Car Insurance cancelled by Ins Company... but no refund?!

[Squish2307]

Hi,

About a month ago, I was hit by a 3rd Party driver (he switched lanes and turned into me)...

He claimed it was my fault by saying I was in the bus lane. I pointed out to him that the bus lane was NOT operational (ie. I could use it). I wanted to point out that if I was a bus, would he have the same defence - decided not to.

He did admit to 2 independant witnesses that it was in fact his fault (which is helpful, I hope...).

I have made a claim against his insurance... and at the moment, I am going through the process of him admitting liability etc etc.

In the meantime, my insurance company have decided to write my car off (fine). But they have also decided to cancel my insurance?! Which is a problem as I now am unable to drive anyone else's car (which was one of the reasons for me to get fully comp insurance).

To rub salt into my wounds... they have just told me that I can NOT get a refund of my outstanding insurance as the car is a 'write off'.

I had paid £442 for my insurance (10 months accelerator). This started on the 29/1/07.

The insurance was cancelled on the 11/5/07...

That is a good 8 months gap!!


So what has happened? When I queried this, the lady on the phone had to ask her colleague on how it worked. She wasn't sure exactly and could NOT answer any of my questions as to why I am being penalised for something:

1. was not my fault.
2. never asked for.


She passed me to the Lawyers (Albany Assistance), who thought I was asking about my Excess? And I explained it was NOT my excess, but the cost of my insurance. I have been told to write a letter to the Lawyers to claim this back (as they were a bit taken aback by the details)...

I do, at the moment, have a hire car which is insured through the hire company (but I am going to have to check that, just in case).


I have a number of questions...

1. Is this normal? The non-refund of insurance even when not my fault?
2. What can I do?
3. Has this happened to anyone else?
4. Any tips on how to proceed with this... I am going to be sending a letter ASAP.

Thanks...


ps. The insurance company... Bells (I wish I hadn't gone with them now...)

[gyzmo]

Technically, from what I remember, it is correct, as the subject matter of the insurance (i.e, the car) is no longer in existence. But I always thought the practice was to put the policy on suspension until the time a new car is bought (if that were to be the case).

As for the premiums, it is normal to keep them. You paid for a service which ha been used. That service lasts for a certain term, or until a claim is made. They have fulfilled their part of the contract (dealing with the claim / repair / towing / dealing with TPs etc), and you are expected also to fulfill your part of the contract - to pay the premium quoted.

There will be more to it than that depending on the circumstances, but that is the general jist.

[Rob S]

I am surprised there are still companies out there who will cancel a policy following a total loss claim. I remember this being an issue in the early 1990's with a number of motorcycle insurers who were doing the same. Many changed their policies to allow the policy to stay in existence which gave the insured a chance to add a newer vehicle to the policy.

I would contact your insurer to ask them if they are prepared to suspend your policy pending the addition of your replacement car. If they are not, then you should be able to claim off the third party as an uninsured loss.

[Darkangelsdelite]

I agree with the above.
Normal practice is to suspend the policy once a total loss has been agreed. Usually the customer would use the settlement cheque to by a replacement car (this being the whole idea of having insurance in the first place!) which would then be changed over with the car on cover.
I'm not familiar with bell's T&Cs so might be worth reading your policy booklet which will contain a section on claims and cancellations.

In regards to the premium, again, its standard practice to retain the years premium if a fault claim(or in this case open claim which is treated the same until full recovery from TP is made) is made during the contractual period.

[rajeshk4u]

Sadly, I got my car insurance cancelled I was with Elephant.co.uk another crap company. I think Bells and Elephant.co.uk are all part of the same group. It meant that I could not someone else's car (e.g. my father's car), so I was stranded....

These people appear cheap, but when you get a claim, you find they are really crap and they are bloddy cheats!!

Plus, their claim recovery service is rubbish!. With Elephant.co.uk they could not even be bothered to write to the local authority to get CCTV footage of the accident!

Direct Line is another company. with crap clauses in their policy.

Norwich Union is better with policy wording.