Thread: AA Cancelled My Insurance!

Hi everyone,

My partner was involved in a non fault accident on the 2nd of Feb. The driver of the other vehicle did a runner from the scene, but left his injured passenger behind. It turned out the car belonged to the injured girls mother and she lent it to the male knowing he had no insurance!

Tesco (who are usless) are currently dealing with this incident along with my soliciator because I suffered whiplash. I am claiming off the registered owners insuraance.

Anyway, My policy was up for renewal in may so went with the AA. On the form I stated I had one years no claim. It has turned out that Tesco wont honour this whilst there is a claim going through, even though the male that did a runner owned up to the police.

The AA sent a letter out on the 12th June (Received 13th June) with the new quote taking into account the lack of no claims bonus.

Letter stated it needed to be signed and sent back by the 20th June, otherwise they would cancel the policy. I sent the letter 1st class on the 15th so they would have received it on the 16th.

Imagine my surprise today when we contacted them, and was told that the insurance was cancelled on the 19th June!

For the last three days me and my partner have been driving around with no insurance. If i was caught driving without insurance there is a very likely chance I would lose my job.

Speaking to the AA on the phone and they are usless.They cant confirm if they received my letter, they cant tell me why they even cancelled the insurance one day earlier then stated in the letter.

They now state that if I wish to go back to them I have to pay the deposit all over again!

Im currently awaiting a call back from the manager

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Exactly. They shouldnt have cancelled it anyway as the form was returned back to them in there own pre-paid envelope!

A call from them would have been nice, or even a letter!

Still waiting 30 minutes later for a telephone call. Was told 20 minutes!

Well I am very annoyed.

I never got a call back - I even left it 40 minutes! Phoned the customer services back and was informed I am on a list to be contacted by a manager but they have no idea when this would be, it may not even be today.

In the end I had to settle and talk to a team leader who told me the insurance was actually cancelled on the 14th June!! Me and my partner have been driving around with no insurance for the past week!

I was told that if any accident had happened, if I had sent the letter of to them their claims dept would have looked into it and honoured it.

When asked why it was cancelled on the 14th "Im afraid I dont have any answer for that. Its not been noted. One of the clerks may have pressed the wrong button or something!" - So they can cancel and make no note why!!

Anyway, its their policy not to reactivate closed accounts. They didnt receive the letter I sent back in their pre-paid envelope so theres nothing I can do.

Now its not payday until Friday, and I havent enough money to pay an insurance depoist. So looks like im stuffed for the moment.

Lesson here - Avoid the AA

"Im afraid I dont have any answer for that. Its not been noted. One of the clerks may have pressed the wrong button or something!"

Im currently writing a letter of complaint off to the AA in relation the the way the account was handled. In specfic im looking for any part of the data protection act that may have been breached by the above.

Someone has looked at the account, cancelled the insurance and made no note why. The insurance was not even due to have been cancelled.

If anyone can help this will be greatly appreciated.

I also received another letter from the AA today stating the insurance was cancelled on the 14th June and that a refund of £350 had been given, this would be credited to my bank shortly. letter also stated that they confirmed I had one years no claims.

Phone them up to query this and was told

"this is a standard letter we send out to people, you have no refund coming and i can confirm you have no no claims."

The way this company runs gets more shocking by the moment!

Is anyone able to assist with the above at all?

I want to get the letter in the post on Monday, and would like to quote any part of the DPA they may have breached.

Your help is greatly appreciated.

Benjee,

Many thanks for your advice.

Its just the fact they said a clerk must have pressed the wrong button when looking at the account and that they had no further information.

Just seemed a bit shoody to me.

Thanks for the advice though.

Originally Posted by powerful_rogue

Tesco (who are usless) are currently dealing with this incident along with my soliciator because I suffered whiplash. I am claiming off the registered owners insuraance.

Are you also having problems with the claims department? I've been trying to settle an accident from last year, we have a police report from the scene including witness statements and they still won't put pressure on the other side to settle!

Originally Posted by Keithowedalot

Are you also having problems with the claims department? I've been trying to settle an accident from last year, we have a police report from the scene including witness statements and they still won't put pressure on the other side to settle!

It was my partner that had the accident, but I was in the car at the time. Car crashed into the front of us after driving too quickly around a bend.

