Insurance cancelled

peacemakerukuk

Morning all,
Back in 2008 I renewed by car insurance. The new insurers emailed me asking for proof of my NCB which I did. I also asked them to bring forward the start date of the policy by 1 day as the date on the paperwork they sent me was wrong. I was sent my documents through about a week later so assumed (stupid me) that all was now correct. I paid for the insurance in one go. I got stopped by the police a few days later saying I was showing as not having any insurance. I explained that I did and had recently changed provider. As it was before 9.00 a.m. they let me go and said they would check with the insurers when they opened. They rang me later that day to tell me I had been driving with no insurance as the policy didn’t start until the next day, they then, over the phone charged with me driving without insurance. I then rang the insurers who told me my policy didn’t start until tomorrow. I told them about they email but they denied all knowledge, despite the fact that they’d received proof of my no claims bonus within that email and they weren’t chasing me for that anymore. They then said that as I’d been charged by the police for driving without insurance they were cancelling my policy. Cutting a long story short I got found guilty by the courts and was fined £800 and given points.

Cut to now, whenever I use comparison sites or ring around to get car insurance, despite this happening over 12 years ago, one of the first questions you are asked is “have you ever had a motor insurance policy cancelled” – to this I have to answer yes.
My question is, do I have to for the rest of my life answer this question as yes? It seems very unfair that this was an admin error, I had paid my insurance in full and had nothing to gain by driving around for a day with no insurance and yet I lose out A LOT because a lot of insurers won’t insure me because I have to answer yes to that one question. Yes I know I should have re-checked the documents when they came through the post but because they’d got my no claims bonus I assumed they’d have amended the date. Someone who gets caught drink driving or driving dangerous etc. only have to admit their offence for 5 years but I forever have to answer yes? Is this correct? Do I still have to answer yes to this after all this time? I’m not sure who to get a definitive answer from, any help gratefully received.

Aretnap

Insurers are not allowed to ask about most convictions over 5 years old due to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act, which aims to ensure that people with criminal convictions are able to reintegrate into society and are not excluded from most jobs, or services like insurance.

However an insurance cancellation is not a conviction so it's not covered by the RoA. So there is no legal impediment to an insurer asking if you have EVER had insurance cancelled - and if so you must answer truthfully or risk invalidating your new policy. O tend to agree that this is not very fair, but it's the way things are.

There are however insurers who only ask if you have had a policy cancelled in the last 5 years. Try Direct Line, and is associated brands (Churchill, Privilege).

garth549

As above, go with an insurer such as directline who only ask you to disclose the previous 5 years.

A lifetime of having to declare cancellations is grossly unfair in my opinion. So just to let you know - I believe shared database records on cancellations are purged after 5 years. What you do with this information is up to you.

Be aware that even though this happened 12 years ago, recent records will still exist with you having gotten quotes having answered "yes" to having insurance cancelled.

aom_ref

I think it would be advisable to avoid comparison sites and even calling individual insurers directly. You have circumstances to report that are outside of what these systems are designed to process. If you speak to a local broker they should be able to match you up to a policy that will take into account that the cancellation was 12 years ago.

csgohan4

Aretnap wrote: »

Insurers are not allowed to ask about most convictions over 5 years old due to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act, which aims to ensure that people with criminal convictions are able to reintegrate into society and are not excluded from most jobs, or services like insurance.

However an insurance cancellation is not a conviction so it's not covered by the RoA. So there is no legal impediment to an insurer asking if you have EVER had insurance cancelled - and if so you must answer truthfully or risk invalidating your new policy. O tend to agree that this is not very fair, but it's the way things are.

There are however insurers who only ask if you have had a policy cancelled in the last 5 years. Try Direct Line, and is associated brands (Churchill, Privilege).

I recently moved to directline, they only asked me the last 3 years so even better as I have 2 no faults on year 4 and 5. Didn't make much to the premium though,

But got tired of Adrian flux and their restrictive T+Cs. They don't provide a courtesy car if your car is written off. You have to pay extra and even that it's for 14 days. Not to mention cost you more to change details too.