Insurance Company Threatening Action Help Please?

mbc0

Hi,

I wonder if anyone here can offer some advice please?

I completed an insurance comparison quote for my Daughter nearly a year ago and took the best quote for her moped. Nearly a year later (11 days left on the policy) she went to renew with them and they found that her date of birth was incorrect whilst going through the verification. This was an honest mistake, we have no idea how the year was wrong but it was and yes it should have been picked up by her upon checking the policy details but it wasn't. As stated there are 11 days left on this policy and they are demanding £300 and threatening debt collection agencies if it is not paid within 7 days! is this right? Surely the policy should be just cancelled and that would be the end of it? how can they back charge 11 months as I am sure if she had the misfortune to make a claim they wouldn't say "pay the £300 and we will process the claim!" any advice please?

Many Thanks!

forgotmyname

She has been covered for the year, how can they cancel that?

How can they back charge? Because the info provided was false, would she prefer a fraud marker instead? Try getting decent quotes with a fraud marker.

mbc0

Hi,

thanks for your reply, I know what you are saying and you may well be right! but let me explain again differently.

I wouldn't expect them to cancel the cover she has already had, it has been paid for (although date of birth is incorrect) it was paid for. The insurance company is now asking for the adjustment for a year using the correct date of birth which is £300. You say she was covered for a year but I don't believe that to be the case as if she needed to claim they wouldn't say pay the extra £300 and we will process the claim?

30-03-17 - Paid £138 for insurance with incorrect date of birth.
17-03-18 - discovered error in date of birth - so asking for an additional £300 to backdate the error to the start of the policy.

Please understand I am not arguing with you/them I am just seeking clarification as I feel it is wrong that they can back charge on the policy, if they can and they are right then it is fine, we will pay it

Thanks again for your input

csgohan4

Insurance premiums is based on risk profile, if your X age you pay premiums for it. If you are Y premiums you pay premiums for this which in this case is significantly different.


The responsibility with checking the paperwork lies with the policy holder, the insurers do not do passport ID checks.


Always check paperwork, for e.g I found my car insurance was covering for less mileage than agreed over the phone, they changed it foc.


As above, paying the correct premium is better than trying to find an insurer who will cover for cancelled insurance, to which you will likely find it will cost you a lot more than £300 over the years

lisyloo

They are correct, you underpaid £300.
Also it!!!8217;s correct that if you don!!!8217;t pay she face big problems in future possibly forever because insurers ask !!!8220;have you EVER had Insurance cancelled/declined!!!8221;.

If there had been a claim and it was believed to be an honest mistake then yes, they would pay the claim and charge £300, but difficult to prove it was honest and not fraud.

In future if you aren!!!8217;t going to use a broker and are going to arrange insurance DIY then check the documents carefully. For important things (flight bookings) I sometimes I ask my partner to check as well.
It!!!8217;s worth 20mins if your time to do this.
If you can put be bothered then use a broker and give them your driving licence/birth certificate, but DIY then it!!!8217;s her responsibility.

mbc0

Yes, I think you are right, I just would not have thought it would be possible to back date for the policy but if it is going to cost £300 to make everything go away then it is probably the best option!

flashg67

I'd feel annoyed too - seems such a big difference in premium. Look at it this way - if you had noticed sooner, you'd have expected to pay the extra then, so you've still had the benefit of the (correct) cover, regardless of when you discovered the error.
If she had had a claim, it is possible they could have asked for the payment then, or deducted it from any claim, or, extreme worst case, refused to pay out.
I'd really try to avoid having them cancel the policy as this will make it difficult or very expensive to get insurance for years to come.

lisyloo

You obtained a policy that was most competitive for the incorrect age.
Its possible it wasntcompetitive for the correct age. That was your/her mistake.
Its also possible they are charging an admin fee.
I dont thonk you can blame the for charging admin for your mistake. They have to pay their staff.

If she;s grown up enough to drive on our roads then shouldn!!!8217;t she start taking responsibility for her own admin?
There are important lessons her that SHE should be learning for herself else how will she learn?

Arghhh commas !!

mbc0

They are asking for the £300 to correct the error and then cancel the policy.. the reason they have given to cancel the policy is that the insurer does not cover people who work at licenced hotels despite having "Hotel Licenced Waitress" as her occupation!!

mbc0

Don't worry, she has learnt!!

Nasqueron

flashg67 wrote: »

I'd feel annoyed too - seems such a big difference in premium. Look at it this way - if you had noticed sooner, you'd have expected to pay the extra then, so you've still had the benefit of the (correct) cover, regardless of when you discovered the error.
If she had had a claim, it is possible they could have asked for the payment then, or deducted it from any claim, or, extreme worst case, refused to pay out.
I'd really try to avoid having them cancel the policy as this will make it difficult or very expensive to get insurance for years to come.

If the firm felt the OP was lying to get a cheaper quote (e.g. saying daughter was 21 rather than 20 which is a threshold I believe) then it's perfectly fair to do the quote based on what they'd have charged her for the younger age and then cancel it.

OP needs to raise a complaint with the insurer if it was a genuine mistake e.g. if it's something you select on a drop down a miss-click or a typo 13/01/17 or 13/10/17 as the cancelled insurance will mean crazy quotes forever.

OP probably needs to admit what the mistake was though to see if it's realistic