Post Office Car Insurance Cancelled policy

bumper31

Hoping for some help.

My Father has had 7 days notice of having his car insurance cancelled. The reason they gave was he has been in undeclared accidents.
However, it was me who was in the accidents in a different car with a different insurer. We have have the same name, same address but different middle names.
We have been trying to contact them with proof of this. Proof of his original no claims. Proof of the claims on my account. Hastings (my insurer) say they have even updated the database to make a distinction.
But every piece of proof we send they come up with a different requirement and are now asking for him get his previous Insurer to write them a letter telling them the claims were not his. I am not even sure they will do this as he is not a customer any more.

Due to this moving target, he is now 1 day away from having his insurance cancelled.

I have never dealt with such an incompetent bunch of unhelpful people, it is like they "want" to cancel him through no fault of his own.

Any advice how to take this further? We have asked for an escalation? But clearly he doesn't want an insurance cancellation on his record?

Thanks in advance

born_again

His old insurer can provide the info for them.

DullGreyGuy

You need to log a complaint and send it to the financial ombudsman if you are unhappy with their resolution. This won't be dealt with within the timelimits of the cancellation. 

One of an exceptionally long list of reasons that naming your kids after yourself isn't the best idea. 

Mildly_Miffed

Yes, of course his old insurer will be able to confirm that.

Remember that "Post Office Car Insurance" isn't actually the Post Office.
https://www.postoffice.co.uk/car-insurance/over-50s
"Post Office Money® Car Insurance is arranged and administered by BISL Limited. BISL Limited arranges policies from a panel of insurers, details are available on upon request from BISL Limited.
... 
BISL Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, FRN 308896. BISL Limited is registered in England. Registered number 3231094. Registered Office: Fusion House, Katharine Way, Bretton, Peterborough, PE3 8BG. "

It's just a brand of BISL, who are the company behind a LOT of insurance brands - and also part of Markerstudy, one of the biggest car insurance underwriters.
https://www.bglinsurance.co.uk/who-we-are/our-brands-partnerships/

Clearly the disparity in dates of birth hasn't made them wonder...

DullGreyGuy

Mildly_Miffed said:

Yes, of course his old insurer will be able to confirm that.

Remember that "Post Office Car Insurance" isn't actually the Post Office.
https://www.postoffice.co.uk/car-insurance/over-50s
"Post Office Money® Car Insurance is arranged and administered by BISL Limited. BISL Limited arranges policies from a panel of insurers, details are available on upon request from BISL Limited.
... 
BISL Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, FRN 308896. BISL Limited is registered in England. Registered number 3231094. Registered Office: Fusion House, Katharine Way, Bretton, Peterborough, PE3 8BG. "

It's just a brand of BISL, who are the company behind a LOT of insurance brands - and also part of Markerstudy, one of the biggest car insurance underwriters.
https://www.bglinsurance.co.uk/who-we-are/our-brands-partnerships/

Clearly the disparity in dates of birth hasn't made them wonder...

We would need a lot more information about the son's claim! Remember...

1) Not all insurers report onto CUE

2) Amount of data on third parties is particularly limited... you aren't required to give your dob when you have an accident. Amount of data on first parties isn't always great

3) Its always possible the OP had the accident but didnt inform their prior insurer and so them not knowing about the claim doesn't prove anything. 

So its very possible the OP's son's insurer doesn't report to CUE so all there is is the third party insurer's report of the accident for which CUE doesn't have a field for dob (from memory) and certainly its rarely populated if it did exist (we couldn't record a TP DoB even if the policyholder had it some way. 


The evidence from the son's own insurer that they do recognise the claim as their own and that it was son not father is vastly better proof than a company saying they dont know about the claim. 

BISL is better known as Budget (insurance service limited) but these days do much more work in the affinity space (eg PO, RAC and many others) than under their own brand.

bumper31

Mildly_Miffed said:

Yes, of course his old insurer will be able to confirm that.

