Cancelled Car Insurance Policy

PezzA

I recently renewed my car insurance policy, moving from Aviva to Legal & General. I put in all the information I had including 3 previous claims in the past 5 years. The policy was set to renew on Apr 1'st this year.

I received a letter from them today saying the policy had been cancelled. The reason being that CUE (the claims database service) had details of 2 additional claims which I had not disclosed.

I rang my previous insurer AVIVA to see if they had logged any claims incorrectly. They confirmed that just had the 2 claims on record.

What it looks like has happened is that for 2 of the claims I declared; I put in the wrong month, and now L&G is assuming that the the 2 in CUE are undeclared claims, and have cancelled the policy.

I rang them immediately to tell them of the mistake, and the advisor (whilst being sympathetic) declared that the policy was 'no futher action required' and the cancellation was indisputable. (Not his exact words, but he said he couldn't see any change to the outcome). He also said that due to the cancellation, they couldn't correct the details and create a new policy.

I was at this point very annoyed, but not aware of the full significance of the cancellation. What has become apparent in the few hours since, looking at the web, is that I will now never get a reasonable online car insurance quote again, ever. I did get one hit on moneysupermarket, but that was for a £9,500 annual payment!!!

The £800 Aviva wanted as a renewal now seems like a long distant memory, the L&G quote was 450.

I'm going to complain on the basis that it was simply a typo and that I had declared the correct number and types of claim. (I think the revised info would not have effected the premium, and as such I should have had a chance to correct the mistake), I expect them to reject this and then I'll complain to the FOS in a bid to get the decision revoked.

I did ring direct line as well to see if i could get a quote. The chap on the phone said the cancellation meant I would not be considered for insurance, however he did say that the almost immediate cancellation seemed unduly harsh, and would not have been their policy, they would have updated the details.

Does anyone have experience of this? I have 2 weeks left on my current policy, do I need to tell Aviva that my renewal has been cancelled? What are my chances of getting this overturned? Who is the best insurer for me now, if any?

tasticz

i think you're just unlucky....

send in a complaints letter ASAP this should get things rolling also if they dont change refer it to FOS

vaio

Not unlucky, been unfairly treated.

As above, put in a complaint and refer to the FOS if they don't see sense

rs65

PezzA wrote: »

What it looks like has happened is that for 2 of the claims I declared; I put in the wrong month, and now L&G is assuming that the the 2 in CUE are undeclared claims, and have cancelled the policy.

Can you be a bit more certain? Were they both a month out and were all other details of the claims accurate?

PezzA

rs65 wrote: »

Can you be a bit more certain? Were they both a month out and were all other details of the claims accurate?

All other details correct. One claim in June 2013, entered as Feb 2013. The other in Sep 2013, entered as April 2013. The 3'rd claim was fine.

rs65

Try a fresh quote using dummy details but accurate claims info.

It seems they may have been harsh but the quote was based on 1 claim in the last insurance year but you actually had 2. In fact, depending on the renewal date, you may have effectively said none in the last year. I don't know L&G's underwriting criteria but the dates may have taken you from a risk they would accept to one that they wouldn't.

If they still quote with accurate details, phone them and ask them to reconsider. The FOS will take too long - you really want this sorted before renewal.

PezzA

rs65 wrote: »

Try a fresh quote using dummy details but accurate claims info.

It seems they may have been harsh but the quote was based on 1 claim in the last insurance year but you actually had 2. In fact, depending on the renewal date, you may have effectively said none in the last year. I don't know L&G's underwriting criteria but the dates may have taken you from a risk they would accept to one that they wouldn't.

If they still quote with accurate details, phone them and ask them to reconsider. The FOS will take too long - you really want this sorted before renewal.

The revised dates gave an almost identical quote of ~450, I don't recall the exact amount I got in the meta search to begin with, but it was certainly in the same magnitude.

Looking at the FOS website, this seems to fall under the category of innocent/inadvertent disclosure. So it looks hopeful. But what I'm wondering is, even if they reverse the decision, does this mean that I can truthfully state I've never been had a policy cancelled?

ruggedtoast

PezzA wrote: »

The revised dates gave an almost identical quote of ~450, I don't recall the exact amount I got in the meta search to begin with, but it was certainly in the same magnitude.

Looking at the FOS website, this seems to fall under the category of innocent/inadvertent disclosure. So it looks hopeful. But what I'm wondering is, even if they reverse the decision, does this mean that I can truthfully state I've never been had a policy cancelled?

Yes because they would take the record of your cancellation off of the database.

vaio

PezzA wrote: »

The revised dates gave an almost identical quote of ~450, I don't recall the exact amount I got in the meta search to begin with, but it was certainly in the same magnitude.

Looking at the FOS website, this seems to fall under the category of innocent/inadvertent disclosure. So it looks hopeful. But what I'm wondering is, even if they reverse the decision, does this mean that I can truthfully state I've never been had a policy cancelled?

It's arguable whether it's non disclosure given the correct number and year of claims was disclosed with only the months being wrong. I'd say it's more of a clerical error.

Concentrate on that in your complaint and major on the unfairness of them cancelling your policy without giving you the opportunity to adress their concerns

NVRAM

PezzA wrote: »

All other details correct. One claim in June 2013, entered as Feb 2013. The other in Sep 2013, entered as April 2013. The 3'rd claim was fine.

Lemme play devils advocate a sec...

One the sites a lot of them use dropdowns, none of those months would have been near each other. Nor are the keys located together on the keyboard. That's probably the way they are looking at it and thinking you have/had a motive for doing so.

e.g. they normally ask about accidents for 5 years by changing the month from june to feb or september to april could quite easily mean claims declared accidents land outside of the 5 year window.

Yes it's still 2 claims and that's the only instance I can see that the actual dates would even be applicable for anything if this is not the case I'd be fighting it.

2 claims are 2 claims, unlucky to start with mate I'm in the same boat, but the cancellation is a whole other ball game. As you've seen this has serious impacts on your insurance in the future. Try talking to them again and as above failing this FOS. Also ask them about being able to claim damages form the company as this could have a massive impact on your insurances and excesses for a while.

PezzA

Update on this: I called them again to complain about the decision, and it was like talking to another company. The agent took the time to understand the nature of the mistake and spoke to her team leader. After this she told me that I all need to do is fax proof of claims from Aviva to them, and they can go ahead with the policy. They also said that the policy was due to be cancelled on the 1'st and had not been cancelled yet.

This is all the complete polar opposite of what the agent last night told me. So i'm now going to :

A - Get the insurance sorted.
B - When A is done, i'll then complain about the advice given by the agent in the first call. It was so distressing, and completely wrong.

Thanks for comments all.