liverpool victoria cancelled an insurance policy

chiefs

hi there i need some advice

in august 2006, my niece called liverpool vic - for quote on a car, after few days they got call saying if they wanted to go with the quote, the person answered the fone, my brother in law, who speaks very broken english. the company asking if they wanted to go with the insurance, hes said no, and they asked if he wanted to cancel his car insurance and he said yes, didnt understand what they were talking about, hence, he got the letter of cancellation via post, all debit were cancelled, and the family just didnt pay heed to letters, as they were away on holiday, they spoken to insurance co, they have checked recording and said the policy holder had cancelled the insurance, they will not give us the recording info what was said etc, they will not even give details of as to why they asked to cancel insurance, brother in law still had the insurance certificate etc, now the BIG problem is , he got stopped by police for no insurance, and he told police he was insured, what can we about this, insurance wont send us the recording etc

dunstonh

What would the recording do to benefit your brother? It will record him on the phone saying he didnt want the policy. They arent required to supply the recording unless the police request it.

If the police are investigating the case, they can approach the insurance company for the recording and it will be given to them.

The things against your BIL are the cancellation letter, no payment made or query why the premium was refunded if it was an error and the phone call saying he didnt want it.

chiefs

thanks for the info

Tahiti

Out of interest, are you saying that the insurance was cancelled in August, and he was pulled over recently and still had no insurance (4 months later)? The insurers took instruction over the phone to cancel the policy (they must have had reason to call him in the first place surely?), then confirmed in writing what was happening, so in the eyes of the law, there is no insurance in place however you look at it. He's lucky he didn't have an accident.

I'm a little confused though - was the original insurance supposed to be in your niece's name, or your brother in laws? If the policy was taken out in your niece's name, and cancelled by her father, why did she simply not reply to their letters?? Causing an accident while uninsured could lead to a prison sentence. Is it really worth the risk?

Mind you, I reckon if it's a first offence, he won't get more than say 6 points on his licence and a fine for less than the insurance would have cost anyway. I suppose they could crush the car too, but I don't know how likely that is, especially if it is your nieces car.

CAB for advice, but he appears to be banged to rights I'm afraid.