Car insurance final response

Muneymuneymuney

I had my insurance cancelled and my claim voided as they found modifications I had no knowledge of , they classed it as a deliberate misrepresentation, they have now overturned this original indemnity decision and classed me as carless misrepresentation, they have instructed the claims team to proceed with the claim for it to be settled under normal conditions of the policy  ,

 does this mean my insurance is still cancelled ? And does this mean that there will be possible additional premiums retrospectively ? As if it is still cancelled and not allowed to run term then I’ll never be able to afford insurance again 

cheers for any help 

AdrianC

Sounds like, yes, it is still cancelled. Have you asked the insurer?

What were the modifications?

Jenni_D

If they're agreeing to "proceed with the claim for it to be settled under normal conditions of the policy"* that doesn't sound like a cancelled policy ... if it was cancelled they wouldn't entertain the claim.

* Unless they're proceeding only with the 3rd party aspect of the claim?

Muneymuneymuney

Jenni_D said:

If they're agreeing to "proceed with the claim for it to be settled under normal conditions of the policy"* that doesn't sound like a cancelled policy ... if it was cancelled they wouldn't entertain the claim.

* Unless they're proceeding only with the 3rd party aspect of the claim?

Hello, no it was only me involved in the accident no 3rd party

Grumpy_chap

What are the modifications?
I assume you purchased the vehicle used.

Aretnap

Careless misrepresentation would normally mean they would settle on a proportional basis. In other words, if they would have charged you an extra 10% on your premium had you declared the modifications, they would pay only 90% of the value of the claim. If they are processing the claim as normal it doesn't sound like careless misrepresentation.

You say that you were unaware of the modifications - is that because you bought the car second hand and they were already present? If so then you have a good case for it not being treated as a misrepresentation at all. The Financial Ombudsman's view is that in this situation, provided the modifications were not of the type that would have been obvious to the average motorist (so this doesn't apply if the car had huge spoilers, blue LEDs or skirting down to 2mm off the ground), the insurer should not penalise the customer in any way, neither cancelling the policy nor reducing any payout. If the insurer has done either of these things then you should escalate your complaint to the FOS. 

Muneymuneymuney

Aretnap said:

Careless misrepresentation would normally mean they would settle on a proportional basis. In other words, if they would have charged you an extra 10% on your premium had you declared the modifications, they would pay only 90% of the value of the claim. If they are processing the claim as normal it doesn't sound like careless misrepresentation.

You say that you were unaware of the modifications - is that because you bought the car second hand and they were already present? If so then you have a good case for it not being treated as a misrepresentation at all. The Financial Ombudsman's view is that in this situation, provided the modifications were not of the type that would have been obvious to the average motorist (so this doesn't apply if the car had huge spoilers, blue LEDs or skirting down to 2mm off the ground), the insurer should not penalise the customer in any way, neither cancelling the policy nor reducing any payout. If the insurer has done either of these things then you should escalate your complaint to the FOS. 

Hello, no they aren’t adjusting premium , they are proceeding with claim as if there where no modifications 

Aretnap

Muneymuneymuney said:

Aretnap said:

Careless misrepresentation would normally mean they would settle on a proportional basis. In other words, if they would have charged you an extra 10% on your premium had you declared the modifications, they would pay only 90% of the value of the claim. If they are processing the claim as normal it doesn't sound like careless misrepresentation.

You say that you were unaware of the modifications - is that because you bought the car second hand and they were already present? If so then you have a good case for it not being treated as a misrepresentation at all. The Financial Ombudsman's view is that in this situation, provided the modifications were not of the type that would have been obvious to the average motorist (so this doesn't apply if the car had huge spoilers, blue LEDs or skirting down to 2mm off the ground), the insurer should not penalise the customer in any way, neither cancelling the policy nor reducing any payout. If the insurer has done either of these things then you should escalate your complaint to the FOS. 

Hello, no they aren’t adjusting premium , they are proceeding with claim as if there where no modifications 

In that case the policy should not be cancelled and if they did originally cancel it they should reinstate it - though if you have got another policy in the meantime you might not actually want them to reinstate it. 

I would suggest you ask them to confirm that they have not recorded it as a cancelled policy or added you to any databases of cancelled policies which they share with other insurers. If they haven't then you won't need to declare it as a cancellation on future insurance applications.