Help! Car stolen, Insurance hadn't auto renewed!

JordanBos

AdrianC said:

moneysaver said:

Surely the insurance company's should have a better system than an email telling you that they are declining an auto renew on such an important matter. Not everyone checks emails regular or if it is not highlighted in subject line might not think it is important.

If somebody takes insurance out online, and states they want comms by email, then they have zero grounds to complain when they get comms by email.

I think from my perspective, I think had the heading of the email been something like "Insurance declined" or something similar this would have been avoided. The heading, "Insurance Policy Documents Attached" did not alert me to a significant change.

Is it my fault? It has to be, I accept that. But do I think the insurance company could have done a little bit more, I do.

moneysaver

JordanBos said:

AdrianC said:

moneysaver said:

Surely the insurance company's should have a better system than an email telling you that they are declining an auto renew on such an important matter. Not everyone checks emails regular or if it is not highlighted in subject line might not think it is important.

If somebody takes insurance out online, and states they want comms by email, then they have zero grounds to complain when they get comms by email.

I think from my perspective, I think had the heading of the email been something like "Insurance declined" or something similar this would have been avoided. The heading, "Insurance Policy Documents Attached" did not alert me to a significant change.

Is it my fault? It has to be, I accept that. But do I think the insurance company could have done a little bit more, I do.

Exactly as I think myself. Insurance company's take  your money fast enough.

It is one of the most important things you do in life is to take out insurance, so when they decline to insure you  it is only proper that they make sure you actually know about it, not assume you have read an email or actually received it.

Moneysaver

k12479

moneysaver said:

JordanBos said:

AdrianC said:

moneysaver said:

Surely the insurance company's should have a better system than an email telling you that they are declining an auto renew on such an important matter. Not everyone checks emails regular or if it is not highlighted in subject line might not think it is important.

If somebody takes insurance out online, and states they want comms by email, then they have zero grounds to complain when they get comms by email.

I think from my perspective, I think had the heading of the email been something like "Insurance declined" or something similar this would have been avoided. The heading, "Insurance Policy Documents Attached" did not alert me to a significant change.

Is it my fault? It has to be, I accept that. But do I think the insurance company could have done a little bit more, I do.

It is one of the most important things you do in life is to take out insurance, so when they decline to insure you  it is only proper that they make sure you actually know about it, not assume you have read an email or actually received it.

Why should those that are organised and who pay sufficient attention to such things contribute to increased costs to cater for those who are disorganised and can't be bothered?

Aretnap

moneysaver said:

Exactly as I think myself. Insurance company's take  your money fast enough.

Ironic comment given that the problem is that they didn't take his money.

born_again

Just wait for the letter from the DVLA asking for payment due to no insurance on a taxed (it was wasn't it?) car. As well as praying that the police do not pick up on the no insurance as well...

Or your year will get even worse.

Time to get organised and make sure you have all these important dates noted down and check. And selecting Auto Renew has M Lewis tearing his hair out.... Come on here doing such things.. Totally NOT MSE 🤦‍♂️👀🤣

GeordieGeorge

JordanBos said:

Yes I am an idiot!

I always have my insurance on auto-renew, as admin/organisation has never been a strong point.
Two years ago I managed to purchase my dream car, a Range Rover and obviously got it fully insured, when I got the policy I selected for it to auto renew.
On Saturday morning I woke up and my car was gone. I went to my Land Rover app and selected car lost. It gave me a number to call which I did, they said that the tracker had been turned off (what is the point of a tracker if it can just be switched off, I always assumed they would be like black boxes on planes!). I then contacted the police who were not interested in the slightest.
I then went to my emails to find my insurance details and an email I hadn't read with the subject heading, Your Insurance Auto-Renew (or something similar) from this February. When I opened it, it said that the auto renew had been declined!
I'm absolutely devastated as there is still about £65,000 outstanding on the vehicle.

I know I'm clutching at straws, but I genuinely believed I was still insured. No way would I be driving around knowingly uninsured.

