Hastings Direct - Failed to declare 3pts

Gsedge001 · 23 May 2019 at 6:05PM

Hi,

I took out an insurance policy with Hasting Direct via GoCompare last year and genuinely forgot to declare 3pts (I did declare an accident and provided my driving licence number which I can see on Hastings website)

Unfortunately my car was stolen last month (not recovered) and Hastings are trying to deduct 36% or £4,200.00 from my settlement

They’ve now also added £158 to my policy because of the conviction which they’ll now also want to deduct from my settlement making that £4,358.00

1. Surely they can’t deduct 36% AND increase the policy for a car I now longer have ?
2. I’ve disputed the 36% as whilst I do agree there should be an adjustment, I’ve taken out several quotes with Hastings and provided their reference numbers (again via GoCompare) and even with the points, I can’t get anywhere near what they’re saying I should have paid (policy was £444 but they’re saying it should have been £747 which I find hard to believe.....)

They can’t seen to answer any of my questions

1. What capacity was my driving licence number used within the quote
2. How did they generate the adjusted quote as the closest I got was £539 or around a 20% increase

Now looks like I have to go to the FOC which could take 8 weeks but it feels like a losing battle

Thanks for any help

Quentin · 23 May 2019 at 6:12PM

You can escalate to the FOS once they have responded to your complaint.

(The 8 weeks you mention is the time the insurer is allowed to respond to your complaint)

Gsedge001 · 23 May 2019 at 6:18PM

Hi,

Thanks for the reply. They responded today saying that they can’t change the underwriters decision (took them a week and 5 phone calls to tell me that)

Obviously I screwed up but they seem completely unable to provide any evidence for the quote

Fuming that they’ve now also increased the policy (5 weeks later) for a car that has gone, I just can’t understand how they think they can do both sides of the coin

dacouch · 23 May 2019 at 6:30PM

Take Quentin's advice, the Ombudsman will look at what's fair and will also use the Consumer Insurance Act legislation (Read it)

The act allows the Insurer to redraw the contract but as you say it should be either or not both

Mrs_Ryan · 23 May 2019 at 8:18PM

The driving licence number is supposed, in theory on Guidewire (Hastings systems) to flag up any convictions but in practice I’ve not seen that happen!

kelevraz · 24 May 2019 at 1:31AM

Few months back, my dad bought himself a new luxury car, and a change of vehicle cost him an extra £50 or so, bringing his total policy premium to the year to something like £400. So in theory, that was the insurer saying that if he'd had that car when he took this policy out, it would've cost him £400.

At renewal time (a few weeks ago i think?), they 'hiked' this to £700, he called them up and asked !!!!!!, and outside of the usual BS for price increases, they actually told him that 'recently', luxury cars in the area he lives in had been getting targeted, and just like that, it decreased the insurers desire to cover these cars. By the time his current policy has finished, its very possible that the theft's will have cooled off, and he'll quoted around the £400 as before

Prices change all the time, a policy that you quoted for months ago could very easily be 36% more now, with no explicable (or unfair) reason, as the price changes would (normally) only affect new customers.

Unless theres really a pin point reason (like lots of thefts in the area) they certainly wont tell YOU as the consumer why this has happened, as that will involve discussing underwriting criteria. But they'll have no problems showing it to the FOS. Most insurer's keep historic prices so will very easily be able to show what a policy 'would have' been at inception

Must say though, it does seem pretty bizarre that they'd offer you a 'reduced' settlement AND charge you the full policy premium, that does seem very have your cake and eat it. They should at the very minimum be able to explain to you why they've done this (essentially pointing to your T&C's) but either way I cant imagine the FOS will say that aspect of the claim handling / policy premium is fair. However, The idea of deducting the extra % you should have paid and not explaining to you 'how they reached this number' is nothing surprising at all

Hastings Direct - Failed to declare 3pts

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