when the policy ended, YOU offered me a renewal, i paid the premium and you accepted the money and thus accepeting that you were happy to cover the vehicle under the details YOU hold over it from the previous policy.

ladycorsair

atrixblue.-MFR-. wrote: »

to at wich degree did they declair it a total loss? cat D cat C cat B cat A? cat B's are pretty stringent and insuring them is like trying to find a needle in a hay stack. cat A should NEVER EVER BE PUT BACK ON THE ROAD. by the amount paid out to repair it sounds like a cat C, or D. cat D not requiring to have a VIC (vehicle identity test) cat C meaning it would be.

so the AA paid out on it and your friends dad effectivly bought the car back from them and took a cut in the settlement figure by doing so, nothing wrong there. but the AA should of advised him that either they cancel the existing policy on settlement (requiring him to find another insurer) or let the insurance continue to its expiry date and not renew dut to having paying out on it.

the fact they let it run on an existing policy after settlement, and then renewing that policy and taking the cash for it suggests they have made a grave error on their part, after all your friends dad did not need to inform of its CAT status as the details would have been there on the policy file for them to see.

tell him to call the AA, and see whats happening, if they spiel off about not informing of the vehicles status, he has amunition to say why would i need to inform you ITS A RENEWAL from the last policy to wich this vehicle was deemed a CAT X by you and should be on record, you did not inform me you would cancel the policy on settlement and you did not do so when the policy ended, YOU offered me a renewal, i paid the premium and you accepted the money and thus accepeting that you were happy to cover the vehicle under the details YOU hold over it from the previous policy.

Thanks ever so much for your reply. Not sure of the Category as of yet... He seems to have 'conveniently' lost all relevant paperwork. I've called them, and we're waiting on a decision from the underwriters. Thanks again, I used your info in my call, it was very helpful!! :j

xgfx

I used to work for The AA insurance department two years ago. The procedure should have been:

1. Vehicle written off - Settlement accepted
2. 30 day notification sent to customer advising of cancelation of policy if a new vehicle is not provided on the policy. This allows the customer to use the remaining premium you have paid for, as no refund is given if the policy is canceled when a vehicle is written off.
3. Either new vehicle details are provided to The AA within the 30 days, or the policy is canceled with no refund.

There is no way that the policy should have just continued and renewed as it was. If the customer had advised the insurer he was repairing the vehicle, then they would need to check if they would cover a vehicle that had previously been written off.

As there was no communication (presumed) between the vehicle owner and the insurer, they should have canceled the policy within 30 days of the initial write off. The current insurer (The AA are a broker) will need to check if they will cover a write off, if not, the policy will need to be canceled using the normal cancelation method (as this is a new year of insurance), meaning a refund should be applicable.

You could try push for a full refund as the new policy should never have been offered in the first place, but that's up to you.

mikey72

xgfx wrote: »

I used to work for The AA insurance department two years ago. The procedure should have been:

1. Vehicle written off - Settlement accepted
2. 30 day notification sent to customer advising of cancelation of policy if a new vehicle is not provided on the policy. This allows the customer to use the remaining premium you have paid for, as no refund is given if the policy is canceled when a vehicle is written off.
3. Either new vehicle details are provided to The AA within the 30 days, or the policy is canceled with no refund.

There is no way that the policy should have just continued and renewed as it was. If the customer had advised the insurer he was repairing the vehicle, then they would need to check if they would cover a vehicle that had previously been written off.

As there was no communication (presumed) between the vehicle owner and the insurer, they should have canceled the policy within 30 days of the initial write off. The current insurer (The AA are a broker) will need to check if they will cover a write off, if not, the policy will need to be canceled using the normal cancelation method (as this is a new year of insurance), meaning a refund should be applicable.

You could try push for a full refund as the new policy should never have been offered in the first place, but that's up to you.

If the insurer offer to insure it, it's not up to the customer to check if they really mean it.
I wouldn't accept a cancellation either, as that will have to be declared for every quote later.
The AA could negotiate to move insurers, but if they messed up as a broker they shoiud cover the cost to move, and the customer can then truthfully declare the insurance wasn't cancelled.