Insurance Cancelled Because Of "Multiple Different Quotes"

RozJC

Hello,

So, I had bought a Car Insurance Policy with Hastings Direct on Tuesday.

The day after (which was yesterday), I get an email telling me that my policy had been cancelled.

I had to call to get more information, however all they told me was that the underwriter had me flagged for making multiple quotes with different details.

Now, as far as I am aware, the only "different quotes" would have come from using different comparison websites.

I requested more information about these different quotes but all they told me was that what they told me was all the information was what the underwriter had given them.

They told me that I would be able to start a new quote and get a new policy.

That was the end of the first call.

I called them up again as I wanted to clarify whether or not if I can make the quote straight away or do I need to wait some time and whether or not I will be getting a full refund.

They told me that I wouldn't be able to get another quote with Hastings and I'd have to take out a policy with another company and that I'd be getting a refund but they'll be keeping a £20 set-up fee.

I asked to speak a manager but one wasn't available so they had to call me back.

They called me back in about 30 minutes and all she did was basically reiterate the same thing the last person I was on the phone to said and that I will not be able to get the £20 set-up fee back. I asked if I could at least get more information regarding the reason behind cancelling my policy but they again told me that the underwriter made this decision and they are unable to get any more information from the underwriter.

So I asked for the underwriter's details so I can contact them myself and maybe get some details.

But, they couldn't give any contact details. They could only give me the underwriter's name, which is Advantage Insurance Company. I told them that I intend to make a complaint about the service and I was told that I would be contacted by the Customer Relations team in the next few working days.

That ended another pointless phone call.

So, I looked online for the underwriter to see if I could get information.

It turns out that they have their own complaints email.....which is a hastingsdirect.com email address. But Hastings told me they couldn't give me any contact details.

In the end, I decide to email a complaint to the provided address, pretty much explaining everything that I had been through and asked about the set-up fee, so we'll see what happens.

I just wanted to know if this has happened to anyone and what they did about it?

Thanks for reading and responding.

Quentin

You do need to challenge this.

A cancelled policy on your record for giving false details on applications will be registered against you and you must disclose it to any other Insurers you go to for quotes, meaning most online Insurers refuse to quote and getting any insurance cover on another policy will be difficult and expensive

dunstonh

Now, as far as I am aware, the only "different quotes" would have come from using different comparison websites.

Not quite. The sofware of many of the insurers can pick up different quotes obtained via the same comparison site. It only tends to be an issue with certain questions.

For example, changing the excess would not flag anything to their fraud team. However, changing the occupation would. Or doing quotes with and without points declared and going with a quote without points declared.

So, its not just different comparison sites but all quotes via the same or different methods.

They told me that I would be able to start a new quote and get a new policy.

That information is wrong. They should not have said that. Which is why the later information you got contradicts it. A refusal means they wont accept an application for you for at least a given period.

I just wanted to know if this has happened to anyone and what they did about it?

You would expect to get your £20 back and maybe a goodwill gesture of £25-£50 for inconvenience.

You may get given the reason for refusal but you may not. it may be a mistake. it may be correct. Do you recall the details of your quote being changed? or inputting different details on one comparison site compared to another?

As I said, this sounds like their anti-fraud software has kicked in (so not an actual person).

RozJC

dunstonh wrote: »

Not quite. The sofware of many of the insurers can pick up different quotes obtained via the same comparison site. It only tends to be an issue with certain questions.

For example, changing the excess would not flag anything to their fraud team. However, changing the occupation would. Or doing quotes with and without points declared and going with a quote without points declared.

So, its not just different comparison sites but all quotes via the same or different methods.


That information is wrong. They should not have said that. Which is why the later information you got contradicts it. A refusal means they wont accept an application for you for at least a given period.



You would expect to get your £20 back and maybe a goodwill gesture of £25-£50 for inconvenience.

You may get given the reason for refusal but you may not. it may be a mistake. it may be correct. Do you recall the details of your quote being changed? or inputting different details on one comparison site compared to another?

As I said, this sounds like their anti-fraud software has kicked in (so not an actual person).

I did mention that it sounds like I have flagged for fraud which definitely is not the case, but one of the people I spoke to said it's nothing like that.

As far as I know, all the details I provided on all the comparison sites were accurate.

Thinking about it now, my girlfriend did mention that she tried to see what quotes she could get for my car. She didn't ask me for any details so perhaps she's put in wrong information and that's what caused me to be flagged.

Quentin

Whenever you get quotes you are asked to confirm the info given is true

That's why you see advice to always use dummy details when playing with quotes

Presumably your correct ID has been used even though the other questions were given varying answers

RozJC

Quentin wrote: »

Whenever you get quotes you are asked to confirm the info given is true

That's why you see advice to always use dummy details when playing with quotes

Presumably your correct ID has been used even though the other questions were given varying answers

If I knew she intended to do a quote, I would have told her not to bother as I was planning to do a proper check as it's close to renewal time. Unfortunately, she didn't tell me...so this may be why I'm having this trouble.

tain

You should definitely not be paying the £20 at the very least. They shouldn't be giving you insurance in the first place, not taking your money then changing their minds and charging you for the inconvenience.


I'd also like to know more about these automated systems, because they sound open to false positives. For instance, I've just done a few quotes as my insurance is coming up, but my circumstances have changed about 4 times in the last week. One minute I thought I still had NCB because I'd gone to court and it was decided in my favour, then I was told that wasn't the case until everything was paid, now I've been told everything is paid... Each stage I got a new quote with the current, correct, information!

RozJC

tain wrote: »

You should definitely not be paying the £20 at the very least. They shouldn't be giving you insurance in the first place, not taking your money then changing their minds and charging you for the inconvenience.

That's what I thought too! It's a bit of a mick take to give me the insurance and then take it away from me and then keep the set-up fee.

tain wrote: »

I'd also like to know more about these automated systems, because they sound open to false positives. For instance, I've just done a few quotes as my insurance is coming up, but my circumstances have changed about 4 times in the last week. One minute I thought I still had NCB because I'd gone to court and it was decided in my favour, then I was told that wasn't the case until everything was paid, now I've been told everything is paid... Each stage I got a new quote with the current, correct, information!

Yeah, I'd be intrigued to learn more too.
What differences would cause a flag to be raised? Because like you said, lots can change over a short period, so you might be forced to raise multiple quotes with different information.

dunstonh

What differences would cause a flag to be raised?

Occupation
Claims history
Points on licence
dates of birth
to name a few.

And when they talk multiple, it really means multiple. Not a correcting entry but multiple variations and its only within a relatively short period. Not held onto long term.

RozJC

dunstonh wrote: »

Occupation
Claims history
Points on licence
dates of birth
to name a few.

And when they talk multiple, it really means multiple. Not a correcting entry but multiple variations and its only within a relatively short period. Not held onto long term.

Hmmm, interesting.

Thanks for the insight.

dacouch

tain wrote: »

You should definitely not be paying the £20 at the very least. They shouldn't be giving you insurance in the first place, not taking your money then changing their minds and charging you for the inconvenience.

Hasting are in effect a broker.

The £20 is a charge to set the policy up, they are perfectly entitled to retain this in these circumstances. Although an "Official Complaint" will almost certainly get them to drop it as it's cheaper to drop it than process a complaint