Cancelled insurance

redjumpa

I'm in the process of finding a new Home Insurance company. I've hit a problem  with the "has anyone had a policy cancelled etc?" I had a car policy cancelled a few years ago as I didn't get the proof of no claims to them in time as I was away on a long holiday. On my return I had 3 letters with the final one saying they had cancelled my policy which is extremely harsh as there doesn't appear to be any appeal to get it cleared. You could argue I didn't have a policy in the first place as I didn't meet their T&C's. I bet if I'd put a claim in it would have been refused. Any ideas on a way out of this as I'm really struggling to get a reasonable quote. Are there any insurers that that have a more reasonable stance, as it must be fairly common?

Slinky

Would it be worth speaking to an insurance broker and explaining the situation? They may be able to communicate with insurance companies in a way you can't when you are searching online.

Robin9

The question relates to Home Insurance not Motor Vehicles.

Hoenir

Robin9 said:

The question relates to Home Insurance not Motor Vehicles.

Question relates to having had insurance cover voided. Which occurs when there's a discovery of misrepresentation of material facts by the person insured.

DullGreyGuy

Hoenir said:

Robin9 said:

The question relates to Home Insurance not Motor Vehicles.

Question relates to having had insurance cover voided. Which occurs when there's a discovery of misrepresentation of material facts by the person insured.

Most insurers do have bounds as to what they think is relevant... I've had special terms applied to my business insurance because I work in insurance and an insurer didnt want to be both my insurer and client but no Home insurer has ever been interested in that. Similarly Car insurers dont tend to care that after a Life insurer received a GP report they decided they didnt want you on risk because of a medical condition. 

Home and Motor will normally be interested in each other's decision, though the OP's situation is more commonly recorded as failure to comply with a request than misrepresentation. 

redjumpa

Update.
I complained to the car insurer asking for any marker to be taken off for the reason given above.
Their reply summary... 
"Having reviewed our records, I am unable to evidence that you responded to our communications and

therefore, your policy was cancelled on 3 July 2019. Whilst I appreciate that it must have come as a

shock to discover that your policy was cancelled, cover has been cancelled correctly on this occasion.

As your policy was cancelled due to non-receipt of proof of no claims bonus, the cancellation has not

been logged on a central database. Nonetheless, it is the customer’s responsibility to inform a company

of policies that have been cancelled."

Surely, I either have a marker against me or I don't. Is this something the Ombudsman can resolve. We're currently looking to take out health and travel insurance and are experiencing the same issue with the "Have you or any member of your household ever had any insurance cancelled or refused. Any help/advice appreciated.

Redjumpa

kaMelo

Not providing proof of "no claims" is not a reason to cancel a policy, you should have had your policy premium adjusted to reflect the lack of no claims discount.
The only legitimate reason they could cancel a policy for failing to provide proof of no claims is that in not having proof of no claims discount the insurance company can show they would not have offered you a policy at all.

DullGreyGuy

redjumpa said:

Surely, I either have a marker against me or I don't. Is this something the Ombudsman can resolve. We're currently looking to take out health and travel insurance and are experiencing the same issue with the "Have you or any member of your household ever had any insurance cancelled or refused. Any help/advice appreciated.

It's not that simple. 

They may have an internal marker against you but not loaded it to CUE. As they say, irrespective of what is or isn't in CUE you have a legal obligation to answer the questions honestly. 

Knowing an unrelated insurer cannot check CUE and see the cancellation some may be tempted to fail to declare it and you may get away with it. If you dont get away with it though the cancellation next time will be for false declaration (aka fraud) and if you think its hard to get insurance now try again with fraud markers against you.

redjumpa

It's like being found guilty without being able to give your side of the story. There doesn't seem to a cut off either. It's 5 years and counting! We did nothing wrong unless you count not replying to something we hadn't seen. 

comeandgo

I also have to tell all insurance companies about a cancellation I received, not of my doing, and so far it has not made any difference to what the insurance costs.  

DullGreyGuy

redjumpa said:

It's like being found guilty without being able to give your side of the story. There doesn't seem to a cut off either. It's 5 years and counting! We did nothing wrong unless you count not replying to something we hadn't seen. 

Your side of the story in its simplest form is the same as theirs, you didnt provide the requested NCD. You feel there are mitigating circumstances of being away on holiday but presumably you knew the holiday was coming shortly after buying the insurance and didnt check if proof of NCD was required and, it appears at least, requested comms to be in writing rather than email (which presumably you could have accessed on holiday). 

Ultimately you'd register a complaint with them, if you haven't done so already. If you dont like their final response you have up to 6 months to take it to the ombudsman. If 6 months have already passed then you've left it too long. 

comeandgo said:

I also have to tell all insurance companies about a cancellation I received, not of my doing, and so far it has not made any difference to what the insurance costs.  

Thats surprising... I mean just doing a theoretical quote on a former car, with no cancellation I get 35 quotes on confused.com with the cheapest being £349. If I declare I have had a policy cancelled then I only get 17 quotes and the cheapest is £446