Driver got out and ran off, left two passengers behind - one of which had a head injury because she wasnt wearing a seat belt.

Anyway, turns out the registered owner of the vehilce lent it to him knowing that he had no insurance etc, so we are claiming of her insurance.

All was going well until Tesco said "were not going to deal with this anymore because youve got a soliciator to deal with you injury. He cadn do it". I wouldnt mind but this was 4 months after I told Tesco I had a soliciator dealing and they said it was fine.

Insurance companies are a waste of space. They are expensive and too slow.

Originally Posted by Logan21

ok a couple of things here, although the person came round and hit you, her insurance company maybe disputing liability. Another thing I am surprised that her insurance company are even considering paying because although she lent the car to him and she knew he was uninsured, her insurance company dont have any duty to payout at all as he wasnt a named driver and so there is no binding contract with them for him driving.

on the subject of the NCB unless a claim is settled and your company make a recovery then regardless of fault it goes against your ncb. If however they have sent you a letter saying you have 1ncb they have to honour it.

It got to the point where a male from the insurance company came to look at my vehicle and gave me a value. He told me I would receive the cheque within the next week. Shortly after this Tesco said they were no longer going to handle my claim as you cant have two soliciators working on the same case?!

Needless to say the cheque didnt arrive. This was 2 months ago now!
I was told that I will be able to claim off this womans insurance as she knowingly lent the vehicle to a male that did not have insurance. I was told that the insurance company will pay out and then they will claim it back off the female.

ok a couple of things here.

When somebody is uninsured, there is a protocol between insurers that say the last known insurer of the vehicle will deal with the third partys (you) claim. It is not really anything to do with the fact she allowed him to drive it.

Secondly, with regards to the AA, they must give you a 7 day notice period before cancelling the policy, hence the dates given in their initial letter. So they have gone right against the grain in cancelling it early. Report them to the FSA. They won't really do a great deal for you but if enough people report them then they are forced to act. However, when composing your letter make sure you tell them you will be contacting the FSA (up to you whether you do it or not).

The guy who came to inspect your vehicle was probably an engineer. He can only agree a value on the vehicle and does not have the authority to issue cheques and say when it will arrive. I would probably be inclined to think that the ladies insurers may be disputing liability on this as it is not in their interest to issue cheques slowly as you could well be claiming for a hire car which wil cost them a fortune.

Am i to assume that you did not have comprehensive cover ? I say that because tescos aren't doing anything for you

Thanks for all your help people. Regarding the accident, Just going to have to sit and wait. Ive got an accident soliciator dealing with it all now as Tesco was useless. Im just gald I paid the extra £20 for legal cover at the time.

Regarding the AA, I sent a letter off to them on Monday complaining about the very poor service I have received. Juts waiting to hear back now.

the MIB do deal with uninsured drivers but the vast majority of claims are for untraced drivers. They only deal with uninsured drivers where the last know insurers cannot be found although that should be a lot easier with the motor insurers database that came into effect a couple of years ago

To give an update, on the 26th June I sent the following letter:

AA Insurance Services
PO Box 2AA
Newcastle Upon Tyne
NE99 2AA

123 ABC Road
My Town
My County
AB12 CDE

26th June 2006
Policy Number 123456

Dear Sir/Madam,
I would like to make you aware of the concerns I have over the way my account has been handled recently.

Back in February I was involved in a non fault RTC. Enquiries are still on going with Tesco insurance with whom my policy was held at the time. When my policy expired in May, I decided to conduct my business with yourself. However, whilst I was under the impression I had one years no claims which I declared on the application form, I was then informed that Tesco insurance would not honour this whilst an investigation was still in process.

I made numerous telephone calls to your company after receiving letters from yourself, and every time I was promised a call back with a new premium based around zero years no claims.

My concerns started when a call was never received from yourselves. Eventually after more telephone calls instigated by myself, this problem was rectified and a new premium was agreed.

On 6th June I purchased a new vehicle and contacted yourself to get my policy altered. I received a letter in the post with the new premium and a new a certificate of insurance. The letter stated I must sign the certificate and return it in the pre-paid envelope provided by the 20th June 2006. Failure to do this would result in my insurance being cancelled.

