Insurance Company want proof of car sale

TheGoldfish

My mother sold her car about six weeks before her insurance renewal date and because there was so little time left on the policy we didn't inform the insurance company. This week she has received an email with details of the automatic renewal. She emailed the company stating she the car had recently been sold and did not want to renew the insurance. The insurance company have now asked for her "DVLA proof of sale". She has either lost or not received proof from the DVLA. Would it have been with the Road Tax refund that she received?

Why do they need this to stop a newal? Why does she need to provide this when she did not need to provide any proof of ownership when applying two years ago for insurance.

Why do insurance companies make cancellation so difficult compared to taking out insurance with them?

Many thanks

Quentin

Not informing them was a breach of the policy conditions

How have they found out it was sold?

Has there been s claim??

(Providing or not providing this proof should not stop you from stopping the autorenewal)

Ask them why they want it - the horses mouth much better than us guessing why

TheGoldfish

They found out when my mother told them she did not want to renew the policy because she had sold the car.

There has not been any claims.

Quentin

That was her error - as posted above she broke the policy conditions by not telling them at the time


They may want the proof of sale so that should a claim against the car turn up they can pass on any costs they have to pay on to your mother


But ask them why they want it!


(Not providing it should not be a reason for them not agreeing to stop the auto renewal)

TheGoldfish

Having looked at the current insurance certificate, I don't think anyone else would be covered to drive it under this policy so any other driver would need to arrange their own insurance or would not be covered.

I have also quickly read their policy document and can't see anything stating they need to be advised of any change of ownership although it was a quick read.

I have asked my mother to ask them why they want it. It just amazes me how easy it is to take out insurance but so much more difficult to stop the insurance

Quentin

Stopping an auto renew should be set out in the renewal letter


(Bear in mind that your mother is in the wrong here! Not notifying the insurer the car was disposed of was a breach of the policy conditions, and left them providing cover for the car in certain circs!)

Read up the policy wording again

The insurer obviously will need to be notified when cover is no longer required!

Aretnap

TheGoldfish wrote: »

Having looked at the current insurance certificate, I don't think anyone else would be covered to drive it under this policy so any other driver would need to arrange their own insurance or would not be covered.

The Road Traffic Act makes the insurer liable for third party claims in some circumstances even when the driver is not covered by the policy. It's one of a number of measures in place to ensure that there is always someone to compensate victims of uninsured drivers (very roughly it's the insurer with the closest connection to the car, or the Motor Insurers Bureau of the car has no insurance at all or the driver scarpers) . This is why there will usually be a clause requiring her to tell them if she seeks the car- so they don't end up on the hook if the new owner doesn't insure it.

However as above this is a separate issue from her auto-renewal. To cancel that she just has to tell them she doesn't want to renew and doesn't have to give a reason - though she may have to be quite assertive with the bloke on the phone who gets a bonus if she doesn't cancel so will do all he can to make life difficult for her.

lisyloo

TheGoldfish wrote: »

Having looked at the current insurance certificate, I don't think anyone else would be covered to drive it under this policy so any other driver would need to arrange their own insurance or would not be covered.

In some circumstances the insurance would be legally required to pay out to a 3rd party.
If this happened they’d look to recoup the costs from your mother as she didn’t cancel the policy.

A very low likelihood, but could be a very expensive mistake.

kingstreet

When you report you no longer own a vehicle to DVLA, they (should) send a letter confirming receipt.

Retrogamer

kingstreet wrote: »

When you report you no longer own a vehicle to DVLA, they (should) send a letter confirming receipt.

They do that when the registered keeper changes but owner / registered keeper are two different things.