Car insurance mishap

b333ry

Good Morning,

New to the site in terms of posting but visited frequently, little advice or other past experience if i may?

I took car insurance cover out via a price comparison site, everything is fine. Rang insurance company to gain a quote on existing policy prior to viewing a new vehicle (new vehicle is import) to which they said they do not insure imports - to which i mentioned my current car (on policy) is an import so thought that was bizarre? after being placed on hold they promptly said your existing policy is now cancelled as they did not know this and i am now subject to a cancellation fee (policy is 3 weeks old outside 14 day cancellation) - now to put things into sense of money existing policy was £49 p/month. They did say if they can get a new policy with a new underwriter they will cover me, but and heres the catch if am not happy with the new quote i will be subject to the cancellation fee of £ 75 if they cannot i will not be charged.

I have researched and spoke to a few people my main things are. 1. if i never called they would not have known (DVLA know - of course). 2.my insurance was void from the offset. 3. i am being pressured into taking an inflated new policy of £79 p/month or face £75 charge and lose all i have put into the policy so far, deposit, 1 month premium. 4. consumers rights - i did not receive a product i paid for. 4.there was no mention of cars origin in either the inurance certificate or terms and conditions.

They have refused to give me all monies paid so far - i will call the ombudsman service and write a letter - but does all this seem right for an insurance company?!

Many Thanks

Quentin

You look to have (unwittingly) misled them when taking out the policy by not disclosing that your car is imported.

As getting a policy cancelled is bad news you do need to try and get this reversed.

See if you did agree your car wasn't an import, and if they didn't ask about this (or you didn't agree an assumption about it), raise a complaint which you can escalate to the FOS for their adjudication if you aren't happy with the reply.

FutureGirl

Do you have your policy documents? That will tell you if you disclosed your car was an import. If it doesn't, then the insurer is correct.

The onus is on you to ensure the details you input etc are fully correct.

1. But when they did find out, they would have cancelled the policy anyway.

2. This is because you failed to disclose material information.

3. You're not being 'pressured' to take out a new policy at all. They have re-quoted based on the new, and correct, information they have.

4. You did receive a product you paid for - you were insured until they cancelled the policy.

b333ry

Many thanks for the replies,

I would tend to agree Quentin - although at the time of purchase and filling the fields out on the comparison site i did not know it was an import and entered the details correctly and to the best of my knowledge and entered the reg details not just chose a vehicle from a list, it was verified via a my text check service the same day as ringing - technically speaking do insurance companies not verify car details via their plate and DVLA? maybe a naive assumption but surely key. My certificate checked out fine i have read it in detail, no mention of UK, EU or grey import - just the vehicle details and the small print and terms have no mention either.

I understand FutureGirl, just would have thought the 'take a new policy of any sum' or face a cancellation fee if that makes sense - a goodwill gesture if you will of mistake made we will not charge you the fee. I disclosed everything to the best of my knowledge at the time of cover - i will never falsely disclose information for a better deal. For record my car is not visibly different to the UK/EU models in either spec or type it was a friend who pointed out to text check - the logbook does not mention it only transfer of registration plate - but they do have it as an import (Japanese) on there database.

Quentin

Although you agree you didn't do it deliberately, as posted do everything to get the cancellation reversed.

This cancellation will have to be disclosed to all insurers you try to get quotes from in future (in your name or as a named driver on someone elses policy), and will mean most insurers won't quote, or will but be expensive

FutureGirl

When did you find out it was imported?

dacouch

Do the comparison website ask if the car is an import?

Does the application your Insurers sent to you ask if the vehicle is an import?

SimonSays

Aggs generally put an assumption that the car is not an import. This is a case of the consumer clicking tick boxes without reading. False disclosure? yes. Purposely done? Potentially not.

Who is the insurer/broker? Someone like Adrian Flux I'd expect them to take imports all day long.