Car impounded. I was unaware insurance had been cancelled by RAC.

hf105

Hello,
I was wandering if anyone was able to offer some advice.

I was pulled over by the police on the way home from work today and advised there was no record of insurance for my car.

I had payed £450 upfront in July for 1 year of insurance for me as the main driver and my boyfriend as the 2nd driver with the RAC.
I had a letter from them mid August stating that we owed a further £750 which had been declined to them from my bank. I was on holiday the time but called the RAC back on the 22nd August and they stated that the premium had increased as they had not received my 5 years no claims certificate. They said if I sent this to them I did not need to do anything further.
I sent them an email from Admiral (my previous insurers) confirming my no claims but was told this was not enough. I then emailed a photo of my no claims certificate at the end of August and received an email reply from RAC on that day stating that they had received my no claims certificate and no further action was required.
On the same day a letter arrived in the post stating that they had been unable to obtain funds from our account ( the extra £750) and unless we gave them further bank account details within 7 days then I would need to send them back my certificate of insurance and our policy would be cancelled. I was under the impression that this issue had been resolved as they had now received our no claims certificate and I did no more about it.

I called RAC today, my car having been impounded by the police and they stated that because we had not called back with further bank details the policy had been cancelled. They had not refunded the £450 I had paid for the year in July, but they told me it was "waiting" to be refunded to my account.
I explained the situation to the RAC manager and he agreed that they could see why we would have been confused. I have asked for this matter to be escalated and am waiting a phonecall back tomorrow but the RAC manager says he doubts that they would be liable in this case.

What do you think?
WOuld they be liable?

Also if the insurance company are not liable would we have a case to drop the motoring conviction with the police (we have paid upfront £450 for a year of insurance)?

I would be extremely grateful for any advice anyone can offer,

Thank you

stephenni1971

hf105 wrote: »

On the same day a letter arrived in the post stating that they had been unable to obtain funds from our account ( the extra £750) and unless we gave them further bank account details within 7 days then I would need to send them back my certificate of insurance and our policy would be cancelled. I was under the impression that this issue had been resolved as they had now received our no claims certificate and I did no more about it.

I called RAC today, my car having been impounded by the police and they stated that because we had not called back with further bank details the policy had been cancelled. They had not refunded the £450 I had paid for the year in July, but they told me it was "waiting" to be refunded to my account.
I explained the situation to the RAC manager and he agreed that they could see why we would have been confused. I have asked for this matter to be escalated and am waiting a phonecall back tomorrow but the RAC manager says he doubts that they would be liable in this case.

What do you think?
WOuld they be liable?

Also if the insurance company are not liable would we have a case to drop the motoring conviction with the police (we have paid upfront £450 for a year of insurance)?

I would be extremely grateful for any advice anyone can offer,

Thank you

So they told you if you didn't provide bank details they would cancel.

You didn't provide the details ( the whole No Claims letter is a different issue )

They cancelled.

It seems pretty clear they followed procedure here so I'm not sure why you would think they should be liable?

Jezza_hr

stephenni1971 wrote: »

So they told you if you didn't provide bank details they would cancel.

You didn't provide the details ( the whole No Claims letter is a different issue )

They cancelled.

It seems pretty clear they followed procedure here so I'm not sure why you would think they should be liable?

I think you might need to read over the whole post again. The letter sent through regarding additional payment should have been void, as proof of NCBs were given.

My advice is. If you have any E-mails or proof of delivery for sending through your no claims, then you may be able to use these as leverage. Anything you have to prove that your insurance should be valid and that you're not liable should help.

So any E-mail receipts or any scans of your NCB or maybe even the communication with your previous insurer to seek out the certificate may help your cause. More specifically, the E-mail you received from the RAC stating you wouldn't need to do anything further, print this off or forward over and see if they can tie it up with the date your insurance was cancelled.

deutsch

sounds like your ncb was received but they did not cross off the chase.
make a complaint, ask for a letter of indemnity, costs to take the vehicle out of impound and reinstatement of your insurance.

could take up to 8 weeks to investigate before being able to raise it with the ombudsman

thing is though, if they are refunding your £450, sounds like your policy is void? can't see a reason why they'd give you everything back you've paid without this reason (as though insurance never existed)

check your facts again?

sithemadmonkey

These are nasty situations that often involve crossed wires between different departments - those responsible for collecting premium and those responsible for checking NCD. When deadlines get set it's often worth a call to Customer Services to get assurance from someone that a deadline/chase has been cancelled and the policy is proceeding as normal, rather than just relying on notoriously-unreliable email. Even if the agent is wrong at least the insurance co. is likely to have recorded the call so you've got some backup.

Make sure the RAC (it's actually Budget in disguise) are aware you are treating this as a complaint (so they know they're working to the 8-week ombudsman deadline) and make sure you point out that you received the confirmation of NCD at the same time as the request for new bank details.

forgotmyname

Worth checking the askmid website every now and then.

Even though i pay my premium in full these days i still check to make sure my cars showing.