Hastings Direct Insurance Cancelled because of a 'Number of Quotes Using Different Details'

Dosty

naedanger said:

Were you actually issued with a policy, even if it hadn't come into effect?
Did it included your father as a second driver and if so did the details on the insurance match reality e.g. as regards your father's claim history and driving conviction history?

Yes I was issued with a policy that started on the 6th of January with all the correct details. On the 8th I was told that it would be cancelled on the 15th of January. 

Dosty

dunstonh said:

Like is that within their ability to do that? Whether that is through a supervisor on a phone, or a formal complaint or through FOS.

More chance of it happening via the complaints team than the frontline telephone staff.

Yeah that's fair enough. I will try with the frontline telephone staff first though because I need to be insured for Friday and so if I get told that any references to the cancellation are internal, or that they can erase any external references, I won't have to pay more for insurance. If the telephone staff cannot help me, I will just go with the Admiral quote that's £550 more expensive and file a formal complaint so that my future policies are not affected. 

naedanger

Dosty said:

naedanger said:

Were you actually issued with a policy, even if it hadn't come into effect?
Did it included your father as a second driver and if so did the details on the insurance match reality e.g. as regards your father's claim history and driving conviction history?

Yes I was issued with a policy that started on the 6th of January with all the correct details. On the 8th I was told that it would be cancelled on the 15th of January. 

The short answer then is that the insurer has no legal justification for cancelling your policy.

If they are alleging you misrepresented or didn't disclose something you should ask them to state what exactly you misrepresented. The link below explains all the considerations FOS will take into account when deciding what action, if any, an insurer may legitimately take if it believes there has been misrepresentation or non disclosure. 
https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/businesses/complaints-deal/insurance/misrep-and-non-disclosure
(You will see the insurer should not have taken any action against you.)

Speak to the first adviser. If they don't give you the answer you are seeking ask to speak  to a supervisor. (They may not offer this option, in which case ask to speak to their complaints department.)  If the supervisor doesn't give you the answer you are seeking then ask to speak to the complaints department. Then report back what the complaints department say.

PS Is your father on the policy as a driver or not? (It only affects how you would explain the situation.)

Dosty

naedanger said:

PS Is your father on the policy as a driver or not? (It only affects how you would explain the situation.)

Yes he is on the policy as a named driver. 

naedanger

Dosty said:

naedanger said:

PS Is your father on the policy as a driver or not? (It only affects how you would explain the situation.)

Yes he is on the policy as a named driver. 

Then I find it hard to understand how the insurer could even wrongly think you had misrepresented anything. You obtained quotes with your father as a named driver, and modifidied the details on the quotes as more information became available to you. You then proceeded with accurate details, which were also the most expensive. So I cannot see any hint of misrepresentation on that point on your actual application.

On the mileage point, you obtained various quotes with different mileages. The bottom line is you will absolutely ensure your actual mileage is within the covered amount (so no misrepresentation). It is a factor completely within your control and by choosing a smaller mileage you are well aware you need to manage your actual mileage more tightly and certainly within the amount you have insured. (The fact you obtained alternative quotes for policies with a black box, where it would have been near impossible to cheat, I think helps show there was no dishonest motive. But this is quite a subtle point so I wouldn't bother with it, it could side-track the key points.)

rs65

naedanger said:

If they are alleging you misrepresented or didn't disclose something you should ask them to state what exactly you misrepresented. The link below explains all the considerations FOS will take into account when deciding what action, if any, an insurer may legitimately take if it believes there has been misrepresentation or non disclosure. 
https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/businesses/complaints-deal/insurance/misrep-and-non-disclosure
(You will see the insurer should not have taken any action against you.)

That link starts by saying - When a customer makes a claim, an insurer may find something which they think suggests that the customer misrepresented information when they took out a policy.

Does it apply here?

naedanger

rs65 said:

naedanger said:

If they are alleging you misrepresented or didn't disclose something you should ask them to state what exactly you misrepresented. The link below explains all the considerations FOS will take into account when deciding what action, if any, an insurer may legitimately take if it believes there has been misrepresentation or non disclosure. 
https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/businesses/complaints-deal/insurance/misrep-and-non-disclosure
(You will see the insurer should not have taken any action against you.)

That link starts by saying - When a customer makes a claim, an insurer may find something which they think suggests that the customer misrepresented information when they took out a policy.

Does it apply here?

I expect the reference to a claim is simply because that is when most misrepresentation and non disclosure comes to light. 

They state "[i]f the customer did take reasonable care, then even if there was a misrepresentation, you can’t take any action against the customer." In my view, it would not make sense to allow the insurer to take action against the customer if there had been no claim but not if there had been a claim. So I am pretty sure the approach does apply here.

In any event if you look at the legislation they reference it says:

Qualifying misrepresentations: definition and remedies

(1)An insurer has a remedy against a consumer for a misrepresentation made by the consumer before a consumer insurance contract was entered into or varied only if—

(a)the consumer made the misrepresentation in breach of the duty set out in section 2(2) [ being to take reasonable care not to make a misrepresentation to the insurer], and

(b)the insurer shows that without the misrepresentation, that insurer would not have entered into the contract (or agreed to the variation) at all, or would have done so only on different terms.

So even if the op misrepresented something (which they didn't) they certainly took reasonable care. So the insurer has no remedy.

Dosty

naedanger said:

Then I find it hard to understand how the insurer could even wrongly think you had misrepresented anything. You obtained quotes with your father as a named driver, and modifidied the details on the quotes as more information became available to you. You then proceeded with accurate details, which were also the most expensive. So I cannot see any hint of misrepresentation on that point on your actual application.

On the mileage point, you obtained various quotes with different mileages. The bottom line is you will absolutely ensure your actual mileage is within the covered amount (so no misrepresentation). It is a factor completely within your control and by choosing a smaller mileage you are well aware you need to manage your actual mileage more tightly and certainly within the amount you have insured. (The fact you obtained alternative quotes for policies with a black box, where it would have been near impossible to cheat, I think helps show there was no dishonest motive. But this is quite a subtle point so I wouldn't bother with it, it could side-track the key points.)

I phoned the customer relations team again and told them everything that happened, including the things you suggested such as they should have not offered the policy in the first place or they should have carried out a basic investigation first before cancelling it. The agent added those notes to my complaint from Friday and connected me with a man from the complaints team who started investigating my case today. After talking to him and telling him that I need an insurance for Friday, he understood my side of the of the story and put it at the top of his list, saying he would try to get my policy reinstated. After a few more phone calls to answer some questions, and sending in my V5C + driving licence to prove my address, he managed to get my first policy reinstated! I am glad that I was lucky enough to come across such a nice person in the complaints team, and I would like to thank you for all your help as well

dunstonh

Good news and thanks for the update.

naedanger

I'm glad you got it fixed without too much additional hassle, and thanks for the update.