Gutted - insurance

bennettp23

Hi,

We are gutted. Wife just got stopped by police. Car came up as having no insurance!

After investigation by us, here is what happened:

We got a new policy with the RAC on 22 March 2014.
When police just stopped us they said no insurance.
Checked with RAC and they say they cancelled the insurance on 1 April 2014! Reason was we declared an accident as non-fault instead of fault. It was a hit and run in 2011, never thought they (LV at the time) would have recorded it as fault. The other driver went past the wife and hit her car then never stopped.

RAC say they sent one letter to say they would be cancelling the policy on 1 April 2014. We never got this and so were driving around uninsured but not knowing it.

Now wife has 6 points, £300 fine, costs to recover the car (police would not let me drive it on my comp insurance) plus 3 nights storage because we can't produce insurance until Monday because the police are no open! Plus our insurance will double (extra £500).

We are not bad people, did not try to not have insurance, we are gutted.

I am so angry with the RAC for not trying harder to contact us, one letter which they say they sent but which we never got, one letter for something so important! We are numb.....

Quentin

In insurance "language" a fault claim has nothing to do with "blame" (fault meaning the insurer had to pay out and could not recover the money)


In English, she was blameless, and considered herself not at "fault".


So she should complain about them cancelling because of this (assuming that she understood them asking about "fault" referred to who was to "blame").


If unhappy with their response to a complaint she can refer it to the FOS for their adjudication at no cost to herself.


Do everything to try and get the cancellation reversed.


Having a cancellation on your history normally has to be declared for evermore, whether she is buying a policy or simply wanting to be a named driver on someone else's policy.

bennettp23

Thanks Quentin.

But who do we complain about? LV recorded it as fault, RAC cancelled the insurance based on this information vs what we declared.

It is our responsibility to make sure data is correct, I just thought it was correct.

rs65

bennettp23 wrote: »

I am so angry with the RAC for not trying harder to contact us

What happened about payment? If you paid in full did they refund it? If paying by instalments, have the payments been taken?

bennettp23

rs65 wrote: »

What happened about payment? If you paid in full did they refund it? If paying by instalments, have the payments been taken?

Just checked, they took the first payment out on 22 March (£65, the total must have been around £450 for the year) no refund given.

Quentin

bennettp23 wrote: »

Thanks Quentin.

But who do we complain about? LV recorded it as fault, RAC cancelled the insurance based on this information vs what we declared.

It is our responsibility to make sure data is correct, I just thought it was correct.

Yes it was your responsibility, as it was an insurance "fault" claim.


However it depends on the question you were asked as to whether or not you did this deliberately.


(If you answered thinking the use of the word "fault" meant "blame" then you weren't deliberately lying)

bennettp23

Quentin wrote: »

Yes it was your responsibility, as it was an insurance "fault" claim.


However it depends on the question you were asked as to whether or not you did this deliberately.


(If you answered thinking the use of the word "fault" meant "blame" then you weren't deliberately lying)

That is exactly what we thought, we were not to blame so not at fault. But is our quarrel with RAC or LV?

Quentin

LV have acted correctly (it was a "fault" claim as far as insurance is concerned)


Your only quarrel is with the RAC and their decision to cancel the policy as a result of your misunderstanding the way they define the word "fault".


Check the wording of the question you answered and see if you have any grounds to claim you misunderstood.

kilobite

Hi,

A couple of things here that concern me.

First of all, unless it's for something really serious (undisclosed convictions) insurers are unlikely to cancel your policy... they usually, given the circumstances, try and get extra premium out of you.

Try and find out, if they had known about the 'fault' accident would they have quoted... if so, you should get your situation reconsidered.

The other thing is, as far as I'm aware, if an insurer are cancelling under the terms/conditions of your policy they should give you notice (check your policy wording... it may be General Condition 5) by RECORDED DELIVERY letter to your last known address. So, if I was you, I'd ask to see the evidence when the letter was sent and who signed for it!

kilobite

Hi!

Correct me if I'm wrong but irrespective of the RTA your Insurer still MUST apply by the policy' wording (the contract) and if it actually says in the policy 'Recorded Delivery then they have not abided by the policy wording.

I'd be interested to see what your policy actually says... the wording is there for your mutual protection. If it says just 'post' then fair enough but if it says Recoded Delivery then I think they haven't got a leg to stand on.

kilobite

But at least, in the cases you mention, the insurer sent it recorded delivery in the first place so they kept their side of the bargain and complied with the policy wording. But if they cannot prove or demonstrate that they sent it recorded delivery in the first place 'per the policy wording' they probably would have lost!


Please also explore my other point, the circumstances of the incident you describe would normally generate additional premium and not cancellation. I know that when cases such as this go to the ombudsman, one of the first things they look at is if the insurer knew the true and full facts in the first instance, would they have provided insurance. If so, at what cost.