Car Insurance Cancelled....Huge bill.

Forrest_Dweller

I've run into a pretty big problem tonight while I was trying to get a better deal on my car insurance so I would appreciate any input from here.

I recieved my car insurance renewal through today from Direct Line so I did a few comparisons then called them up to see if they could get the cost down a bit which they did by nearly 25%. I was happy with that so I asked them to go through the renewal on the phone with me. When I was asked if anything had changed I asked them just to check the amount of points that I had declared thinking that I had told them everything at last years renewal. I currently have 6 points on my licence that are within the last 5 years, the most recent being in October 2010 so well beyond last years renewal. I was told that they had no record of these points but did have a record of some points from 2008, which I have never had so wouldn't have declared them.

Myself & my partner both have a policy for each of our cars which are linked to get a discount & we are named drivers on each others respective policies. We have been with Directline for quite few years now.

So to get to the point Direct Line have told me that because I haven't declared the points to them, yet I have recieved the insurance cover over this period I owe them in excess of £2500 pounds over the two policies. I asked them what my options were to which I was told to pay the money within 7 days or have both of my policies cancelled on the deadline. No ther options were offered to me.

Obviously quite a problem and my first reaction was stuff 'em I'll just get insurance else where. Now I've calmed down a bit I'm starting to think that I might be in a tight spot here with little room to manouvre hence why I'm here for a little guidance. Obviously there is some mystery over their records as they are cleary incorrect. Would never have informed them of points I didn't have but I'm pretty sure I let them know of at least one of the two speeding offences.

keith1950

It looks that somehow your points have been mis-recorded.

Do everything you can to convince them that a mistake has been made and get this sorted, if they cancel you will have to declare this forever with other insurers and you will then find it very hard/expensive to get insurance elsewhere.

Have you been with Direct Line for several years, in which case you had some points wrongly marked against you which means you insurance should have been lower for part of this time.

Ask to speak to a supervisor to discuss the problem in detail.

Good luck.

dacouch

How long have you been insured with Direct Line?

How many convictions do you and your partner have in the last seven years and what years were they?

flashnazia

Did you check the policy documents they sent? What do they say?

Forrest_Dweller

I have been with Direct Line for at least 10 years. I have had 3 convictions since 2007. My partner has a clean licence but these are my convictions that i have.

SP30 in Oct 2007
SP30 in Jul 2009
SP50 in Oct 2011

When I spoke to them yesterday they had no record of any of these but did have 3 points from January 2008 which I have never had. I have also been through the current & several older policy documents & there are no mention of the any of the points.

dacouch

The additional premium will (Should) represent the difference in premiums you should have paid had the convictions been declared.

There will be a period where the premium DL are asking you for reflects the loading they would have applied for having three speeding convictions / nine points.

Three speeding convictions attracts a fairly big load from an Insurer especially when you compound it over two policies and for a few years.

Make sure the correct the date of the 2008 conviction to 2007 as this may reduce the extra premium they're asking for slightly.

You need to check to see if you have any evidence you advised them of the convictions.

You could request a copy of the data they have on you for a cost of £10 per policy under a Subject Access Report.

Assuming you have no evidence you advised them (Many people forgot to tell Insurers at renewal) I would suggest a short and very politely worded "Official Complaint" letter appealing the extra premium and requesting a reduction in it.

You need to take action, if you allow them to cancel the policy they will come after you for the extra money or sell the debt on. In addition you will need (And I assume your partner if their policy is also cancelled) to declare you've had a policy cancelled by the Insurer. You will need to declare this forever and it has a big impact on your ability to obtain competitive premiums for your car and home insurance

Forrest_Dweller

My main issue here is that I do the same thing at renewal every year because I know that premiums creep up & I've always managed to get the cost down, hence why I've stayed with Direct Line for so long. At the point of renewal there is always the conversation where points etc... are discussed. I simply would not lie about it as I know the consequences but I have no record of it.

The other issue is that they have incorrect information about me. The points from 2008 never existed so why is it on their system?

I cannot help but feel something is a miss here. I have now raised a complaint so I will wait to hear back. My guess is that I will need to pay the money out & then try to recover it.

Quentin

You say earlier that there is no mention of the points on any policy documents.

They always ask us to check these to be sure they are correct.

When you reached 9 points surely you expected bad news regarding your premiums?

don9999

Someone asked if you had checked your policies.
You say you have and they mentioned no points.
Did you every query at that time?

Whoever made the error (and I know it can often be difficult to remember to mention points during renewal I've forgotten myself), I'm assuming the onus is on us (the customers) to check the documents when they are sent out.

Certainly 'I' have had to call an insurer in the past when I have received documents through that did not mention points I knew I had. On that occasion, I called the insurer, they amended their records and re-quoted (a higher figure, of course!). So I cancelled the insurance, and did another comparison.

I hope not, but I suspect you missed the chance to question the policies when they were sent out at each renewal......

Forrest_Dweller

Quentin wrote: »

You say earlier that there is no mention of the points on any policy documents.

They always ask us to check these to be sure they are correct.

When you reached 9 points surely you expected bad news regarding your premiums?

Yes, ther is no mention of points on policy documents correct or incorrect!!!

Thanks for the judgement, I was more after guidance really.

Forrest_Dweller

don9999 wrote: »

I hope not, but I suspect you missed the chance to question the policies when they were sent out at each renewal......

That does seem to be the case. Although none of my previous documents show points. There isn't an rea on the page where it would show them.

Hard as it may be I may have to swallow this one & put it down to experience.