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Direct Line mistake ,Cancelled car insurance , I was unaware
muz3562
Posts: 81 Forumite
Hi There I would like some advice please as to my position with regards to the following .
I took out an insurance policy with Direct Line on the 6th July this year . It was a drive plus policy which requires a small device to be plugged into the car to monitor its use . There are no restrictions on when the car can be used . The device is used to produce a score . I paid in full on a CC when I bought the policy and transferred the balance to another CC to clear it over the 12 months . The way I see it is the 1.9% BT fee is nothing compared to the interest insurers charge for spreading the cost .
I got the device and installed it within the 28 day period you get from the inception of the policy . You can install an app on your phone or monitor your score online . I registered the app on my phone and was getting scores that matched with the journeys that I was making .
On the 11th of august I finished work nearly 3 weeks of annual leave .I drove down south to my parents left the car and on the 12th I flew away on holiday for 2 weeks . I returned to the country on the 26th and then stayed at my parents down south for a few nights . Returning home on the evening of the 29th .
When I got home I had a stack of post . On the morning of the 30th August when I started going through the post I found 2 letters from Direct line . One was dated the 9th August and must have arrived within a day or two of me going on holiday . It stated something along the lines of as I was yet to install the "drive plus" device they requested that I contact them in order to discuss this matter . If I did not contact them by the 22nd then my policy would be cancelled and I would be refunded any owed premium .
I then had a letter dated the 24th which stated that my policy has now been canceled and that I would be receiving a refund , it then stated the amount of refund and the admin fee they deducted from this . It then went on to mention that I would no longer be permitted to take out a policy with direct line in the future and that I must declare this cancelled insurance policy to future insurers .
I must admit I rather panicked at first . In my absence the car had been left at my parents and one of them is a named driver on it so had used it a few times in my absence including to pick me up from the airport on the 26th . I had also driven it some considerable distance on the 29th on my return journey home , knowing I would have definitely passed through a number of ANPR cameras on my journey home .I was somewhat shocked . I have never been in trouble with the police , never even been given a pull whilst out driving . So to go from that to being caught driving with no insurance was a somewhat scary prospect .
So I rung DL to clear this up . The first call handler I spoke to was somewhat useless and simply told me what I already knew which was that my insurance was cancelled because as far as they are concerned I have not used the device and complied with the terms of the contract she basically repeated what was in their letters . I insisted speaking to a supervisor given the importance of the matter at hand , which she did try and resist but you have to be persistent and somewhat forceful with these matters .
When A supervisor called me back she was much more interested in what had gone on and took a lot more details from me about the history with the policy . She then assured me she would ring the "telematics team" to try and see what has gone wrong . Some 45 minutes later she returned the call to explain that there had been a mistake and somehow the device I was sent was not properly registered against my insurance policy number . This makes sense to me as I had installed and used the device and seen score and map data that corresponded with my use of the car . She did say that the policy had never been marked for cancellation and that she had spoken to the underwriters to confirm that there should be no further Issue . Unfortunately subsequent correspondence has shown this to be false . She also sent me via email a copy of the insurance certificate which I know makes no odds if the insurance policy it relates to is cancelled . I have requested written confirmation of the conversation we had and am obviously awaiting the arrival of that in the post .
Subsequent correspondence was received today on the 1st of september it was dated the 26th. It was just a confirmation that my policy has been cancelled . And my refund has been processed . Logging into my online account for the CC I paid on confirms this to be the case as on the 24th I received a refund as per what they stated in their second letter .
So now my predicament is this
1) I dont know if I am actually currently insured which is a bit of a bummer because I need the car to get to work as I work extreme shifts. And in any case the car is kept on the road as I have no access to off road storage . The notes on my file say I am as per the conversation I had with them on the phone on the 30th . If I do get stopped and the car gets seized then I am of the opinion that going forward now after having been told I am insured that anything this costs me including in hiring a suitable replacement whilst I secure the release of my vehicle should be met by DL .
