Van insurance cancelled!?

Franky1977

Hi guys, I wonder if anyone has been in a similar situation to this?
I took out van insurance with Performance Direct in July. I paid monthly, and was asked to ring to confirm my details before documents would be issued. I attempted to do this several times, but was put on hold indefinitely each time. I eventually emailed them explaining this. I got a call back from them on 7th august to go through my details. The lady I spoke to said everything was now ok, and insurance was sorted. I recorded this call btw. I've since discovered that it was cancelled some time in August, and I only found out by mistake. They at no point informed me. The last communication between them and I was the confirmation phone call. They've since charged me cancellation fee, over charged for insured time, and are even still taking monthly payments. I've been on live chat, but am just promised a call back. I've emailed them expressing my dissatisfaction and that they should repay me and remove my cancellation from shared database. What now? Do I find a new provider and declare the cancellation?

[Deleted User]

Franky1977 said:

 Do I find a new provider and declare the cancellation?

Yes.

Sandtree

Right now you do have to declare it because its the current status.

I would imagine you will want to register a complaint with the brokers though and home at least to get them to put in writing that effectively they've overturned their cancellation even if they havent reinstated the original policy so that you dont have to declare the cancellation for the rest of your life.

If your new insurers will be willing to reassess the premium if you receive such a letter is a separate question but will at least help from next year on.

Franky1977

The original policy is now history as far as I'm concerned. They don't respond to any queries. I've emailed their team to inform of intended complaint to FO, and I'm willing to take it further. Surely the last phone call I recieved from them was basically a lie, and I led to believe my policy was valid. I'm not aiming big here, refund my cancellation and remove cancellation from record. If I got this I'd not pursue it further. 

TELLIT01

Your van is currently uninsured so hopefully you aren't still driving it.

Franky1977

Yes I'm well aware of it's insurance status. What makes you think I'd still be driving it?

TELLIT01

Franky1977 said:

Yes I'm well aware of it's insurance status. What makes you think I'd still be driving it?

There was nothing to indicate you aren't still driving, and you seemed to be disputing whether or not it had been cancelled.

Franky1977

There was nothing to indicate I was driving it, eh? And I'm not in any doubt of it's cancellation. Just to the reasons and the timeline. I know what situation I'm in, and I appreciate replies, but these things always go way off topic. I wanted to know if anyone had similar experiences. I'm 43 so I kinda know where I am with driving legality.

Anamox

Franky1977 said:

There was nothing to indicate I was driving it, eh? And I'm not in any doubt of it's cancellation. Just to the reasons and the timeline. I know what situation I'm in, and I appreciate replies, but these things always go way off topic. I wanted to know if anyone had similar experiences. I'm 43 so I kinda know where I am with driving legality.

Typical of the forums, they've probably also assumed you own an AK47 and are a heroin addict because there is no indication those statements are untrue on your original post.

Sounds like a rubbish situation. If I was you, whether it is right or wrong to do, I'd probably try to get new insurance without claiming I've had insurance cancelled before. You'll find three eventualities: you can't pay for the new insurance as the database will know you've had a cancellation - then ring the insurer and plead ignorance, you get away with it forever or you can get new insurance and it later becomes an issue if you claim - I'd plead ignorance again. This is based on the assumption that the cancellation wasn't for something outlandish. 

Typical of many insurers to basically ignore your contact attempts though, they're probably using the COVID line to justify their terrible customer service. I'd just ring other departments related to insurance sales as they're likely to answer in a heartbeat, it sometimes lets you beat the queue to talk to the person you need to talk to.

Franky1977

Thanks Anamox. Today I rang Adrian Flux and explained my situation. I was totally honest, and they were great. I got a quote only £30 more than I was paying. I didn't want the spectre of non-disclosure hanging about forever. I feel like the pressure is off. I'm still left with having to chase what's owed/clearing my record, and as I'm dealing with the human equivalent of a monolith, my hopes aren't high. At least I'm now insured honestly and it hasn't cost me a packet. Thanks again for all helpful comments.