Cheers Conniff- very grateful.

Hi all, This is probably a really simple question and I'm being stupid. Any help is much appreciated. I have a large direct debit set up with a company. This company is very poorly organised and often makes mistakes with my finances. I want to cancel my direct debit with them but rather than just trusting the company to stop taking the money, I want to make it impossible. Is it possible to call my bank to make sure that even if they try to get money out they can't, because it has been blocked by my bank? Thanks very much

I know! BUT I’m still glad I didn't because I reckon I would be in hospital now. Mossy: My insurers haven't accepted liability currently. I can understand where you're coming from and you're right; I am indeed having a hard time trying to defend myself. I am now going to take this to the small claims court. While there were no independent witnesses who actually saw the collision, there were some who heard the subsequent conversations where the car driver said the ambulance was at fault. I have written to them informing them of my intentions. I can also quote a few case studies similar to mine. I really can't see how they can deny that at the very least the ambulance being there caused this. Oh well.... see what happens!

so any ideas on what to do now....? X:)

....so just two questions that will really put my mind at rest; Can my insurance company accept responsibility on my behalf without my permission? and If the worst comes to the worst and I'm forced to unjustly accept liability will I lose all my no claims bonus or just be knocked back a few years? I currently have the maximum no claims.

Cobra11, thanks for the link. While that confirms I'm correct and the ambulance wrong, the thing about disciplinary action being taken may work against me. Won't this just mean he will be more determined not to own up?! I really want to make it clear that I don't want this to in anyway affect his job. It was an accident, and accidents happen. I just don't want to be punished for something which wasn't my fault. So the NHS should be making their own investigation then? Should I write to them?[/font]

They definitely did not use their siren. (Btw it wasn't a roundabout, just traffic light controlled crossroads). You're right. Emergency vehicles must treat red lights as give ways. I think he thought as it was night-time there wouldn't be anyone around so he stormed through. Today I have written letters to all three insurers to state my position and to threaten a small courts claim, sent by recorded delivery. My primary concern is my insurance trying to pay out without my permission. Can they do this without my agreement? Any ideas of what I should do next?

So everyone agrees that the ambulance was going through a red light. Without worrying about the other complexities for a moment, surely that by itself means no matter what this car driver says full responsibilty can't be forced on me?!!

Thanks freedom trail for your reply; Yeah you're are right this is my first accident- is it that obvious? Like I say this happened about a month ago now. In that time my own insurance company requested a desciption of events. I wrote this up including detailed google earth and streetview pictures. I also sent this to the other insurers. I don't think the junction was covered by CCTV. I have tried to obtain all evidence I can such as the ambulances blackbox or if they video record but all to no avail. I did have a passenger in my car who fully backs me up but i guess this would be seen as a biased opinion. Both the ambulance and car driver also had passengers. I have not and will not admit liability. I believe I avoided a major crash which would have resulted in serious injuries. I know it was my right of way. Whats more the junction is a four way staggered junction so the ambulance was way over the traffic light stop area. There was no siren but blue lights apparently. Given the nature of the junction, the speed and lighting conditions these were of no use. At the moment I have informed my insurance company in no uncertain terms to not pay out. They can't do this without my say so anyway, can they? The witness statement is just full of lies and errors. The car driver is now claiming the ambulance had stopped to let me go, which is utter nonsence. I think basically he has been briefed by his insurance company to fully lay the blame on someone to get a quick payout and he has chosen me. Also the ambulances insurance stated all other vehicles had managed to aviod it so i should have as well. BUT it was late at night and there were no other vehicles! It's full of holes like that! So whats the next step to take from here?

I really need your help. Been on this website before and you saved my life...heres hoping you can again! About a month ago I was involved in a minor accident between two other drivers. It was at a blind junction. I was turning right on a green light. To my right (the road I'm turning down) was another driver sitting at a red light in the right hand lane. As I’m turning right an ambulance has shot through the blind junction on a red light at around 40-50mph. I have to swerve to avoid a very serious side swipe collision with the ambulance and because there’s nowhere to go I have a minor collision with the car driver. When we all pulled over the car driver admitted it was the ambulances fault. The ambulance driver didn't admit or contest liability. Unfortunately there weren’t any independent witnesses. I did request the police attend but as it wasn't a criminal matter they didn't do anything. So, when I got home I inform my insurance and put a claim against the ambulances insurance. I chased the ambulance insured a few days ago. They have requested a witness statement from the car driver. He has now completely changed his story saying I was at fault. I am outraged. In my opinion his statement is full of bare faced lies. He couldn't even get established facts correct like conditions, positions date etc. I'm sure he's done this to get a quick but very unjust resolution. Basically he wants his car fixed asap and he don't care who from. Now as a result the ambulance insured say they aren't paying out and I'm assuming the car driver is going to try and claim of me. What do I do now? I'm thinking of taking this to a small claims court. Please any advice would be greatly appreciated:)

can you expand on this. If this isn't a valid special reason, what would be? The special reasons argument was created for a reason; to allow people such as myself to escape points whereby the situation could not have been practically avoided. I can think of no clearer example of a special reason. If this doesn't qualify in your book, what would? or do you disagree with the whole 'special reasons' concept cos im afraid you can't make up your own laws.

