Is an apprentice classed as a student for insurance purposes ?

DIamond22

Hi 
my son has been asked to add business insurance to his car . He is doing property maintenance as an apprentice and because of COVID 19 he can no longer travel in the works van . We phoned up to change it and they cancelled his insurance via email. He has a black box and because of this he can not have buisness class insurance as he is in fulltime work . I explained he is on £148 a week as an apprentice and attends college each Monday . 
Any guidance appreciated. Is he classed as a student still . He is in his 2nd year of his black box and his insurance had halved cus he is a careful driver . 
Thanks 
  

jaybeetoo

It’s up to the insurance company.  Disclose fully and truthfully - let them decide.

davidmcn

Surely if he needs business use he'll need to state what sort of business he's working in, not merely say he's a student? 

csgohan4

Ask the insurer to ensure you are covered

DIamond22

jaybeetoo said:

It’s up to the insurance company.  Disclose fully and truthfully - let them decide.

We told them and was waiting a call back , but instead they just emailed and cancelled his insurance 

DIamond22

davidmcn said:

Surely if he needs business use he'll need to state what sort of business he's working in, not merely say he's a student? 

He did tell them and we waited for them to call back but they just emailed to say they were cancelling his insurance, no chance to discuss changing it to perhaps not have a black box . He has been a sensible driver and has had a black box for his 2nd year in a row as he knows it will bring his insurance down . 

TELLIT01

The problem is more likely simply to be that the insurer won't provide cover for business use for drivers under a certain age, and/or with a black box.  He presumably told them he had to use the car for business use, as he needed to, and they have simply declined cover.  He needs to find another insurer, and hopefully stating the obvious, not drive the car until he has new cover.

dacouch

TELLIT01 said:

The problem is more likely simply to be that the insurer won't provide cover for business use for drivers under a certain age, and/or with a black box.  He presumably told them he had to use the car for business use, as he needed to, and they have simply declined cover.  He needs to find another insurer, and hopefully stating the obvious, not drive the car until he has new cover.

Or the person he spoke to miss understood the class of business he needs which will normally be Class One, I would not be surprised if they have taken it down as him needing Class Two

Jumblebumble

DIamond22 said:

davidmcn said:

Surely if he needs business use he'll need to state what sort of business he's working in, not merely say he's a student? 

He did tell them and we waited for them to call back but they just emailed to say they were cancelling his insurance, no chance to discuss changing it to perhaps not have a black box . He has been a sensible driver and has had a black box for his 2nd year in a row as he knows it will bring his insurance down . 

Can I get this straight
Your son contacted his insurers and asked if they were prepared to cover him for using his car to get to work and they cancelled his policy as an answer?
It would be fascinating to have access to the actual correspondence  as I find it bizarre that they would behave like this rather than a simple NO.
If my understanding is correct he should formally complain as I think  that they have breached their obligation to treat customers fairly and he will pay big time for a cancellation on his record and should complain and if necessary go to the ombudsman

Fighter1986

If your son was just asking for a quote based on hypothetical circumstances and the insurer have mistakenly taken this as a formal request to change his insurance, and subsequently cancelled his policy off the back of this, they have acted wrongly and a formal complaint should be raised. 

If, however, you've fully declared that he's using the vehicle for business purposes and they have as a result of this declined to offer insurance for this purpose, that is their right, and you now have the option of choosing another insurer. 

rs65

DIamond22 said:

davidmcn said:

Surely if he needs business use he'll need to state what sort of business he's working in, not merely say he's a student? 

He did tell them and we waited for them to call back but they just emailed to say they were cancelling his insurance, no chance to discuss changing it to perhaps not have a black box . He has been a sensible driver and has had a black box for his 2nd year in a row as he knows it will bring his insurance down . 

Did his policy say he was a student?