MCE cancelled my insurance

Jumblebumble

Sandtree said:

Jumblebumble said:
Are you aware of any cases where this has been ruled on by the ombudsman ?

Its just that I think MCE may well be considered to be in breach of their duty to treat customers fairly  by not writing and if I were the OP I would certainly be complaining to the ombudsman
I would be suggesting to the ombudsman that any competent IT support specialist will be able to confirm that just because an email was sent there is no guarantee it will be received.

Are you aware of any cases of the ombudsman saying that if a customer has elected for communications to be electronic that they should be anything but?

Any person with experience of sending letters these days will also know that just because a letter is sent there is no guarantee it will be received. Just look at all the threads on the Consumer Rights board of things being sent by the more secure method of tracked services which never turn up. 

I havent looked for ombudsman cases in either direction but it seems perfectly reasonable for me that the insurer or broker follows the method of communication requested by the customer. In fact I think there would be notably more issue if the insurer ignored the request for electronic communication and sent a physical letter instead... the request for e-comms may be related to a domestic situation which could be made worse by physical letters turning up or that they don't spend much time at their home address and want to see comms where ever they happen to be at the time of them being sent. 

I am not aware of any ombudsman rulings
However you take it on trust that MCE actually sent out any emails.
It seems that the OP is uncovering a lot of people who believe MCE did nothing of the sort.
At least the Ombudsman will make them prove they did send emails
They do not sound like a business that I would want to give a single penny to.
£75 admin charge for cancelation 
0844 numbers 

ontheroad1970

The company doesn't sound great, but personally in you and your son's position, I would have phoned all the essential things like insurance to ensure that the card instruction was against the correct bank card.  Personally, because of how both cancellation of insurance and how suddenly being found driving uninsured unknowingly has such wide ranging and serious consequences, I think that insurance companies should be made to send notification via signed for post (what used to be recorded delivery).  Yes, some will still fall through the cracks, but there needs to be more effort made by insurance companies on giving notice of cancellation, both to avoid cancellation, and also for drivers to be aware of the cancellation.

Sandtree

topper19590 said:. 

I have numerous people now telling me they never received notifications or written notice either email or otherwise , yet you aren’t accepting that there could be a fault on MCEs side . why ? 

Hu?

Ive passed no comment on if they did or did not send anything, I just disagreed that they should have sent a letter if the customer asked for electronic communication 

AdrianC

ontheroad1970 said:

Personally, because of how both cancellation of insurance and how suddenly being found driving uninsured unknowingly has such wide ranging and serious consequences, I think that insurance companies should be made to send notification via signed for post (what used to be recorded delivery).

Where the customer is given the choice of how they want to be contacted and say "by email", or where they actively choose an insurer who state they only communicate by email, then why on earth shouldn't all communication be... by email?

BTW, you do know that even outside the pandemic, "signed for" very often isn't - and isn't at all currently...?

ontheroad1970

AdrianC said:

ontheroad1970 said:

Personally, because of how both cancellation of insurance and how suddenly being found driving uninsured unknowingly has such wide ranging and serious consequences, I think that insurance companies should be made to send notification via signed for post (what used to be recorded delivery).

Where the customer is given the choice of how they want to be contacted and say "by email", or where they actively choose an insurer who state they only communicate by email, then why on earth shouldn't all communication be... by email?

BTW, you do know that even outside the pandemic, "signed for" very often isn't - and isn't at all currently...?

I have to collect my signed for from the sorting office unless I know it's coming and have the gates open.  So while it isn't being physically signed there are still tracking procedures.  

And yes, in the case of cancellation I do think that insurance co's should make more steps to make sure the customer is aware. regardless of their choice of contact type.  Otherwise they could find themselves (as in at least one case on pepipoo) being chased for many thousands in the event of an accident.  Being caught out with no insurance has wide ranging ramifications and there are too many insurance companies that use the cancellation with little discretion.  We've seen that on this forum: the like of Hastings for example.

spacey2012

I would cut straight to the chase .
Send an Official complaint NOTICE not letter or any other passive language by recorded delivery letter to the head office and by e-mail.
Tell them very clearly ;

Why you think they were wrong.