Remember that "Post Office Car Insurance" isn't actually the Post Office.
https://www.postoffice.co.uk/car-insurance/over-50s
"Post Office Money® Car Insurance is arranged and administered by BISL Limited. BISL Limited arranges policies from a panel of insurers, details are available on upon request from BISL Limited.
... 
BISL Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, FRN 308896. BISL Limited is registered in England. Registered number 3231094. Registered Office: Fusion House, Katharine Way, Bretton, Peterborough, PE3 8BG. "

It's just a brand of BISL, who are the company behind a LOT of insurance brands - and also part of Markerstudy, one of the biggest car insurance underwriters.
https://www.bglinsurance.co.uk/who-we-are/our-brands-partnerships/

Clearly the disparity in dates of birth hasn't made them wonder...

MM, Are we within our rights to demand to speak to the underwriter directly? 
We seem to be getting nowhere with the first line. We have asked for an escalation but they said this is a call back (which to me is unacceptable for a problem of their own making)

I have tried again to provide the proof they have asked for in a single communication and asked them to be specific if they need any more.

But we have a horrible feeling this won't be resolved within the timeframe of the cancellation?

As well as the Ombudsman, what is the recourse of action here? As my father is going to have a cancelled insurance against his name, which could impact the cost and capability of getting insurance in the future.

DullGreyGuy

bumper31 said:

Mildly_Miffed said:

Yes, of course his old insurer will be able to confirm that.

Remember that "Post Office Car Insurance" isn't actually the Post Office.
https://www.postoffice.co.uk/car-insurance/over-50s
"Post Office Money® Car Insurance is arranged and administered by BISL Limited. BISL Limited arranges policies from a panel of insurers, details are available on upon request from BISL Limited.
... 
BISL Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, FRN 308896. BISL Limited is registered in England. Registered number 3231094. Registered Office: Fusion House, Katharine Way, Bretton, Peterborough, PE3 8BG. "

It's just a brand of BISL, who are the company behind a LOT of insurance brands - and also part of Markerstudy, one of the biggest car insurance underwriters.
https://www.bglinsurance.co.uk/who-we-are/our-brands-partnerships/

Clearly the disparity in dates of birth hasn't made them wonder...

MM, Are we within our rights to demand to speak to the underwriter directly? 

It somewhat depends on the setup and also who you mean by "the underwriter"? Unfortunately it's a job title and a role of a company or syndicate.

With a traditional broker relationship the underwriting firm, which I'll call the insurer, sets the terms and the prices, the broker does all the admin and the insurer deals with the claim. In principle you could speak to the insurer but they aren't setup for dealing directly with the insured on sales & service issues. 

Not all brokers work in a traditional way, for a start Budget/PO have set wordings rather than the insurer setting the wordings. It can also be that the insurer delegates their underwriting authority to the broker and so, within certain bounds, the broker is the one setting the price not the insurer. Same can occur with claims. In the most extreme cases the insurer will simply get 3 monthly excel spreadsheets covering what's been sold, what's been paid and what claims there are and they never do anything more with the business.  In this scenario they aren't going to be in a position to do anything and they have given the broker their pen (to use the Lloyds terminology).

The other option is to cancel the policy yourself before they cancel it on you.

bumper31

DullGreyGuy said:

bumper31 said:

Mildly_Miffed said:

Yes, of course his old insurer will be able to confirm that.

Remember that "Post Office Car Insurance" isn't actually the Post Office.
https://www.postoffice.co.uk/car-insurance/over-50s
"Post Office Money® Car Insurance is arranged and administered by BISL Limited. BISL Limited arranges policies from a panel of insurers, details are available on upon request from BISL Limited.
... 
BISL Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, FRN 308896. BISL Limited is registered in England. Registered number 3231094. Registered Office: Fusion House, Katharine Way, Bretton, Peterborough, PE3 8BG. "

It's just a brand of BISL, who are the company behind a LOT of insurance brands - and also part of Markerstudy, one of the biggest car insurance underwriters.
https://www.bglinsurance.co.uk/who-we-are/our-brands-partnerships/

Clearly the disparity in dates of birth hasn't made them wonder...

MM, Are we within our rights to demand to speak to the underwriter directly? 

