Car insurance voided due to me not knowing it was imported. Help!

garth549

This seems grossly unfair because it's a mistake pretty much anyone would make.  Even me and I'm incredibly careful when it comes to insurance.

Unless Jersey have different regulations to the R/UK regarding motor vehicles (which I'm pretty sure they can't as 100% of regulation on this comes from the EU, (unless Jersey are classed as outside the EU?!))  then I don't see how they can argue it's a fair avoidance.

davidmcn

garth549 said:

(unless Jersey are classed as outside the EU?!) 

They are (or at least, not fully in the EU), hence all the tax haven stuff. I agree though that there doesn't seem to be any objective relevance to an insurer about the car having been briefly registered in Jersey years ago.

A_Rich

davidmcn said:

garth549 said:

(unless Jersey are classed as outside the EU?!) 

They are (or at least, not fully in the EU), hence all the tax haven stuff. I agree though that there doesn't seem to be any objective relevance to an insurer about the car having been briefly registered in Jersey years ago.

garth549 said:

This seems grossly unfair because it's a mistake pretty much anyone would make.  Even me and I'm incredibly careful when it comes to insurance.

Unless Jersey have different regulations to the R/UK regarding motor vehicles (which I'm pretty sure they can't as 100% of regulation on this comes from the EU, (unless Jersey are classed as outside the EU?!))  then I don't see how they can argue it's a fair avoidance.

Hi both,

So we have a positive update! 

After quoting the V5 special notes and threatening to contact the ombudsman the insurance company came back and decided it was reasonable that i didn't know. They still won't insure me but they have removed the "black mark" from my name about having insurance cancelled. Interestingly they avoided to answer whether Jersey was considered an import. They have refunded 3 years of my policies so whilst I lose my no claims for those years the discount I would have got is negligible. So happy ending after a lot of stress.

I do feel though this is an issue a lot of people would stumble on as most people I have spoken to know would have no idea about different registration dates alone would make your car an import in some insurance companies eyes.

Sandtree

I would want further clarification from them as if they are refunding your premiums and disallowing your NCD that sounds remarkably as if they are cancelling your policies back to inception. Ok, they may not put the information onto CUE about it being a voiding for non-disclosure but it still would  be a cancellation and the question insurers ask is "have you ever had insurance cancelled, declined, voided" etc without reference to what shows on CUE etc.

Similarly it means you were driving without insurance for those 2.5 years (especially if they update MID) and whilst retrospectively it is very unlikely anything will happen there is always a risk of something coming out the woodwork claiming you hit their parked car 9 months ago and right now you'd be on your own to defend that.

Whilst you may not be able to get it, a safer solution would be that your insurance is honoured, you are allowed to cancel the policy from the point the issue arose and the NCD is earned for the period with them keeping the premiums. 

RobM99

Just shows - insurance companies will try to wriggle out of paying out. Take our money quick enough though.

A_Rich

Sandtree said:

I would want further clarification from them as if they are refunding your premiums and disallowing your NCD that sounds remarkably as if they are cancelling your policies back to inception. Ok, they may not put the information onto CUE about it being a voiding for non-disclosure but it still would  be a cancellation and the question insurers ask is "have you ever had insurance cancelled, declined, voided" etc without reference to what shows on CUE etc.

Similarly it means you were driving without insurance for those 2.5 years (especially if they update MID) and whilst retrospectively it is very unlikely anything will happen there is always a risk of something coming out the woodwork claiming you hit their parked car 9 months ago and right now you'd be on your own to defend that.

Whilst you may not be able to get it, a safer solution would be that your insurance is honoured, you are allowed to cancel the policy from the point the issue arose and the NCD is earned for the period with them keeping the premiums. 

Thanks for the suggestion. I did query the 2.5 years uninsured with them at the time and the legalities of (in theory) driving uninsured and they said it wouldn't be a problem because its in the past and I made no claims. TBH I don't know if this is the right thing but its such a stress and given that I no longer have to declare that I have had insurance cancelled I just want to leave this all as is now. If they reinstate my insruance for thhe 2.5 years I suspect I'd have to pay back the money for those years which I no longer have. I may though double check with my new insurer what they think.

Sandtree

A_Rich said:

Sandtree said:

I would want further clarification from them as if they are refunding your premiums and disallowing your NCD that sounds remarkably as if they are cancelling your policies back to inception. Ok, they may not put the information onto CUE about it being a voiding for non-disclosure but it still would  be a cancellation and the question insurers ask is "have you ever had insurance cancelled, declined, voided" etc without reference to what shows on CUE etc.