hi guys just want to drop a new angle on things. what would happen if i went to court and they accepted my special reasons and i escaped penalty points/fine. Would that still mean however, that i was still convicted of driving uninsured? if so, what are the implications? would i for example, have to declare this when getting a new car insurance quote and if so would it bump up the price as much as someone convicted with full points and a fine? finally, im now worried this could be put onto my criminal record. I know its a crime but surely its not recorded - is it? After all, i thought speeding was a criminal matter but who hasn't had a speeding fine at some point? can any of you brainy law guys out their shed some light on this.

thanks monty and bazaar at the beginning i asked if i could record the call so should be okay. I've sent a formal complaint which will be reviewed impartially by the FSA so that should hopefully add weight to my argument. If thats not satifactory then i will go to the obbudsman. bazaar, i sent off the SAR (by recorded delivery) about 10 days ago but they have 40 days in which to respond and i don't think they're in any hurry at last i feel like im getting somewhere.

Hi guys, been away for a while but I've still been working hard to resolve this issue. heres where i am at the minute; phoned up the CIS yet again the other day, but this time I recorded it. I was a bit sneaky about it. First of all I didn't say who I was; I just acted like a new customer asking general questions. I asked random stuff about courtesy cars, European cover, online discount etc. I then went for the killer and asked about my rights to cancel. I asked what would happen if they wanted to cancel the policy. They said they have to send a warning letter a massive 21 days before cancellation. They will then send another letter a week before and then normally one once they actually cancelled. I then explained I had a policy and asked if they sent any of these letters. He put me on hold and came back with what I already knew. He admitted, straight into the sound recorder they hadn't sent any of these letters. I also confirmed they had all my correct details such as address- they did. I then demanded to speak to a senior at their Manchester HQ. I kicked up a right fuss explaining how much this had cost me, that I could lose my licence and that I wanted to make a complaint. Anyway, after a while he apologised. I suggested if they could carry on the insurance up until September, thus allowing me to be insured at the time in question. He said they would consider it if I could prove I had no accidents during this time. I didn't have any accidents, but how do you prove that? Anyway, it all seemed a bit underhand and I’m wondering if I'm doing the right thing. If I carry on the insurance I’ll have to pay the enemy even more but at least I won’t get any points. On the other hand, I'll doubt I'll get convicted with this evidence anyway but then I will be able to complain to get my money back. What do you think? All comments much welcomed

No, they didn't tell us that they couldn't get any money out of the account. If they did I wouldn't be in this situation now. their was money in the account very shortly (about 4 days) after the due date of the DD so they obviously didn't apply again. On another note, can anyone give me more info on these SAR Subject Access Requests. I hear they are about £10. Do I simply write to the CIS with a cheque? What do you get and how long will it take? Just an update on my case: Its now been adjoured for another 2 weeks due to strike action at the magistrates. Do you think this will be enough time to get the S.A.R? thanks for your help.

sorry to be confusing; My dad was paying the DD but the CIS didn't inform either of us. I know all correspondents would have gone through him and I wouldn't expect the CIS to contact me personally but I expect them to tell one of us!

I’ve written a letter to the co-op to confirm that they didn’t send any notification and I’m still waiting for a response. I know they confirmed they didn’t send a letter over the phone. Is their anyway I can get a copy of that recording, possibly under the data protection act? I’ve got my ‘special reasons’ hearing next Monday at Kendal magistrates. I know at these things the burden of proof is on me to prove I was driving with the intention of being insured. Any advice on what I should say and what evidence I should bring?

hey, I really feel for you. as you know I’m in a similar situation and I know what w*****s insurance companies can be do everything you can to not involve the police. if they whiff a chance to get some money off you they will. Seriously it’s not a road you want to go down as it will involve a lot of time, energy and money and hassle you just don't need. you said that after the accident you informed the police. I'm surprised that when you did this it didn't flash up on the police national computer as no insurance. Maybe they didn't do the check, which is good. In my opinion this is an unfortunate situation for which is not your fault. However unfair this is though, I think you would be best to cut and run. If you have the details of the other driver, try and phone him and offer compensation without going through the insurance companies if the accident was your fault. If it wasn't your fault I can't see why you can't claim off his insurance without even involving your insurance company Sue morethan. But only do this when the dust has settled and your sure the police won't get involved. If they do and discover there was no insurance on the car the following will happen. The courts will send you a summons to attend court for no insurance this will give you three options: 1. plead guilty by post. 2. plead guilty and go to court to explain your mitigating circumstances 3. plead not guilty and go to court at a later date. DO NONE OF THESE. Instead write a letter to the courts asking for a special reasons hearing. In the letter explain in detail and with evidence your special reasons. You will then have to go to court and present your case (as is happening to me next Monday). If you can convince the court you won't get any penalty points. good luck