It somewhat depends on the setup and also who you mean by "the underwriter"? Unfortunately it's a job title and a role of a company or syndicate.

With a traditional broker relationship the underwriting firm, which I'll call the insurer, sets the terms and the prices, the broker does all the admin and the insurer deals with the claim. In principle you could speak to the insurer but they aren't setup for dealing directly with the insured on sales & service issues. 

Not all brokers work in a traditional way, for a start Budget/PO have set wordings rather than the insurer setting the wordings. It can also be that the insurer delegates their underwriting authority to the broker and so, within certain bounds, the broker is the one setting the price not the insurer. Same can occur with claims. In the most extreme cases the insurer will simply get 3 monthly excel spreadsheets covering what's been sold, what's been paid and what claims there are and they never do anything more with the business.  In this scenario they aren't going to be in a position to do anything and they have given the broker their pen (to use the Lloyds terminology).

The other option is to cancel the policy yourself before they cancel it on you.

Thanks, we are trying the cancel first option but they are disallowing that too. It is like they are putting every barrier in front of us to resolving this.

I have never dealt with such an impossible copmpany, and that includes BT!!!!

born_again

bumper31 said:

DullGreyGuy said:

bumper31 said:

Mildly_Miffed said:

Yes, of course his old insurer will be able to confirm that.

Remember that "Post Office Car Insurance" isn't actually the Post Office.
https://www.postoffice.co.uk/car-insurance/over-50s
"Post Office Money® Car Insurance is arranged and administered by BISL Limited. BISL Limited arranges policies from a panel of insurers, details are available on upon request from BISL Limited.
... 
BISL Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, FRN 308896. BISL Limited is registered in England. Registered number 3231094. Registered Office: Fusion House, Katharine Way, Bretton, Peterborough, PE3 8BG. "

It's just a brand of BISL, who are the company behind a LOT of insurance brands - and also part of Markerstudy, one of the biggest car insurance underwriters.
https://www.bglinsurance.co.uk/who-we-are/our-brands-partnerships/

Clearly the disparity in dates of birth hasn't made them wonder...

MM, Are we within our rights to demand to speak to the underwriter directly? 

It somewhat depends on the setup and also who you mean by "the underwriter"? Unfortunately it's a job title and a role of a company or syndicate.

With a traditional broker relationship the underwriting firm, which I'll call the insurer, sets the terms and the prices, the broker does all the admin and the insurer deals with the claim. In principle you could speak to the insurer but they aren't setup for dealing directly with the insured on sales & service issues. 

Not all brokers work in a traditional way, for a start Budget/PO have set wordings rather than the insurer setting the wordings. It can also be that the insurer delegates their underwriting authority to the broker and so, within certain bounds, the broker is the one setting the price not the insurer. Same can occur with claims. In the most extreme cases the insurer will simply get 3 monthly excel spreadsheets covering what's been sold, what's been paid and what claims there are and they never do anything more with the business.  In this scenario they aren't going to be in a position to do anything and they have given the broker their pen (to use the Lloyds terminology).

The other option is to cancel the policy yourself before they cancel it on you.

Thanks, we are trying the cancel first option but they are disallowing that too. It is like they are putting every barrier in front of us to resolving this.

I have never dealt with such an impossible copmpany, and that includes BT!!!!

In that case raise a complaint. 

bumper31

To provide an update, they have upheld the complaint - quite quickly, which was surprising.
However the Insurance was still cancelled. 
They have given £75 in compensation, which I have immediately rejected as it is an insult.
I have asked for it in writing for confirmation we don't have to declare that he has had insurance cancelled.

They haven't replied yet.

Does any one know whether I am likely to get any more comp without going to the ombudsman?

Also now the complaint is upheld, do we need to declare that we have had insurance cancelled?

Thanks for all your help so far 

DullGreyGuy

What financial losses has he sustained to justify a higher settlement?

Would need to read the full final response letter to understand exactly what they upheld before saying if he still has to declare a cancelled policy or not. If its unclear then its better to continue until you get a definitive letter stating he doesn't have to declare it