2) I dont know what to do with the money they have returned to me .I mean surely at some point they are going to want that back if my insurance is reinstated . But then I am going to be out of pocket because I will now be incurring interest if they take a new payment off my CC
3) I dont know if there is any further impending issue with this such as letters from the police for pinging an ANPR camera without insurance . What is my position with regards to this ? Say I do get a letter from the police for using the car on the road on the 29th without insurance . Per the black letter of the law I am guilty as I was uninsured at the time and I was driving . But as far as I am concerned I did everything possible to ensure I was legal . The only reason I was not was because of a mistake on behalf of my insurer . I will be incredibly furious if I end up with points or a ban as a result of their incompetence .
4)Im pretty damn furious that through no fault of my own both myself and one of my named drivers have used a car on the road which on the face of the evidence I now have was uninsured . God forbid either of us had been stopped and the car seized .These companies are first to try and rip us off for making simple mistakes . I remember a friend was charged a £25 admin fee to amend the number plate details on his policy as he had made a mistake . Why should they be able to get away with making manifest mistakes without being ripped off themselves .
5)I am pretty annoyed that they chose to convey a serious message about cancelling my insurance via post only . they are quite happy to send everything else including marketing rubbish via email . So why not contact me via this to let me know my policy is facing cancellation . This whole thing could have been avoided had they done that because I was able to access emails on holiday .
I fired off a letter today to Direct line customer service basically explaining . my position . The letter is quite blunt in telling them it was their mistake and requesting
1) compensation for time and effort spent sorting this out , as well as the distress of being told you have used a car uninsured .
2)Assurances that should any legal action be taken against me for using a car uninsured all costs in relation to this will be met by Direct line .
Thanks to anyone that has read all of the above I know it is a bit of an essay . And thanks in advance for any advice .
I took out an insurance policy with Direct Line on the 6th July this year . It was a drive plus policy which requires a small device to be plugged into the car to monitor its use . There are no restrictions on when the car can be used . The device is used to produce a score . I paid in full on a CC when I bought the policy and transferred the balance to another CC to clear it over the 12 months . The way I see it is the 1.9% BT fee is nothing compared to the interest insurers charge for spreading the cost .
I got the device and installed it within the 28 day period you get from the inception of the policy . You can install an app on your phone or monitor your score online . I registered the app on my phone and was getting scores that matched with the journeys that I was making .
On the 11th of august I finished work nearly 3 weeks of annual leave .I drove down south to my parents left the car and on the 12th I flew away on holiday for 2 weeks . I returned to the country on the 26th and then stayed at my parents down south for a few nights . Returning home on the evening of the 29th .
When I got home I had a stack of post . On the morning of the 30th August when I started going through the post I found 2 letters from Direct line . One was dated the 9th August and must have arrived within a day or two of me going on holiday . It stated something along the lines of as I was yet to install the "drive plus" device they requested that I contact them in order to discuss this matter . If I did not contact them by the 22nd then my policy would be cancelled and I would be refunded any owed premium .
I then had a letter dated the 24th which stated that my policy has now been canceled and that I would be receiving a refund , it then stated the amount of refund and the admin fee they deducted from this . It then went on to mention that I would no longer be permitted to take out a policy with direct line in the future and that I must declare this cancelled insurance policy to future insurers .
I must admit I rather panicked at first . In my absence the car had been left at my parents and one of them is a named driver on it so had used it a few times in my absence including to pick me up from the airport on the 26th . I had also driven it some considerable distance on the 29th on my return journey home , knowing I would have definitely passed through a number of ANPR cameras on my journey home .I was somewhat shocked . I have never been in trouble with the police , never even been given a pull whilst out driving . So to go from that to being caught driving with no insurance was a somewhat scary prospect .
So I rung DL to clear this up . The first call handler I spoke to was somewhat useless and simply told me what I already knew which was that my insurance was cancelled because as far as they are concerned I have not used the device and complied with the terms of the contract she basically repeated what was in their letters . I insisted speaking to a supervisor given the importance of the matter at hand , which she did try and resist but you have to be persistent and somewhat forceful with these matters .
