Travel insurance provider cancelled my policy

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Dymond11
Dymond11 Posts: 6 Forumite
in Insurance & life assurance
Hi all,


So I've been hunting around for travel insurance (doing the SE Asia route and Oz from February) and came across a discount with one provider that I got a quote through.
When applying the discount it brought the premium down to £0 - I clicked through and went to the payment page and bought the cover (actually paid £1) and was sent my policy documents etc.


I just had a phone call from the provider telling me they have cancelled my policy due to it being an error. Can they actually do this once I've bought the cover and been issued policy documents, essentially leaving me uncovered?


Regards,
Jon

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  • BoGoF
    BoGoF Posts: 7,099 Forumite
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    Yes they can.....did you really think you were going to get free insurance.

    If your trip is not till February then how are you uncovered?
  • silvercar
    silvercar Posts: 46,960 Ambassador
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    BoGoF wrote: »
    Yes they can.....did you really think you were going to get free insurance.

    If your trip is not till February then how are you uncovered?

    Presumably uncovered for cancellation between now and then.

    If it looks too good to be true......
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  • Dymond11
    Dymond11 Posts: 6 Forumite
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    I know to expect the 'did you really think..' etc. response but I'm talking just from the standpoint of do they have to honour it as a legal contract, regardless of it presumably being an error.
  • Pennywise
    Pennywise Posts: 13,468 Forumite
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    Dymond11 wrote: »
    I know to expect the 'did you really think..' etc. response but I'm talking just from the standpoint of do they have to honour it as a legal contract, regardless of it presumably being an error.

    Yes, they can cancel the policy as regards future events. However, had you suffered a claimable event between buying it and them cancelling it, they'd have had to pay out any claim. So you were insured for a short period of time, but now have to find alternative cover for future events.
  • dacouch
    dacouch Posts: 21,637 Forumite
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    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/insurance/2793921/Hastings-Direct-fined-by-FSA-after-car-insurance-pricing-error.html

    A similar case although the fact your premium was zero makes a big difference.

    If you make an "Official Complaint" you may find they send you £50 go away money

    Worth giving the FCA a heads up on it as they may take similar action if this affeced a large number of people (They tend not to be bothered by individual cases)
  • o202
    o202 Posts: 21 Forumite
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    Where does this leave the OP to the typical 'have you ever had an insurance policy cancelled?' question?
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