Void insurance policy trying to reclaim money

Glenn_Lambert

Hi,

I had an accident in my car a while ago and when i rang my insurance company it turns out that i had been missold my policy and it was voided. However after they voided my policy they paid money to the other party involved in the accident and now are requesting i pay them (my ex-insurance company) back. What is the law regarding this?

Thanks

Glenn

InsideInsurance

Glenn_Lambert wrote: »

I had an accident in my car a while ago and when i rang my insurance company it turns out that i had been missold my policy and it was voided. However after they voided my policy they paid money to the other party involved in the accident and now are requesting i pay them (my ex-insurance company) back. What is the law regarding this?

You had been miss sold it or your miss bought it?

The Road Traffic Act and your contract of insurer would mean that if you were in possession of a certificate of insurance at the time of the incident that the insurer would have a legal obligation to deal with the TP's claim. If there are indemnity issues with your policy invalidating it then both of these would give them the legal right to recover their outlay from either the policyholder and/ or the driver at the time of the incident.

Obviously the big question is what is the issue with the policy and is there a complaint to be had with the organisation that sold it that either reinstates the policy and/ or makes them reasonably responsible for the outlay instead.

Aretnap

Broadly speaking, they can do it. In order to make sure that an innocent third party in an accident isn't left without compensation, the Road Traffic Act imposes a duty on insurers to pay out to third parties even where the use of the vehicle isn't covered by the policy - but goes on to say that the insurer can then recover the money from the insured party in certain circumstances. There will also be clauses in your contract with them which give them the right to recover from you in some situations.

Of course they're not entitled to void policies willy nilly, so what exactly happened, why did they void it, and what do you mean by mis-sold?

Glenn_Lambert

Hi,

Thanks for your replies. To clarify I 'mis-bought' the insurance policy, a victim of price comparisons websites. I was the main driver of the car but the car was registered and owned under my partners name which was apparently not allowed. This was back in January and the policy was voided the day after. Today (November) I received a letter telling me I have 14 days to pay them back.

So they have voided my policy, settled with the third party without consulting me under the assumption it was 100% my fault and now asking for their money back. Is this something they are legally entitled to do?

InsideInsurance

Glenn_Lambert wrote: »

Hi,

Thanks for your replies. To clarify I 'mis-bought' the insurance policy, a victim of price comparisons websites. I was the main driver of the car but the car was registered and owned under my partners name which was apparently not allowed. This was back in January and the policy was voided the day after. Today (November) I received a letter telling me I have 14 days to pay them back.

So they have voided my policy, settled with the third party without consulting me under the assumption it was 100% my fault and now asking for their money back. Is this something they are legally entitled to do?

Which aggregator did you buy through? I dont know any which dont ask you to declare the owner and keeper!

Have you checked if the insurer will insure you having declared the owner correctly? If its bought via a broker you must ensure the insurer not just the broker will still insure you.

As RTA insurer they have a legal obligation to deal with the claim and the right to get their money back from you. However that doesnt mean that they dont have to defend the claim as if you had been correctly insured.

Did you have the said accident? Were you at fault for it? If you dont think so then what were the circumstances?

Glenn_Lambert

It was bought through a comparison website which then redirects you to the insurers own site transferring the details, but in this step I think parts of the details are not transferred correctly/only certain information is used. Perhaps i could have a claim with the policy being cancelled/voided however at the time as the other driver was not following up the claim (as there was no damage) i thought it best to just cancel the policy to avoid further complications and i had had enough with dealing with the insurance company!

The responsibility over the accident in question is debated, he broke suddenly/ i didn't react quickly enough, we swapped details and he drove off didnt take any witness' details neither did i. Surely the insurance company would contact me for my account before paying out?

InsideInsurance

Glenn_Lambert wrote: »

It was bought through a comparison website which then redirects you to the insurers own site transferring the details, but in this step I think parts of the details are not transferred correctly/only certain information is used. Perhaps i could have a claim with the policy being cancelled/voided however at the time as the other driver was not following up the claim (as there was no damage) i thought it best to just cancel the policy to avoid further complications and i had had enough with dealing with the insurance company!

The responsibility over the accident in question is debated, he broke suddenly/ i didn't react quickly enough, we swapped details and he drove off didnt take any witness' details neither did i. Surely the insurance company would contact me for my account before paying out?

You rear ended them and so you are at fault for the accident unless it can be proven the accident is staged but on the basis your insurers have settled they clearly dont believe that to be the case.

rudekid48

Can you clarify - was the policy voided or did you cancel it - you've said that both happened but this isn't possible...

OnanTheBarbarian

When was the cover voided and when did the accident take place?

Glenn_Lambert

Sorry the policy was voided not cancelled, after dealing with the company i chose not to 'fight' there choice to void the policy. Semantics aside the insurance company voided the policy which i did not contest

Glenn_Lambert

OnanTheBarbarian wrote: »

When was the cover voided and when did the accident take place?

The policy was voided after the accident