Void car insurance.

cambolini

I made a costly mistake and assumed a driving ban that I had previously got was spent as it had been over 5 years since the crash. I then took out car insurance with what I thought was a clean license. Unfortunately I had to make a claim and was informed that I had not declared a previous driving ban. It turned out the ban was on my license from the date of conviction and not from the date of the accident which I had thought. As the case for the previous conviction had been delayed several times for almost a year and a half this meant that the conviction was still on my record. 

I have now been paying hefty insurance sums for the last 4 years due to this and was wondering if this will ever change. It seems strange that even someone with a drink driving conviction gets a clean slate after a set period of time yet someone with a void policy is penalized for the rest of their life! Are there any insurance companies that only ask if you have had a policy cancelled in the last ‘x’ number of years or another way of bringing my premiums down? Also is there a way of checking if it is deffinately on the insurance database that I have had a void policy as I argued that it had been an accidental non disclosure so I am unsure what the final outcome was.

Any help or knowledge of this type of situation would be appreciated as I am struggling to find the answers I want on any website. Thanks in advance.

Campbell.

AdrianC

It was voided - cancelled right back to inception, not just from the date of cessation of cover - because your policy was issued on the basis of a mis-statement of the true situation. The insurer at the time clearly found the true situation so serious that they would not have covered you had they been aware.

As far as I'm aware, all insurers ask the same question - have you ever...?
Some may simply load the premium less for a "yes" answer.

DiddyDavies

cambolini said:

Also is there a way of checking if it is deffinately on the insurance database that I have had a void policy as I argued that it had been an accidental non disclosure so I am unsure what the final outcome was.

You can make a Subject action request to the Motor Insurance Bureau and this will probably show any information relating to the policy in question.
https://www.mib.org.uk/managing-insurance-data/requesting-your-data/

Aretnap

Direct Line and its associated brands (Churchill, Privilege) only ask if you have had a policy cancelled in the last 5 years, or at least they did last time I checked. 

cambolini

Aretnap said:

Direct Line and its associated brands (Churchill, Privilege) only ask if you have had a policy cancelled in the last 5 years, or at least they did last time I checked. 

Thanks for this info. I checked and it’s right this could help alot!

Jumblebumble

cambolini said:

I made a costly mistake and assumed a driving ban that I had previously got was spent as it had been over 5 years since the crash. I then took out car insurance with what I thought was a clean license. Unfortunately I had to make a claim and was informed that I had not declared a previous driving ban. It turned out the ban was on my license from the date of conviction and not from the date of the accident which I had thought. As the case for the previous conviction had been delayed several times for almost a year and a half this meant that the conviction was still on my record. 

I have now been paying hefty insurance sums for the last 4 years due to this and was wondering if this will ever change. It seems strange that even someone with a drink driving conviction gets a clean slate after a set period of time yet someone with a void policy is penalized for the rest of their life! Are there any insurance companies that only ask if you have had a policy cancelled in the last ‘x’ number of years or another way of bringing my premiums down? Also is there a way of checking if it is deffinately on the insurance database that I have had a void policy as I argued that it had been an accidental non disclosure so I am unsure what the final outcome was.

Any help or knowledge of this type of situation would be appreciated as I am struggling to find the answers I want on any website. Thanks in advance.

Campbell.

It seems odd that you would think that a ban would be back dated to the date of the accident when there would be nothing to stop you carrying on driving between your accident and your conviction.
If you had been banned for 14 months and it were backdated you would not have been stopped from driving at all which would have been absurd
I struggle to see how you can argue accidental non disclosure

facade

Jumblebumble said:

It seems odd that you would think that a ban would be back dated to the date of the accident when there would be nothing to stop you carrying on driving between your accident and your conviction.
If you had been banned for 14 months and it were backdated you would not have been stopped from driving at all which would have been absurd
I struggle to see how you can argue accidental non disclosure

Most offences count from the date of the offence. Only reckless/dangerous driving and any disqualification (includes drink/drugs) count from the date of conviction.

https://www.gov.uk/penalty-points-endorsements/how-long-endorsements-stay-on-your-driving-licence

People can get mixed up if they ask about a speeding offence and assume it is the same for all.

cambolini

@Jumblebumble I understand why you could think like that and I am not denying I have been stupid but unfortunately for me I never put as much thought into it as you did. I just knew it was almost 6 years since my crash when I took out the policy and assumed that I now had nothing to declare. We are all human I’m sure even you have made silly mistakes. Thanks for your input though.