And yes, I am an idiot and yes I was obviously driving uninsured. But I had no idea an insurers would decline me when there had been no change in my circumstances.
Any thoughts would be greatly recieved!

Others may know better, but I think that although you may have had a chance of getting cover retrospectively reapplied after a day or two, you’ve effectively no chance of having that happen here.

Do you know why the auto renew was declined? It could well have been because they don’t offer cover on Range Rivers any more; I pay £2,000 a year for mine and virtually no-one wanted to quote as they are so frequently stolen.

Try finding out where it was when the tracker was turned off, keep an eye out for it turning up on Autotrader or at auction, and try asking the police if, given your unfortunate situation, they’d be willing to try something more than they are doin to find it.

JordanBos

born_again said:

Just wait for the letter from the DVLA asking for payment due to no insurance on a taxed (it was wasn't it?) car. As well as praying that the police do not pick up on the no insurance as well...

Or your year will get even worse.

Time to get organised and make sure you have all these important dates noted down and check. And selecting Auto Renew has M Lewis tearing his hair out.... Come on here doing such things.. Totally NOT MSE 🤦‍♂️👀🤣

Ha ha, thank you for the reply. Last sentence was the first time i've smiled in a few days!
Yes it was definitely taxed (that's a direct debit too and hasn't been declined yet, although you've actually made me aware that I should probably cancel that!).

Oh please don't say that! I hope they will see it for what it is, a genuine oversight and the reasons for it. It wasn't  complete ignorance (some may argue that)!

Marvel1

k12479 said:

moneysaver said:

JordanBos said:

AdrianC said:

moneysaver said:

Surely the insurance company's should have a better system than an email telling you that they are declining an auto renew on such an important matter. Not everyone checks emails regular or if it is not highlighted in subject line might not think it is important.

If somebody takes insurance out online, and states they want comms by email, then they have zero grounds to complain when they get comms by email.

I think from my perspective, I think had the heading of the email been something like "Insurance declined" or something similar this would have been avoided. The heading, "Insurance Policy Documents Attached" did not alert me to a significant change.

Is it my fault? It has to be, I accept that. But do I think the insurance company could have done a little bit more, I do.

It is one of the most important things you do in life is to take out insurance, so when they decline to insure you  it is only proper that they make sure you actually know about it, not assume you have read an email or actually received it.

Why should those that are organised and who pay sufficient attention to such things contribute to increased costs to cater for those who are disorganised and can't be bothered?

A subject heading saying insurance declined?

Grumpy_chap

The OP needs to be clear on exact terminology around "declined" as it can have an impact on future premiums from anywhere:

Have you ever had an insurance policy declined, cancelled, voided or had special terms imposed?

Insurance providers may cancel, decline or void a policy if anyone named on the policy misrepresented or failed to disclose important facts that are required to fulfil the policy terms and conditions.

All insurance policies have standard terms and conditions. If you’ve ever had special terms imposed, you would have been advised by the insurance provider before the policy was taken out or renewed.

On to of the loss immediately and the need to declare a loss event (even though no claim).

onlyfoolsandparking

I've always checked all my policies on the numerous cars and bikes I've had over the years and even had to correct a few minor errors along the way. In fact don't all insurers ask you to check your policy details when you receive them to make sure everything is in order and you have the cover you wanted?

Regarding Insurance companies declining cover, I had this happen to me on my latest bike. I sold my Yamaha and bought a new BMW with around 6 weeks to go till renewal, I rang Hastings and asked to swap cover from old bike to new bike and whilst they agreed to do the changeover in cover they made it perfectly clear they would not offer a renewal price. I asked why and they said the value is beyond what they are prepared to take a risk on.

After initially thinking I had bought a bike that was either uninsurable OR would cost more in the premium than what the bike was worth I went with a specialist bike insurer and thankfully only paid about £70 more for the year than my old bike, RESULT!!!. Lesson here is check, check and check again, making a mistake with ANY insurance cover is IMO utter madness.