can car insurance policies be cancelled in retrospect?

Hughes_Family

Hi everyone, I'm after some advice from people with more knowledge about car insurance than me.

I had a fully comprehensive car insurance policy for social, domestic and pleaseure.

I was offered employment at 8:30pm on Wednesday 22/01/2020 , to start work at 10pm on Wednesday 22/01/2020.  This short notice is common within the industry to cover sickness etc…
my insurance company's opening hours 9am-8pm Monday-Thursday, 9am-7pm Friday and 9am-4pm Saturdays. Given the fact that the office was closed, it was not possible for me to inform them that I was now employed.  An incidend occured (that has no bearing on this) and as such the police enquired about my insurance status. This was at approximately 2:25am on the 23rd January 2020 on my way home after my first shift. As this was prior to my insurance office opening it was still not possible for me to inform them that I was now employed.

My insurance company cancelled my policy (backdating it) to the start of my shift as they said they would not have insured me due to my job title.

So my question is can the insurance policy cancel my policy by back dating it to the start of my shift meaning that i did not have insurance when i was asked by the police or can they cancel it from when they were first informed of my new employment status which was after the police enquired about my insurance status, meaning I did have a valid policy?

This has been one big nightmare for us.

We hope some of you can help clarify these muddy waters for us, thank you in advance.

P.S. i have deliberatly not named any company as i dont want to potentially bad mouth a company if they have done nothing wrong.

dacouch

Did you have cover to drive to work on your policy?
What was your new job? (I'm guessing nightclub)

Hasbeen

Hughes_Family said:

Hi everyone, I'm after some advice from people with more knowledge about car insurance than me.

I had a fully comprehensive car insurance policy for social, domestic and pleaseure.

I was offered employment at 8:30pm on Wednesday 22/01/2020 , to start work at 10pm on Wednesday 22/01/2020.  This short notice is common within the industry to cover sickness etc…
my insurance company's opening hours 9am-8pm Monday-Thursday, 9am-7pm Friday and 9am-4pm Saturdays. Given the fact that the office was closed, it was not possible for me to inform them that I was now employed.  An incidend occured (that has no bearing on this) and as such the police enquired about my insurance status. This was at approximately 2:25am on the 23rd January 2020 on my way home after my first shift. As this was prior to my insurance office opening it was still not possible for me to inform them that I was now employed.

My insurance company cancelled my policy (backdating it) to the start of my shift as they said they would not have insured me due to my job title.

So my question is can the insurance policy cancel my policy by back dating it to the start of my shift meaning that i did not have insurance when i was asked by the police or can they cancel it from when they were first informed of my new employment status which was after the police enquired about my insurance status, meaning I did have a valid policy?

This has been one big nightmare for us.

We hope some of you can help clarify these muddy waters for us, thank you in advance.

P.S. i have deliberatly not named any company as i dont want to potentially bad mouth a company if they have done nothing wrong.

You work in an industry that employment is offered at short notice to cover sickness etc?

If so you should have had commuting on policy? But if you had informed insurance company as it now turns out they would not have insured you because of job title anyway? 

Does your job title indicate business / fast food etc insurance would be required?

My opinion is they have acted correctly.

But there will be more learned posters here shortly to give you better advice.

davidmcn

As above, up to you to check in advance that your change in status is acceptable to the insurers before you assume that you're covered. But are you really saying that your job title changed at a moment's notice?

TELLIT01

The OP is unfortunate that an incident happened before they had changed their insurance cover, but they were clearly aware that a policy change was required so should not have driven.  As far as the insurer is concerned they were not willing to provide cover from the time you started to use the car for commuting to work.  Providing more information about the nature of the work involved may help.

Hughes_Family

dacouch said:

Did you have cover to drive to work on your policy?
What was your new job? (I'm guessing nightclub)

No I didn't have commuting cover as my previous employer provided transport so I never needed to use my own vehicle.

That jouney was the first.

My job role was a security officer

Hasbeen said:

You work in an industry that employment is offered at short notice to cover sickness etc?

If so you should have had commuting on policy? But if you had informed insurance company as it now turns out they would not have insured you because of job title anyway? 

Does your job title indicate business / fast food etc insurance would be required?

My opinion is they have acted correctly.

But there will be more learned posters here shortly to give you better advice.

I always had transport provide to my work locations so it never entered my mind to use my own vehicle.

