License to be Revoked. Advice sought please

Ibrahim5

I think a lot of these insurance questions have become a bit silly. My wife is the owner of our main family car and drives it a few miles every day. In the holidays I drive it round Europe. Who is the main driver? No insurance company has ever been able to tell me I have another car that I am the main driver. My adult kids are both on the insurance. If own takes it away for the weekend have they become the main driver? What if the other one goes away for 3 days are they then the main driver? If you insure a new driver you have no idea of the mileage they will drive. I always took it to be an estimate rather than maximum figure. Insurance companies shouldn't be able to just cancel a policy like that with an email. There was another insurance company someone was complaining about on here. I read their reviews and they basically cancelled a policy whenever the policyholder had an accident.

TooManyPoints

This policyholder had not had an accident and the policy was conditional on a specific mileage not being exceeded. There is none of the confusion you mention.

Ibrahim5

The insurers ask all sorts of questions that often can't be answered satisfactorily and then cancel insurance at the drop of a hat. It's their first policy. How many miles a year do you drive? They don't know. They have never driven before.

ElefantEd

Ibrahim5 said:

The insurers ask all sorts of questions that often can't be answered satisfactorily and then cancel insurance at the drop of a hat. It's their first policy. How many miles a year do you drive? They don't know. They have never driven before.

But the new driver isn't being asked a question : "How far do you think you'll drive?". They are being told: "For us to insure you you must drive no more than x miles."

This is different to most car insurance where you are asked how far you estimate you'll drive and the company quotes an amount based (partly) on this figure.

TooManyPoints

This is different to most car insurance where you are asked how far you estimate you'll drive and the company quotes an amount based (partly) on this figure.

Indeed. I have such an estimate on my policy. A couple of years ago it was obvious I was going to exceed that estimate so I contacted them to let them know (expecting to pay an additional sum). They thanked me for telling them, noted it against my policy, made no charge and sent me a confirmatory e-mail.

Ibrahim5

I think If an insurance company cancels a policy like that then they need to make sure the policyholder knows. Letters, phone calls. More than just an email that goes to spam.

k3lvc

Ibrahim5 said:

I think If an insurance company cancels a policy like that then they need to make sure the policyholder knows. Letters, phone calls. More than just an email that goes to spam.

Many insurers do that, but there's a cost behind it and invariably people who need this to happen are those that search based on price (ok a big generalisation but you get the point)

It's also oh so easy to hide behind the 'it must've gone into my spam folder' excuse - this seems to be the new 'my dog must've eaten it'

GrumpyDil

Just to reiterate on the miles point. My daughter has a black box policy this year and had one last year. Both policies ask for an up front indication of mileage to be driven and both warn you by sending emails/messages that you look like you are going to exceed the indicated mileage and give you the option to buy additional miles. 

So I think OP's daughter had a lucky escape here. However OP's ex clearly was the main cause of the issue as whilst I helped my daughter look for policies, it was taken out in her name, using her phone and email addres. I have also told her she must keep an eye on any messages/emails in relation to her policy as getting a cancelled policy is not somewhere she wants to go and specifically to monitor her mileage.

This element has clearly worked as she's asked me to help with a couple of minor issues recently. 

kk20

It seems odd that an insurance company would only send emails for a car insurance cancellation.  Sure, emails to say you are getting close to the limit.  It is usual for a letter to be sent out.  I would imagine this is a way of mitigation or at least circumstances.

I have never had need to look at telemetry devices but I assume both the car AND driver are linked?  If not then this could be open to abuse, I have 3rd party cover on any car with the owners consent, I drive my sons car to the shops on the odd occasion (he has regular insurance, no "black box").  I assume that a black box has a statement that (for example) the driver AND car must not go over xxxx miles per annum.  I understand that the telemetry box will record the driving of "whoever" but it is the mileage limit I would be concerned with (as a 3rd party driver).

AdrianC

kk20 said:

I have never had need to look at telemetry devices but I assume both the car AND driver are linked?
...
I drive my sons car to the shops on the odd occasion (he has regular insurance, no "black box").

And how do you tell the black box that you're driving, covered by your own policy, not your son?