Car Insurance saying there's claims history, when there isn't any

Ster79

We bought our son a car to learn to drive in and insured it through the cheapest company. After taking the £400 they emailed to say they needed to check something. He couldn't log in to see what. We had to use a forgotten password link to access the account as they have entered the email username incorrectly. The summary shows he has a provisional licence yet says he passed his test 5 years ago! We emailed them telling them so. Then we phoned them as it asked for proof of no claims. He hasn't had insurance before. They told us he had a claim over a year ago. He hasn't as wasn't driving. His father did on his vehicle when it was stationary and hit by a third party but he is not on this insurance. They have different first name but same initial and 37 years age difference! 1st Central refuse to accept this and have told us they are cancelling his insurance because we haven't disclosed a claim he doesn't have. I don't know what to do. My son's first insurance. Any suggestions? I don't want a 'had insurance cancelled' on my son's record. 

dunstonh

You make an immediate complaint to the insurer saying what you have here.  There is also the potential for a data protection breach

The complaints teams usually have more discretion than the service staff.   

[Deleted User]

Definitely an official complaint, and send them a Data Subject Access Request too. The email address is DPO@1stcentral.co.uk .

400ixl

Is the drivers licence they have correct, was there a typo when entered meaning they are associating a different driver to the policy.

Morph4610

Ster79, is his father a named driver on the policy as this incident will be relevant if he is?

DullGreyGuy

Morph4610 said:

Ster79, is his father a named driver on the policy as this incident will be relevant if he is?

The OP already said:

Ster79 said:
His father did on his vehicle when it was stationary and hit by a third party but he is not on this insurance. 

Ster79

400ixl said:

Is the drivers licence they have correct, was there a typo when entered meaning they are associating a different driver to the policy.

They have the licence scanned, front and back. 

lopsyfa

Ster79 said:

400ixl said:

Is the drivers licence they have correct, was there a typo when entered meaning they are associating a different driver to the policy.

They have the licence scanned, front and back. 

You still need to check the values they scanned is correct as it is not always correct (the ai algorithms is not 100% correct and can be affected by image quality and poor lighting). This is the first thing to check.

Ster79

I thought I had updated but it is not showing so this may duplicate! They have now agreed that he was not involved in any claim so there is no claims history to provide. Now they are saying that because HE pointed out they had him listed as 'Housewife'  (he is currently living off his own student loan money (he's just graduated) and money he was gifted sometime ago by a relative, we selected 'at home' on the comparison site - we looked up the employment definitions to check) it is being changed to unemployed which is an extra £380 (because they say he should have ticked this box) plus £50 admin fee. I've done the sums and if we cancel we get zero back of the original £400 we paid. When I took a year off work and lived off my savings, my insurance didn't class me as unemployed so why is he any different? 

Ditzy_Mitzy

Ster79 said:

I thought I had updated but it is not showing so this may duplicate! They have now agreed that he was not involved in any claim so there is no claims history to provide. Now they are saying that because HE pointed out they had him listed as 'Housewife'  (he is currently living off his own student loan money (he's just graduated) and money he was gifted sometime ago by a relative, we selected 'at home' on the comparison site - we looked up the employment definitions to check) it is being changed to unemployed which is an extra £380 (because they say he should have ticked this box) plus £50 admin fee. I've done the sums and if we cancel we get zero back of the original £400 we paid. When I took a year off work and lived off my savings, my insurance didn't class me as unemployed so why is he any different? 

Whilst the son is de facto unemployed, in that he is not working, his economic situation sounds closer to 'independent means' at present.  Independent means is the category in which are placed those without jobs who are not claiming benefits.  Obviously it depends on how much money there is and how long the son intends to live in that fashion, but it may be a way of resolving matters.  

Unfortunately, you may be on the back foot with this insurer as they have already rejected the son as 'housewife' that was originally reported.  

As regards your situation with the year off, were you simply taking a sabbatical?  If so, you were still technically employed even if not actually working or being paid.  You might, otherwise, have been noted as a genuine housewife or as independent means.  

Ster79

We were the ones who pointed it out to the insurer that housewife was incorrect not the other way round. They had not questioned it. He wanted it corrected. They told him he had to be classed as unemployed as wasn't working and not a housewife. He reluctantly told them to put unemployed then. They don't have a category for him. They are now claiming he didn't disclose that he was unemployed! 

As for my situation, I packed in my job and lived off savings for 18 months. I didn't complain though when it transferred my status to housewife since I'm female and married.