Car Insurance when unemployed

billuk1964

I have recently renewed my car insurance with the same provider as I had the previous year because the price was marginally better than the screen-scraper comparison sites were able to come up with.
When I received my renewal documents, I called my insurer to reduce the annual mileage and to amend my employment status to "unemployed" in the spirit of being honest following recent changes to my personal circumstances. I was told that, as a result of this honesty, my policy had been flagged for referral to the underwriters.
When the referral decision came back a couple of hours later it was to revoke my insurance on the grounds that I was unemployed. I concluded that this was probably in respect of my ability to pay as I could not comprehend that my risk as a driver had increased as a result of this change in employment status. As a result, I offered to pay the annual premium in full.
My broker said that they would have to re-refer the policy and the decision not to cover me was upheld still on the grounds that I was unemployed, despite my offer to pay in full. My broker offered me the same level of cover with another underwriter, but at an increased premium. As I needed cover to drive the car that afternoon I proceeded with the offer on the understanding that I would be looking to insure elsewhere during the 14 day cooling off period.
In my search for a new insurer, I found that this prejudice against unemployed people was prevalent amongst many of the insurers at the budget end of the market.
Has anyone else experienced difficulties like this and can anyone shed any light on the reasons why underwriters consider unemployed people a greater risk?
I'm looking to persue the matter with the insurance regulators as I feel that the decision not to insure someone or to load their premiums purely on the grounds that they are unemployed is unfair and discriminatory.
Any advice in connection with this would be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks