Car Insurance help please

brendartyndale

Hi, this is my first post so I hope somebody can help me.

I am from Chile and have been in the UK for less than a year. I bought a car last year and insured it, since then I had a small accident and claimed for the repairs. My company are now refusing to pay it, plus they are saying that my insurance is void and they will not give me the money back for the year that I paid for (I only bought the car in November so only a few months).

The problem is that I insured the car on my international licence. I did so in good faith as all the DVLA websites and helplines say that I am entitled to drive for a year on this licence. However I was in the UK around 2 years ago and got a provisional licence then as a proof of ID only.
My insurance company says that this provisional licence superseeds my international licence and therefore I was not entitled to insure myself on the international one. I cannot see how this is the case.

Which is correct? I find it unfair that they refuse to pay my claim and then keep my money also (the insurance was £600 so represents a lot of money). I will then also have to be insured again by another company which is even more money. Am looking at over £4000 in total (including the original premium and the repairs). :eek:

Quentin

Normally you need a driving licence issued in the EU to buy insurance.

Did you inform your insurance company you had a Chilean driving licence?

If so, and they accepted it, you need to escalate your complaint.

But if they never knew you didn't have a EU licence then you have no cause for complaint.

raskazz

[strike]Ignore what other sites say regarding the legality of driving on such licences. The real issue here is whether you did or did not correctly answer the insurer's questions when the policy was quoted and incepted.

If you were asked a clear question regarding your licence and did not answer it correctly, then the insurer is acting properly.[/strike]

Edited to add: Actually, as you got your UK provisional 2 years ago, after the first year of holding it strict provisional requirements apply (eg supervision) unless you have passed your full UK test. So you will not have been driving in accordance with your licence, and IMO the insurer is quite right.

brendartyndale

Thank you for the responses.

Quentin -On the online form (which I have printed out) they asked what type of licence I would be driving on - to which I replied "not listed non EEU licence" This was accepted. Now they say that although I was driving on my international licence but I should have insured myself on the provisional licence. Nowhere was this made clear and the online form did not give the opportunity to say that I had another licence.

Raskazz - In reply to your first part. I truly believe that I answered all the questions in good faith. I stated I had a non EEU driving licence which is true. It was my belief that as I was driving on this then this was what I shoudl be insured on.

I did not realise that this was the case with a provisional licence as I have enquired before with the DVLA about the legality of driving here. I did get my provisional licence two years ago but was out of the country for over one year of that. It was my understanding that I could drive with my international licence for a time until I was able to pass my driving test.

If I am in the wrong then I am happy to admit it. Although I am upset that I have not seen any of this information before. I would never deliberately try and make a false declaration and repeat that I acted to the best of my knowledge and beliefs. I find it so upsetting that not only will the company not help with my claim (again understandable if I am wrong) but that they will then keep the money that I paid - almost a years worth of money. It seems that they will not give any one the chance to admit they made a mistake. I made a mistake and they are punishing me twice.

Steve1981

Unfortunatly an International Licence is only valid for 12 months from when you FIRST enter a country (on the first occasion, not for 12 months each time you enter)

If you hold a provisional licence and have enter the UK for the first time more than 12 months ago - then the international licence is void and you are technically driving on your provisonal licence, if you are the only person in the car (ie you dont have someone in the passenger seat over the age of 21 and who has held a FULL uk licence for more than 3 years) then you are not driving in accordance with your licence (an LC20 I think).

its unfortunate but thats the case.

Just to clarify there is nothing to stop anyone buying an insurance policy with an international licence (providing the criteria in the first paragraph is met).

Insurance companys do not have to go through the details of the with the policyholder as it is the policyholders own responsibility to to know the limitations of their own licences