When A supervisor called me back she was much more interested in what had gone on and took a lot more details from me about the history with the policy . She then assured me she would ring the "telematics team" to try and see what has gone wrong . Some 45 minutes later she returned the call to explain that there had been a mistake and somehow the device I was sent was not properly registered against my insurance policy number . This makes sense to me as I had installed and used the device and seen score and map data that corresponded with my use of the car . She did say that the policy had never been marked for cancellation and that she had spoken to the underwriters to confirm that there should be no further Issue . Unfortunately subsequent correspondence has shown this to be false . She also sent me via email a copy of the insurance certificate which I know makes no odds if the insurance policy it relates to is cancelled . I have requested written confirmation of the conversation we had and am obviously awaiting the arrival of that in the post .
Subsequent correspondence was received today on the 1st of september it was dated the 26th. It was just a confirmation that my policy has been cancelled . And my refund has been processed . Logging into my online account for the CC I paid on confirms this to be the case as on the 24th I received a refund as per what they stated in their second letter .
So now my predicament is this
1) I dont know if I am actually currently insured which is a bit of a bummer because I need the car to get to work as I work extreme shifts. And in any case the car is kept on the road as I have no access to off road storage . The notes on my file say I am as per the conversation I had with them on the phone on the 30th . If I do get stopped and the car gets seized then I am of the opinion that going forward now after having been told I am insured that anything this costs me including in hiring a suitable replacement whilst I secure the release of my vehicle should be met by DL .
2) I dont know what to do with the money they have returned to me .I mean surely at some point they are going to want that back if my insurance is reinstated . But then I am going to be out of pocket because I will now be incurring interest if they take a new payment off my CC
3) I dont know if there is any further impending issue with this such as letters from the police for pinging an ANPR camera without insurance . What is my position with regards to this ? Say I do get a letter from the police for using the car on the road on the 29th without insurance . Per the black letter of the law I am guilty as I was uninsured at the time and I was driving . But as far as I am concerned I did everything possible to ensure I was legal . The only reason I was not was because of a mistake on behalf of my insurer . I will be incredibly furious if I end up with points or a ban as a result of their incompetence .
4)Im pretty damn furious that through no fault of my own both myself and one of my named drivers have used a car on the road which on the face of the evidence I now have was uninsured . God forbid either of us had been stopped and the car seized .These companies are first to try and rip us off for making simple mistakes . I remember a friend was charged a £25 admin fee to amend the number plate details on his policy as he had made a mistake . Why should they be able to get away with making manifest mistakes without being ripped off themselves .
5)I am pretty annoyed that they chose to convey a serious message about cancelling my insurance via post only . they are quite happy to send everything else including marketing rubbish via email . So why not contact me via this to let me know my policy is facing cancellation . This whole thing could have been avoided had they done that because I was able to access emails on holiday .
I fired off a letter today to Direct line customer service basically explaining . my position . The letter is quite blunt in telling them it was their mistake and requesting
1) compensation for time and effort spent sorting this out , as well as the distress of being told you have used a car uninsured .
2)Assurances that should any legal action be taken against me for using a car uninsured all costs in relation to this will be met by Direct line .
Thanks to anyone that has read all of the above I know it is a bit of an essay . And thanks in advance for any advice .
0
Comments
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You probably aren't insured so don't put the car on a public road.
Get a formal complaint off to DL now. That starts the clock ticking on the 8 weeks you have to allow them to respond to a complaint.
If you are unhappy with the response or they ignore you for the 8 weeks then you can escalate to the FOS for their adjudication at no cost to you.
In the meantime if you need to use the car then take out insurance (explain the cancellation), and if you are forced to pay an increased premium due to the cancellation ask for the extra cost you have been put to off DL if/when your complaint is upheld
If you do get anything from the police then cross that bridge when it turns up! Hopefully your side of the story is correct and DL will issue you with documentation showing that they were in fact covering you which will kill off the issue0 -
Go here
clickety click
https://ownvehicle.askmid.com/
The chances are, if your not on the mid,your not insuredFeudal Britain needs land reform. 70% of the land is "owned" by 1 % of the population and at least 50% is unregistered (inherited by landed gentry). Thats why your slave box costs so much..0 -
Thanks for reading and thanks for the advice .You probably aren't insured so don't put the car on a public road.
