Mistakingly did not declare 3 points - Hastings Direct asking for documents - need advice!!

So I got off lightly, in my opinion.

After ringing up, the first thing I did was told the advisor my policy number, date of birth, and I was speaking to the Validation team, who check driving license details/V5 documents.

I mentioned straight away that I had made a mistake and accepted full responsibility for this. She said thanks for sharing the information, and read the legal insurance code of practice out for disclosing information (i.e. make sure information given is accurate), then she asked about the conviction type, of which I said SP30, I also mentioned it was a 40mph in a 30mph. She then asked for exact dates, which I gave.

She put me on hold for a matter of a few minutes and said she's going to run a check and see what the new cost would be (so my hopes went up at the idea of a 'new cost'), but I remained optimistic.

After she got back, she said the word 'unfortunately' and at that moment I knew that I had f'd up. No problem though, she said don't worry about it and she will try her best to make this as easy as possible. I asked if there was nothing else at all that could be done and she said unfortunately not, down to my age, postcode, and driver profile nothing more can be done. She said the insurance would have to be cancelled on their end.

I did not say anything at this point as I was thinking of what to do, and she said that there is one thing she can do, she said she'd give me 7 days from today to sort out new insurance, and the policy cancellation will have one of two outcomes:

Outcome 1 (non preferable): If I do not sort my own insurance out within 7 days, and allow HD to cancel my policy, it will be noted as insurer cancelled policy, meaning that future insurers must know I've had my policy cancelled in the past. There's a charge of £45.00, and any days where I don't have insurance but has been paid will be refunded and will be taken into consideration with this cancellation fee.
Outcome 2 (preferable): If I sort out new insurance within 7 days, and contact HD back cancelling my policy with them. They will charge me the £45.00 still for an early cancellation, but on future insurance quotes, I can tell future insurance that I cancelled this policy with HD myself, and will not have to declare the reasoning. It goes down as a consumer policy cancellation, not an insurer policy cancellation.

So, my plan of action is now to do some shopping around today/tomorrow on my days off, and find a new policy. Once being paid on Friday, will sort out a new policy to take effect Monday (as same day insurance will be a couple of hundred more per year in total (around £20 extra per month, rather wait 2 days extra for cheaper insurance per month). Then on Saturday, will contact HD to cancel policy for Monday, if they're unable to process a future dated cancellation I'll get in touch with them on Monday again to cancel for that date.

This hopefully means that next week this time, I'll be with a new provider, and will actually end up with a cheaper insurance quote for the year (as it's worked out cheaper with this new provider, no special terms imposed, no black box, and included breakdown cover) which is surprising to say the least.

So, by being honest and declaring points today, it has worked out as well as backfired for not declaring points.

I also asked out of curiosity what would've happened if I didn't declare, advisor said that I would not have the option of a 7 day cancellation, it will be cancelled with immediate effect via insurance, there'd be no way for me to do a consumer policy cancellation.

For anyone who doesn't know whether to declare points or not, declare them, save yourself the hassle. As now, on Friday, I am going to have to fish out over £1,000 just for insurance (£700 upfront for new insurer, £340 for HD) however HD should refund in due course after taking cancellation fee into account, so should get at least £200-£250 back off them anyway. (By forgetting to declare mine, rushing my application form, it has resulted in this). Would have much rather paid an extra £10-£20 per month for Hastings Direct to stay with them, but no can do! And will lose out on a year's NCB as well, as it will be reset with new provider.

But hey ho, life goes on.

Thanks again for the help everyone,

Dan.