Car Insurance voided and asking £336 for recovery?

r4vilious

Hi everyone,

I lost my only set of car keys to my vehicle and I made a claim through my insurance as I did have 'key cover' as part of the cover.
Having found out that I had front window tints, they voided my policy.
They took my car, didn't repair, and dropped the car back to me.
I received a letter now saying that I have to pay £336 for repairs to my vehicle even thought there weren't any repairs made, and when I called the insurer they said its because of the recovery and delivery of the vehicle.
Am I obliged to pay for these charges even though they firstly did not repair the vehicle and on the letter it does state 'covering repairs that have been carried out'.

I managed to get another key for my car for £150. (Which I clearly should have done from the start)
They want £336 for just taking my car and not even touching it.

I would really appreciate any advice

Regards

Ravi

Quentin

Yes you owe the money.

But having your policy voided is much more serious than the outlay they are now recovering from you.

See if you can get them to let you keep the policy going (grovel if necessary!)

Otherwise you won't be able to get normal insurance, but will need to find a specialist insurer who is prepared to cover you with this cancelled policy on your record!

This will blight you for ever. (And don't drive it under any circs until you have got cover of some sort reinstated)

r4vilious

Thank you for your reply, they've already cancelled the insurance, I did not realise having the policy voided was that serious, I thought they just wouldn't cover for the repairs of the vehicle. When they told me they were going to void it I genuinely thought I could just get insured again.
Does this stay on record forever (literally)? I mean I'm 21, this could really affect me by the sounds of it.

Quentin

r4vilious wrote: »

Does this stay on record forever (literally)? I mean I'm 21, this could really affect me by the sounds of it.

Yes.

The question usually asked is along the lines "have you ever had an insurer cancel/void a policy"

meer53

Why didn't you tell them you had tints on your windows ?

michaels

Is it reasonable for the company to void in these circumstances? We don't know how tinted the windows were but if only slightly the OP might have purchased the car with tints and been unaware that they were not standard. After all with most faults they only take a view of whether they contributed to any claim and the impact on the value of the car.

r4vilious

I've always assumed when they asked for 'car modifications' that it was internal engine modifications, clearly was wrong. I did explain this to the insurer and they did not buy it. Never realised having 2 sheets of tint film on the windows would make such an impact to the policy to be honest.

Mr_K

Really think you've been a bit hard done by here. Contest it as suggested, first informally and nicely, then formally through their complaints procedure, then the the ombudsman. You might not get it overturned but you have try as it will affect you in future.

Stories like this confirm the poor reputation the insurance industry has.

SueMaggie

r4vilious wrote: »

I've always assumed when they asked for 'car modifications' that it was internal engine modifications, clearly was wrong. I did explain this to the insurer and they did not buy it. Never realised having 2 sheets of tint film on the windows would make such an impact to the policy to be honest.

There may still be hope, depending on the wording of your policy, and what the insurer asked you about modifications at the time you took it out.

The following is a similar Financial Ombudsman Service case which will be of interest -

18/21 (July 2002) motor – non-disclosure – clear questions – modifications – whether tinted windows a "modification".

When Miss M took out motor insurance, she was asked to disclose any modifications that had been made to her car, such as changes "to engine, body, wheel, suspension". She informed the insurer that the car had a body kit but she did not mention any other modifications.

Some time later, after she put in a claim for theft damage to the car, the engineer appointed by the insurer to inspect the car noted that it had tinted windows. The insurer rejected her claim and immediately cancelled her insurance from the start date. It said she should have mentioned the tinted windows, since they constituted a "modification" and it would not have issued the policy on any terms if it had known about them. Miss M then had to act quickly to obtain insurance with another firm, and she had to pay a much higher amount for it.

complaint upheld

It was debatable whether the windows were part of the car’s "body" and whether tinted windows were a modification that Miss M was required to disclose. We were satisfied that she had genuinely not realised that she needed to tell the insurer about the windows. We thought the insurer should at least have asked her to explain why she failed to mention the windows, instead of just cancelling her insurance without warning.

We decided that the firm had not been justified in cancelling the insurance. Miss M had by this time taken out an alternative policy with a different firm. So we suggested that the earlier policy should be treated as having been cancelled by her rather than by the insurer. She should give back to the insurer part of the premiums it had refunded, from the policy start date until the new insurance began. In any event, we decided that the insurer had to reimburse Miss M for the cost of repairing the car, plus interest. We also decided that the insurer should pay her £300 compensation for the distress and inconvenience it had caused. Link to this case on FOS site.

See also cases 79/10 and 79/11 on this page from 2009.

It may be worth pursuing a complaint with your (former) insurer given that you have an idea of how the FOS may look at things. However, as I said, it would depend on what exactly you were asked re modifications at the time you took the insurance out.

InsideInsurance

The impact is not only on your motor insurance but almost all insurance you ever buy will ask the same question.

You can still buy "normal" insurance just not from normal providers, those that are willing to take on people who've had cancelled insurance charge a massive premium for taking the risk of doing so, tend not to have the best cover and tend to be exceptionally strict in the application of terms etc.

It is certainly worth trying to fight the case.

Did you know the windows had been tinted after the car was made? Did you tint the windows, if you did, was it before or after taking out the insurance?

r4vilious

Thanks for your help guys.

The windows were already tinted already when I bought the vehicle, I did explain this to the insurer but they said it should have been mentioned when taking the policy out.
I don't know whether it is too late to complain, as they sent me a letter saying they were going to cancel my insurance within 7 days.
I got an email from my former insurer saying that the policy has been cancelled as of 18/10/2011 and I'm assuming having an outstanding sum of £336 with the insurer cant help my complaint. I did not know the effect of voided insurance till I made this post, hence the reason I have not gone any further as of yet.

Regards