Car Insurance Cancelled Without Reason

ChrisLowe

Good afternoon,

A couple of weeks ago I took out car insurance with Hastings as they were £130 cheaper than renewing with Aviva. I had a small accident last year which was disclosed on the application. To the best of my knowledge all the information I provided was accurate.

Hastings have now cancelled the insurance and are refusing to give me a reason other than "they can no longer offer me insurance based upon the details provided". I have called Aviva hoping to switch back to them but they say the reason Hastings provided is not valid. They spoke to their underwriter who advised that legally Hastings need to let me know why the policy was cancelled.

I have made numerous calls to Hastings and they say they are not obliged to give a reason and they don;t even know themselves as it was decided by the underwriter. If anyone could help with the following questions I'd appreciate it:

1. Does anyone know if Hastings legally need to provide the information? I would have thought that with GDPR I could find this out?

2. On the latest call with Hastings the advisor mentioned that if I cancel today (one day before the policy ends) then I may not have to disclose the cancellation. She seemed very unsure about this and couldn't explain it very clearly but it would be interesting to know if there is substance here?

3. As my wife was a named driver on the policy does she have to disclose that she has had a policy cancelled or does it only apply to me as the main driver?

Any help would be appreciated as I'm struggling to get insurance!

Thanks

lisyloo

2) if you cancel before they do then you might be able to avoid them cancelling and have to answer yes to the “have you ever had insurance cancelled question”. This should be avoided at all costs if possible as it’ll cause you big issues getting insurance in future.

3) no, you wife has not had a policy cancelled.

ChrisLowe

Thanks for the reply. It's a relief that it doesn't affect my wife's insurance.

So I should call them and cancel ASAP? How would I know that this wouldn't come up when I take out my next insurance?

spanish_inquisition

Contact Hastings again and ask them to explain their decision in writing, and you are to make a complaint

It may be worth contacting the Financial Conduct Authority as well to discuss your situation as they may investigate for you.

Good luck, it sounds as though you have been hard done by.

Quentin

spanish_inquisition wrote: »

It may be worth contacting the Financial Conduct Authority as well to discuss your situation as they may investigate for you.

.

FCA don't deal with individuals


Whenever you are unhappy with your insurer the route to take is a complaint in line with their complaints procedure


Then if you are not happy with the reply or they ignore you for 8 weeks you can escalate to the FOS for their adjudication at no cost to you

ChrisLowe

OK so Hastings have said that I am unable to cancel the policy and therefore it will be cancelled tomorrow and show on my record.

That means the cheapest insurance I can find will be £1,100 for the year rather than £400. Absolutely gutted and furious with Hastings. I cannot believe they are allowed to cancel without supplying a valid reason.

Will have to hold on the insurance for a while and see what happens with the complaint. I'll have to walk/use public transport in the meantime but thay will be a massive pain.

dacouch

ChrisLowe wrote: »

OK so Hastings have said that I am unable to cancel the policy and therefore it will be cancelled tomorrow and show on my record.

That means the cheapest insurance I can find will be £1,100 for the year rather than £400. Absolutely gutted and furious with Hastings. I cannot believe they are allowed to cancel without supplying a valid reason.

Will have to hold on the insurance for a while and see what happens with the complaint. I'll have to walk/use public transport in the meantime but thay will be a massive pain.

Make an official complaint about the cancellation and them not allowing you to cancel.

The policy which is a contract clearly allows you to cancel the policy

Should it go to the Ombudsman and you win, then Hastings will be liable to put you in the fiancial position you would have been if they had not done this.

Quentin

ChrisLowe wrote: »

Will have to hold on the insurance for a while and see what happens with the complaint. I'll have to walk/use public transport in the meantime but thay will be a massive pain.

Expect the complaint to take a long time to resolve if they reject it and you turn to the FOS ( months rather than weeks)

As advised by dacouch if your complaint is upheld then you can expect to be reimbursed the extra cost you are put to in getting cover with this on record.

So do consider insuring now rather than waiting for your complaint to be resolved if the prospect of no wheels is going to be bad news for you