The insurance was paid by direct debit on the 10th of every month. When the CIS tried to get the money on the 10th July and couldn't they cancelled the policy the very same day. Thats my point - they gave no warning nor any confirmation of cancellation. Funds where available about 4 or five days later but of course by then the policy was cancelled. It was only one refused DD. Just to be clear the car was owned by my dad with him as policyholder, me as named driver. Dad paid for direct debit but the CIS didn't inform either of us. Mossy you say it was my responsibilty to check I was insured but who could be expected to phone their insurance company each time they use the car - its crazy - you assume your insured unless told otherwise. whats the plan mossy?

just to clarify: Effective date of cancellation was 10th july, police seizure- 29th August. I spoke to the CIS over the phone on the actual day I was stopped and they told me (admitted) that they did NOT send out a letter but did try to phone me. I never recieved a phone call (i.e they missed me- I don't dispute they did try and call) and they said they didn't leave a message. Obviously this was verbal although I believe they do record phone conversations but how I get a copy I don't Know. As has been said, i'll write to them and arrange a letter of indemnity. Just to make things more confusing, and I probaley should have mentioned this before, I was actually driving my dads car with his permission. He was the policyholder with me as a named driver. All correspondents would have gone through him anyway so this can only make me less aware that they cancelled. Anyway the weird thing is that the court sent a summons to me for driving uninsured but didn't send a summons to my dad for (in their eyes) allowing me to drive an uninsured vechicle?!

Thanks guys for the advice especially mossycat who seems to be the resident expert. So it looks as though the insurance cannot be backdated so I’ll have to try going down a different road cos i really feel it would be a miscarriage of justice if I got penalty points and ultimately a ban – (at the time i was within first 2 years of driving) for a genuine mishap. Surely the law was created to deter tossers who purposely drive uninsured and not me who would never intentionally do such a thing. Just an update on my case; I’ve sent the court a letter of ‘special reasons’. This is basically to say I had no knowledge or most importantly no intention of driving uninsured as no notification was ever sent etc. I also included about my good driving record such as being in the institute of advanced motorists, always having a taxed good roadworthy vehicle and such like. I’m now waiting for a response to know when to attend this ‘special reasons’ hearing (which I’ve have to travel over 300 miles to!). If anyone else has been to one of these hearing I really would like to know how it went and what it involves. I would also like to know if the court only sends a summons if they think they have a good chance of conviction or is it just something thats sent as a matter of course to everyone? And to Bernie the bolt (and excuse my lack of intelligence here) you mentioned that if I wasn’t told about the cancellation that I was still insured for the purposes of RTA. Whats RTA? Just on a personal note I just want to say how ridiculous this whole fiasco has been. It’s cost me hundreds, a ruined holiday and stress that a decent citizen just doesn’t need. Its totally wrong and geared up to make you plead guilty even though you know you’ve done nothing wrong. It’s clearly just one big money making [problem] and a sad reflection of British justice today, especially when it comes to motoring offences.

if i give the CIS a right good bollocking for their failures do you think they will reinstate the policy from then to now and thus ensuring that i was actually insured at the time in question or can this not be done retrospectivly?

cheers lemontwist for your reply. as you say it was cancelled due to a miss payment on the direct debit due to my wages not going through (works fault). I wasn't aware that there was not enough money remaining in my account for the insurance. Do you know if the 14 days notice that you'd mentioned is law or a guideline they try to stick by?

Hi everyone im a new member who really needs your help. I was stopped on the m6 late august as ANPR showed i had no insurance. the police siezed the the car etc. but i recieved no fixed penalty. the thing is i had completely no idea whatsoever that the policy had been cancelled as i was never sent any warnings or letters to say it was cancelled. In my opinion there was nothing i could have done to know the policy was cancelled and so thought i was still insured. over a month later ive been sent a summons to attend court to hear the case. I really need to know if CIS insurance have a responsibilty to inform they will cancel a policy as it says they will on their website. as i can see it the court or the insurance company dont have a leg to stand on... is this the case? This whole thing has been completly unjust and really would appreciate any comments.