Car insurance premium increase

Tom_Sansome

Hi, I am hoping that somebody may be able to offer an opinion on my situation and whether I should just accept it or not.

I will try to be as brief as possible.

A parent was involved in my previous car insurance policy and informed the company I had three points on licence, which I did not. I had attended a driver awareness course and therefore avoided any points (failure to stop at red light).

I signed up to a new policy as the main driver in April with Admiral. The quote though confused.com does not ask whether you have completed driver awareness courses, only if you have convictions. So I answered no.

Admiral have got in touch saying after finding information from a previous policy that you have convictions on your licence we are increasing your policy by £335.

I responded stating there is no conviction on my licence and presented a copy of my licence details from DVLA website. I told them I completed a driver awareness course.

They replied saying that the increase in premium will now be £352 instead.

The original policy premium was £488, so this additional charge represents a 72% increase.

I accept the fact that Admiral have the right to increase my policy now they know I attended a driver awareness course. I would like any advice about the sum they have taken and whether it makes sense they are charging more for the awareness course than when they thought I had 3 points on my licence.

Sorry to ask so much from my first post, I will really appreciate any advice, no matter how harsh.

Thanks

wongataa

Admiral can load the premium for points or awareness courses however they wish to. They are the only insurance company group to want to know about driver awareness courses.

dunstonh

I signed up to a new policy as the main driver in April with Admiral. The quote though confused.com does not ask whether you have completed driver awareness courses, only if you have convictions. So I answered no.

You still committed an offence. Admiral say "Attending a speed awareness course is something we take into account when calculating a premium. Although a speed awareness course is a replacement for penalty points, it doesn’t change the fact that the person involved has committed a speeding offence."

So, what exactly did that Admiral question say?

I have an Admiral proposal in front of me and it says: (copy and paste)

1) Motoring Offences : Have you or any driver been involved in any motoring offences in the last five years, including fixed penalties, convictions, driver awareness course or have any pending prosecution other than those listed?

So, what you say it said on the application seems to differ from that.

Tom_Sansome

Hi dunstonh,

I double checked this again. When you go through Confused.com it only asks. "any motoring convictions, driving licence endorsements or fixed penalty points within the last 5 years"

Once the quote is complete, you click through to Admiral to pay, but do not answer any other questions about convictions or awareness courses.

I can see that going directly through Admiral you are asked the question you quoted above, however through Confused it isn't asked.

paddyandstumpy

When you click through does it ask you to review the details and confirm they are correct?

Or to review the assumptions?

Tom_Sansome

When you click the link from Confused to Admiral, it takes you to a page that presents the quote. It does not ask you to review the quote. I have clicked through to payment section and although it asks you to check details on page, it never states I need to review all quote details again.

However, if I chose to click on the edit quote button, in the the cover section. I can see that the question that dunstonh posted above is there and that "no" is selected.

So therefore I have inadvertently answered that question incorrectly.

Tom_Sansome

Just a quick update which has taken the wind out of my sail a bit. On one of the last screens before actually paying, there is this warning.

"If not already done so, you must call us to let us know if you or any driver below has been on a driver awareness course"

I will have to focus on the issue with Admiral increasing the premium by more for an awareness course than for an actual conviction.

DCFC79

Keep the thread updated with how you get on.

Tom_Sansome

Just to provide an update after more correspondence with Admiral. I have received the following information from them regarding the charging for the premium increase.

"The Safe Driver Improvement Course that we have included to your policy, although it is not a motoring conviction, is still highly rated upon by us. We are unable to provide data for this as we are unable to provide company sensitive data, however, our claims statistics indicate to us that this does pose a high risk to us as an insurer".

By charging me like this it suggests they view people completing driver awareness courses as more risky than those who have 3 points on their licence. I have asked them if that is the case.

Do you think it is worth going through the complaints procedure with them or is this one of those times where you just suck it up and learn from your mistake?

paddyandstumpy

What are you complaining about? The fact they choose to rate on a fact they consider material?

If you don't like it, look at the cost of leaving (factoring in time on risk charge and a fee to cancel) and see if you can get it cheaper elsewhere.

What they rate on and the rate they charge is their prerogative. You can complain, but it's a commercial market and you're free to shop around.

dunstonh

By charging me like this it suggests they view people completing driver awareness courses as more risky than those who have 3 points on their licence. I have asked them if that is the case.

It doesnt matter if they believe that or not. It is their choice based on their stats.

Do you think it is worth going through the complaints procedure with them or is this one of those times where you just suck it up and learn from your mistake?

A complaint about their actuarial data will not be successful and the FOS will not consider a complaint on that basis either as its a commercial decision and not discrimination.

Bottom line is that you made a mistake and they are not in the wrong here.