To provide a copy of the served notice of cancellation that was sent by post with proof of delivery. 

What resolution you expect and in what timescale .

What loss there actions have caused including estimates of future insurance costs

That they have 14 days to respond or the notice serves as a deadlock notice and the matter will be passed to the regulator for judgment.

Dont waffle or admit anything they can use against you.

topper19590

spacey2012 said:

I would cut straight to the chase .
Send an Official complaint NOTICE not letter or any other passive language by recorded delivery letter to the head office and by e-mail.
Tell them very clearly ;

Why you think they were wrong.

To provide a copy of the served notice of cancellation that was sent by post with proof of delivery. 

What resolution you expect and in what timescale .

What loss there actions have caused including estimates of future insurance costs

That they have 14 days to respond or the notice serves as a deadlock notice and the matter will be passed to the regulator for judgment.

Dont waffle or admit anything they can use against you.

We’ve attempted the initial complaints dept email , they’ve failed in their initial promise to respond in three days , I’m going to do various searches re execs and write to all , in the meantime there’s a growing no of people coming forward stating the exact same has occurred , I’m trying to think who is best to complain to , certainly having to wait 8 weeks before ombudsman isn’t great whilst more people incur charges / lose money /, my lad has worked six days a week all year , his partners in nhs working as much as required , they have a  family and are now car less until they can muster another deposit or possibly as they cancelled insurance the full amount , I’ve a good number of people who are happy to state their case , perhaps even the search tools ie this one , go compare etc should do due diligence before allowing these companies to advertise. 

topper19590

Sandtree said:

topper19590 said:. 

I have numerous people now telling me they never received notifications or written notice either email or otherwise , yet you aren’t accepting that there could be a fault on MCEs side . why ? 

Hu?

Ive passed no comment on if they did or did not send anything, I just disagreed that they should have sent a letter if the customer asked for electronic communication 

Apologies I was intending that reply to Adrian C who seems to find no fault with the companies practices but everything with mine , John 

ontheroad1970

topper19590 said:

Sandtree said:

topper19590 said:. 

I have numerous people now telling me they never received notifications or written notice either email or otherwise , yet you aren’t accepting that there could be a fault on MCEs side . why ? 

Hu?

Ive passed no comment on if they did or did not send anything, I just disagreed that they should have sent a letter if the customer asked for electronic communication 

Apologies I was intending that reply to Adrian C who seems to find no fault with the companies practices but everything with mine , John 

I suspect that what Adrian says about insurance practices is correct.  Whether it is the fairest for customers put in this position is another matter.  I personally think that a notice of impending cancellation ought to be sent by physical post in the guise of signed for tracked delivery - perhaps with a handling fee to cover their costs for reinstatement.  This is not mandated at present.  

ToxicWomble

ontheroad1970 said:

topper19590 said:

Sandtree said:

topper19590 said:. 

I have numerous people now telling me they never received notifications or written notice either email or otherwise , yet you aren’t accepting that there could be a fault on MCEs side . why ? 

Hu?

Ive passed no comment on if they did or did not send anything, I just disagreed that they should have sent a letter if the customer asked for electronic communication 

Apologies I was intending that reply to Adrian C who seems to find no fault with the companies practices but everything with mine , John 

I suspect that what Adrian says about insurance practices is correct.  Whether it is the fairest for customers put in this position is another matter.  I personally think that a notice of impending cancellation ought to be sent by physical post in the guise of signed for tracked delivery - perhaps with a handling fee to cover their costs for reinstatement.  This is not mandated at present.  

Which would be a mistake - there is a reason that people are advised to send LBA letters first class and just get proof of postage.

If it’s signed for, the recipient just has to refuse to sign and therefore it is undelivered which then leads to people being able to honestly state that they never received it.