I returned the completed form to you on the 15th June. On the 21st June I decided to give you a call to confirm this has been received and all was in order. Imagine my concern when I was told my policy had been cancelled on the 19th June. I asked to speak to a manager concerning this situation as all documents had been returned, and the cut off date was the 20th June, so wish to query why the policy had been cancelled on the 19th. My other main concern is that I had been driving around in a vehicle without any insurance for the past two days.

I was told a manager would call me back within the next 20 minutes, however I had to return back to work so gave my partners details who is a named driver on the policy.
My partner waited 40 minutes and still no call was received, so he decided to phone back again. He was advised that a form had been submitted to the manager, and a call-back would be placed when a manager is available. He was informed this may not be until the next day.
In the end my partner spoke to a team leader who informed him the policy was actually cancelled on the 14th June. No reason could be given as to why the policy had been cancelled except “A clerk may have pressed the wrong button on something.” My partner was extremely concerned regarding this as he is a police officer, and if caught driving without insurance could have put his job in jeopardy.

My partner explained numerous times that all documents had been returned to yourself as requested in the pre-paid envelope. The team leader just repeated that they were not received and that once a policy has been cancelled it cannot be activated again.

On the 23rd June I received a letter from you dated 19th June. This letter stated that the policy had been cancelled on the 14th June and a refund had been placed into my AA account for the sum of £350. The letter also stated that you confirm I had one year no claims.

I contacted your office to query the letter and was advised it is a standard letter that is sent out. I was not going to receive any refund and I do not have one years no claims.

Copies of all these letters can be sent upon request.
I now request that you answer the following points in relation to my policy.
Why was I originally told the policy was cancelled on the 19th June.

Why are your operators promising manager calls backs within 20
minutes, when the case is call backs may not be made until the following day.

An explanation of why my policy was cancelled on the 14th June without any prior notice. I also require you to explain how errors such as “clerks pressing the wrong button” can happen.

Why standard letters are sent out detailing refunds and no claims discount when they have no relation to my account.

I await your reply.

Got a reply back this morning.

Please accept my apologies, on behalf of AA Insurance services for the probles you had with the above policy.

I think there was som confusion over the paperwork, as I am unable to find any form sent by Insurance processing department that required signing and return. The only documents we issued were concerning the change of vehicle you had recently done on the policy.

It is possible that the paperwork was the credit agreement required by our finacial services department, which would require your signature.

As you were advised, the company you were insured were unable to offer you cover based on a nil no claims and so we passed your case to our broking department to obtain a quote from another member of our panel. A recorded delivery letter was sent on the 12th June to advise you of the new quotation.

I have checked the Royal Mail track and trace facility and this letter was never delivered.

The advisor who sent the letter quite properly arranged for any system prompt to be deleted in order to prevent the premature cancellation of the policy due to non receipt of no claims bonus.

I deeply regret that I am unable to discover why, after all the various telephone conversations you had had with other colleagues, someone then went in and, ignoring the very clear notes on the diary system attatched to your policy, cancelled the cover.

Please be assured that the manager of the person concerned will be giving feedback concerning this, which will then form part of their permanent record while they are with us.

I hope you will feel we have dealt with your complaint fairly and reasonably and thank you again for taking the trouble to let us know your concerns.

Yours Sincerly

Customer care unit

Not sure how I feel about this letter. It dosent answer all the points in my original letter and appears to be a bit of a cop out.

I must admit I was expecting a token of goodwill for the stress it put me under when I found out I had been driving without insurance for a week due to thier error, and also the stress of not being able to drive until payday as they stated I had to pay another deposit to get insured, which I couldnt afford at the time - had only financed for the regular montly installment fee.

Any advice would be appreciated. Is it with just putting the letter away accepting that I got a "sorry" from an insurance company, or is it worth follwoing it up.

Keep complaining to the AA and advise that you are not happy with their response - mention you will escalate your complain to the Financial Ombudsman.

It sounds like the third party driver has been traced so sections 151 and 152 of the Road Traffic act will mean the vehicle insurers will have a duty to indemnify you. (your solicitors will/should know what to do!) If you have all the documentation you need to settle the claim. Pester the solicitors for offers it will speed them up!