Similarly it means you were driving without insurance for those 2.5 years (especially if they update MID) and whilst retrospectively it is very unlikely anything will happen there is always a risk of something coming out the woodwork claiming you hit their parked car 9 months ago and right now you'd be on your own to defend that.

Whilst you may not be able to get it, a safer solution would be that your insurance is honoured, you are allowed to cancel the policy from the point the issue arose and the NCD is earned for the period with them keeping the premiums. 

Thanks for the suggestion. I did query the 2.5 years uninsured with them at the time and the legalities of (in theory) driving uninsured and they said it wouldn't be a problem because its in the past and I made no claims. TBH I don't know if this is the right thing but its such a stress and given that I no longer have to declare that I have had insurance cancelled I just want to leave this all as is now. If they reinstate my insruance for thhe 2.5 years I suspect I'd have to pay back the money for those years which I no longer have. I may though double check with my new insurer what they think.

My concern for you though is that they have still cancelled the insurance and so it should be declared. They have removed the mark from CUE so if other insurers check electronically they won't find the cancellation but if for some reason they want to dig deeper than that cursory check then they'll ask you for evidence of the insurance over the period, and either you give them the insurance details and the insurer says they cancelled the policy or you have to then admit it was cancelled.

At a minimum I'd want a letter from them stating categorically that the cancellation a) does not need to be declared to any other insurer and b) that it will not affect any future insurance. Then at least if you find another insurer does have issue with it you can go back to them and reopen the matter for their false statement. 

A_Rich

Sandtree said:

A_Rich said:

Sandtree said:

I would want further clarification from them as if they are refunding your premiums and disallowing your NCD that sounds remarkably as if they are cancelling your policies back to inception. Ok, they may not put the information onto CUE about it being a voiding for non-disclosure but it still would  be a cancellation and the question insurers ask is "have you ever had insurance cancelled, declined, voided" etc without reference to what shows on CUE etc.

Similarly it means you were driving without insurance for those 2.5 years (especially if they update MID) and whilst retrospectively it is very unlikely anything will happen there is always a risk of something coming out the woodwork claiming you hit their parked car 9 months ago and right now you'd be on your own to defend that.

Whilst you may not be able to get it, a safer solution would be that your insurance is honoured, you are allowed to cancel the policy from the point the issue arose and the NCD is earned for the period with them keeping the premiums. 

Thanks for the suggestion. I did query the 2.5 years uninsured with them at the time and the legalities of (in theory) driving uninsured and they said it wouldn't be a problem because its in the past and I made no claims. TBH I don't know if this is the right thing but its such a stress and given that I no longer have to declare that I have had insurance cancelled I just want to leave this all as is now. If they reinstate my insruance for thhe 2.5 years I suspect I'd have to pay back the money for those years which I no longer have. I may though double check with my new insurer what they think.

My concern for you though is that they have still cancelled the insurance and so it should be declared. They have removed the mark from CUE so if other insurers check electronically they won't find the cancellation but if for some reason they want to dig deeper than that cursory check then they'll ask you for evidence of the insurance over the period, and either you give them the insurance details and the insurer says they cancelled the policy or you have to then admit it was cancelled.

At a minimum I'd want a letter from them stating categorically that the cancellation a) does not need to be declared to any other insurer and b) that it will not affect any future insurance. Then at least if you find another insurer does have issue with it you can go back to them and reopen the matter for their false statement. 

Thanks. So the email I have from them says the following:

Thank you for your email, I have had another look over your complaint and can confirm the following

I agree, the V5 does state the vehicle to be registered elsewhere in the UK however this is not clear enough that the vehicle is an import. Especially give the make and model of your vehicle, that is meant for UK road.

So, I have removed the marker to show the policy has been cancelled and this will not show on your record. You will not have to disclose this to any new insurer in the future 

Do you think this is enough to cover me?

rs65

A_Rich said:

I did query the 2.5 years uninsured with them at the time and the legalities of (in theory) driving uninsured and they said it wouldn't be a problem because its in the past and I made no claims. 

I would challenge that.  If the police came to your door and said your car was seen on the road yesterday and it wasn't insured, I don't think a defence of 'its ok as that was in the past and I didn't crash' would work.  

Sandtree

rs65 said:

A_Rich said:

I did query the 2.5 years uninsured with them at the time and the legalities of (in theory) driving uninsured and they said it wouldn't be a problem because its in the past and I made no claims. 

I would challenge that.  If the police came to your door and said your car was seen on the road yesterday and it wasn't insured, I don't think a defence of 'its ok as that was in the past and I didn't crash' would work.  

It certainly wouldnt.... given it wasnt yesterday it happened (the OP says they already had their refund and spent it) then its probably very low probability but high implications if something did happen.