Get a formal complaint off to DL now. That starts the clock ticking on the 8 weeks you have to allow them to respond to a complaint.
If you are unhappy with the response or they ignore you for the 8 weeks then you can escalate to the FOS for their adjudication at no cost to you.
In the meantime if you need to use the car then take out insurance (explain the cancellation), and if you are forced to pay an increased premium due to the cancellation ask for the extra cost you have been put to off DL if/when your complaint is upheld
If you do get anything from the police then cross that bridge when it turns up! Hopefully your side of the story is correct and DL will issue you with documentation showing that they were in fact covering you which will kill off the issue
Unfortunately the car is on the road , and without driving it on the road I have no way of getting it off . I dont know anyone who lives nearby with a drive either
Ive sent a formal complaint off to DL today 1st class recorded .
Ive just been looking at temp insurance cover . However would direct line be able to argue successfully that as I was covered (by them ) this was unnecessary ?
Thanks for the advice , ive checked and I am on there . How reliable is this however ?C_Mababejive wrote: »Go here
clickety click
https://ownvehicle.askmid.com/
The chances are, if your not on the mid,your not insured0 -
Thanks for reading and thanks for the advice .
Unfortunately the car is on the road , and without driving it on the road I have no way of getting it off . I dont know anyone who lives nearby with a drive either
Ive sent a formal complaint off to DL today 1st class recorded .
Ive just been looking at temp insurance cover . However would direct line be able to argue successfully that as I was covered (by them ) this was unnecessary ?
Thanks for the advice , ive checked and I am on there . How reliable is this however ?
About as good as you will get..
https://www.mib.org.uk/managing-insurance-data/the-motor-insurance-database-mid/Feudal Britain needs land reform. 70% of the land is "owned" by 1 % of the population and at least 50% is unregistered (inherited by landed gentry). Thats why your slave box costs so much..0 -
So I take it I should be fine without taking out additional insurance .C_Mababejive wrote: »About as good as you will get..
https://www.mib.org.uk/managing-insurance-data/the-motor-insurance-database-mid/
Would have been interested to check it on the 30th before I spoke to them See if they really did cancel my insurance0 -
So I take it I should be fine without taking out additional insurance .
Would have been interested to check it on the 30th before I spoke to them See if they really did cancel my insurance
I'd check it daily if i were you
Feudal Britain needs land reform. 70% of the land is "owned" by 1 % of the population and at least 50% is unregistered (inherited by landed gentry). Thats why your slave box costs so much..0 -
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Usually once a policy is cancelled then the insurer has a problem reinstating the old policy, and would issue a new one once they accept their cancellation was a mistake
Ring them now and ask to get confirmation (in writing/email now) you are covered now0 -
Okay ,but if a policy was cancelled on the 24th would it have been updated on the database by now ?Not without confirmation from DL - according to your post they have confirmed the cancellation in writing and refunded you.
The database isn't updated immediately a policy is cancelled!
Does this mean that I would need to be issued with a new certificate starting from the date of the new policy being issued .Usually once a policy is cancelled then the insurer has a problem reinstating the old policy, and would issue a new one once they accept their cancellation was a mistake
Ring them now and ask to get confirmation (in writing/email now) you are covered now
They emailed me a certificate of insurance on the 30th after I was on the phone with them , but this has the original start date of the policy on (6th July )
On hold as we speak....
Woman I spoke with confirmed that the policy has been re instated after taking the details .
She put a request in for me to be sent a letter confirming that the policy has been reinstated . and stated this could only be done by letter not email . She also stated that the certificate that was requested via email on the 30th would have only been sent had the policy been active .0 -
In regards to the credit card you paid on; if it has been refunded you should now have a positive balance on the card so when you need to pay back the money you won't be charged interest on this amount because you won't be in debt.0
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