My job title is security officer.

Under the freedom of information act I have asked for the amount of policies they have issued to anyone with the job title security officer.  I asked for this as, if they they have issued any other policies to anyone with the job title is security officer, Then I can prove I am being victemised which is how I feel.   If however they have not issued any policies to anyone with the job title is security officer, like they claim then, I have to accept their reasoning, whether I believe it to be justified or not.

Hughes_Family

davidmcn said:

But are you really saying that your job title changed at a moment's notice?

Yes that's exactly what I am saying.

I had applied for full time postion with various companies, I had interviews and they all said they would get back to me.

However, that evening, I was asked by Empoyer A to work a shift, as a member of Empoyer A's full time staff had phoned in sick (He broke his leg) and he could not find cover from within his staff, so he took a chance and offered me the adhoc shift, during that shift I was offered full time.

This was at 20:30 hours 30 minutes after the insurance office closed.  Therefore I had no way to contact the insurance office until they reopened the next morning at 09:00.

I can't phone my insurance office and say I may have employment later today or tomorrow as that would be stating a falsehood as equally I may not have gained employment.

Emmia

Hughes_Family said:

dacouch said:

Did you have cover to drive to work on your policy?
What was your new job? (I'm guessing nightclub)

No I didn't have commuting cover as my previous employer provided transport so I never needed to use my own vehicle.

That jouney was the first.

My job role was a security officer

Hasbeen said:

You work in an industry that employment is offered at short notice to cover sickness etc?

If so you should have had commuting on policy? But if you had informed insurance company as it now turns out they would not have insured you because of job title anyway? 

Does your job title indicate business / fast food etc insurance would be required?

My opinion is they have acted correctly.

But there will be more learned posters here shortly to give you better advice.

I always had transport provide to my work locations so it never entered my mind to use my own vehicle.

My job title is security officer.

Under the freedom of information act I have asked for the amount of policies they have issued to anyone with the job title security officer.  I asked for this as, if they they have issued any other policies to anyone with the job title is security officer, Then I can prove I am being victemised which is how I feel.   If however they have not issued any policies to anyone with the job title is security officer, like they claim then, I have to accept their reasoning, whether I believe it to be justified or not.

If someone applying for insurance stated their job as "security officer", and sought cover for commuting purposes then the cover would have been priced accordingly - if you'd notified them of your change in work, or the fact that you were now going to be using your own vehicle to get to and from work, then your policy would have been amended, and you might have had to pay more for the cover... Insurance is risk based, you went and did something that the insurer views as a higher risk, than when you took the policy out - which is why they've declined to cover you.  

The problem is that you didn't tell your insurer of the change in circumstance, which has meant you didn't have valid cover from the perspective of your insurance company. 

The FOI Act is irrelevant, as all the other "security officers" using their vehicle to commute may have declared that at the point they took the insurance policy out. (and probably doesn't apply to an insurance company anyway...)

rs65

Under the freedom of information act I have asked for the amount of policies they have issued to anyone with the job title security officer.  I asked for this as, if they they have issued any other policies to anyone with the job title is security officer, Then I can prove I am being victemised which is how I feel.   If however they have not issued any policies to anyone with the job title is security officer, like they claim then, I have to accept their reasoning, whether I believe it to be justified or not.

Freedom of Information Act applies to public sector not private.

jonesMUFCforever

.............And it is none of your business how many policies they have issued to security officers or anybody else. Even if they told you - it would not help you in the pickle that you find yourself in. Concentrate on that.

Hasbeen

Hughes_Family said:

"My insurance company cancelled my policy (backdating it) to the start of my shift as they said they would not have insured me due to my job title."

OP:
Perhaps there is some confusion about what the insurance company are saying?


You did not inform them about your new job title. Which I assume made you a higher risk in their eyes? So perhaps the words were, we are not insuring from the time you changed your job title?


Would not think any insurance company has a policy of not insuring security guards.

Security officers will be getting insurance as long as they put all the correct details in insurance application. Albeit at a higher premium?

So no mention of not insuring you because you were commuting, etc?

So your policy now been cancelled

The insurance company is not a Public Authority.  So you request under the FOI act is not viable.

What is the Freedom of Information Act? | ICO

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 provides public access to information held by public authorities. It does this in two ways: public authorities are obliged to publish certain information about their activities; and. members of the public are entitled to request information from public authorities.