Hi, We recently moved house and new property did not have and working landline. Previous supplier was Virgin Media but that was cancelled by the previous occupier's family. When I looked to transfer from my current home the website said I would have to pay a new connection charge for engineer etc. As BT couldn't provide the service I arranged for Sky to provide phone line and Broadband as part of my existing TV package, BT however want to charge £169.75 early termination of contract fee and a separate charge of £31 for "cessation of broadband." My question is simple, are they entitled to make these charges as I moved house to a residence that did nnot have a supply.. Surely the contract was broken. Any advice would be gratefully received how to avoid these charges Thank You Trojan

For speeding offences i.e. those coded with a prefix SP then under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act, if the conviction date is over 5 years then it is considered spent and you do not need to disclose it. For accidents/incidents whether a claim made or not and irrespective of blame, you must disclose all incidents within 5 years prior to the date of application. If in any doubt though you should disclose any information which may be relevant to the risk. The insurer will decide whether the information is material to the risk or not.

This is an interesting case (I work in the business) and from the evidence stated here, it does appear that the Third Party is at fault and she is trying to dig herself out of a big hole. I will be interested to see how this pans out. Please keep us informed. You BiL suffered minor injury, has he claimed for this? If so then the TP Insurer is obliged to acknowledge within 21 days whether they intend to contest. There is a framework used by insurers for injury claims via the MoJ which has strict timescales which the insurers must adhere to. If he hasn't done so, it may be worth persuing this angle too. Speak to a reputable solicitor specialising in this field and not an ambulance chaser.

There are a number of Insurers who will accept a letter from your employer confirming the number of years claim free. Some however will only accept a letter from the fleet insurer. If you work for a large company and have a risk/insurance dept then speak to them. You must though have been allocated a vehicle and had use for SDP and not just had the occasional use of a pool car.

To clarify some of the points raised in this post which I trust will be useful to other Caggers.... *Driving other Cars* extension under your own policy provides Third Party Only cover should you drive and vehicle not owned/registered to you. It is not something to rely on and was originally designed for use in an emergency. Most Personal Lines insurers no longer provide this extension and very rare under commercial contracts. If someone needed to claim whilst driving under this extension, it would be the driver's own insurance policy that would respond, not the owner of the vehicle. Whilst you have now covered this temporarily, the driving warranty must be for "any driver" otherwise you will need to ensure that any prospective purchaser has the correct "driving other cars" extension to their policy. If not, they could be prosecuted for driving without insurance and you can also be prosecuted for allowing someone to drive a vehicle without insurance.

The advice given here is good but to add to it, the scheme will be a "binding" authority where Towergate sets the rates. They have a number of such schemes. The broker will take a commission to sell and administer policies through their agency. However, claims should be directed to and handled by Towegate. Policy sound like the standard farming all risks policy however I'm surprised there is a limit as low as £5k for this. If the issue though is with your broker I suggest you report them firstly to Towergate then to the FCA. Towergate have the ability to remove the broker from their panel.

If it's on the MID then you will not get stopped if pinged by ANPR however should you have an accident or need to make a claim then you may find out that due to a technicality the renewal did not go through when it is too late. It is your responsibility to ensure that your insurance is valid and the fact that you know you haven't paid would be a significant factor against you should you make a complaint. Advice therefore is to contact the insurer as if lapsed on their records it may not be possible to reinstate it. You comment about reminding them of their "own mistake" may backfire as the onus legally is on you.

Unclebulgaria is correct, an excess whether compulsory or voluntary for own damage is payable by the policyholder irrespective of blame. If however the incident was not your fault and an identifiable third party is responsible then it may be possible to recover your excess and any other out of pocket expenses. If you were in a car park where you had to pay then you may be in a position to recover from them. It's worth a try doing so as unless your insurer can recover too, you will probably lose part of your NCD.

If you've reported this to your insurers, they should deal with the summons. Advise the court that you are forwarding this to your insurance company ( use the contesting section to advise them ). You don't need to take any further action - but do ensure the court is aware.

I renewed my Tesco car insurance in November ant it was cheaper than the previous year. It was my first renewal with Tesco. When I rang to query, they said that they no longer price match, haggle etc but offer their best renewal price first time which to be honest is quite ad. mirable. Their standard wording is one of the better ones in the market so I renewed. Although there were one or two cheaper ones out their, the covers were pretty basic. The "get 2 months free" advertising is simply a gimmick but people are still taken in by it. Look for free instalments or cheaper deals with the same cover. Ironically, Tesco, Direct Line and Churchill all use the same insurer - UK Insurance !!

There are two seperate issues here, the voiding of the policy and the "admin" fee. Adrian Flux are a broker who specialise in non-mainstream risks and knowing the insurers that AF deal with I'm suprised that your occupation causes an issue. That said, the Insurer are within their rights to void the policy when thy know the full facts. I don't use or trust these comparison sites ( well, I use only as a guide ) for reasons like this. Forttuneately the vehicle registration would've been input on the MID immediately so no danger of you being pulled for no insurance. They have declared the policy Null & Void from inception however should you have had an accident driving the vehicle back home and before you received thenotification then as RTA insurer, the insurer AF placed you with would be obliged to deal. Now the fact that they've stated the policy was voided as opposed to cancelled essentially means the policy wasn't in place so turning now to the admin fee, they should not be charging for something that's not been provided. Your arguement with AF is that you provided your details in good faith and the "computer said yes" so you paid in good faith. The insurer found the occupation to be unacceptable but if that was the case, how did the aggregator site quote ? They cannot and should not be charging for this. Give them this explaination & I'm sure you'll get your money back. If they still don't, I may have other ideas ! Out of curiosity, what questions were you asked ( obviously not the answer Lol ! ). Let us know how you get on Trojan

Guys I was being practical and suggesting that if there wasn't a claim involved then the insurer should not be persuing the correct "underwriting" rate as the annual policy would have lapsed. I am well versed in underwriting having worked in the industry for the past 25 years. Fortunately I got out of personal lines as "no experience needed" now as it's all automated without the need for actual underwriters who know what they are doing - I can quote from a text book too !!!

Provided that you have not made a claim or any potential claim pending then simply move insurers. This is a nasty habit personal lines carriers are getting into as it's very difficult to prove disclosure one way or the other. I don't believe they can persue you for any additional premium provided there is no claim. Make sure you check who the actual insurer is though to ensure that they are not from the same group.

Who has authorised £9k a month for credit hire ? If this is a non-fault incident, I suggest you speak to the Lorry Insurers as they may be in a position to mitigate the total loss given the ridiculous quote for credit hire. This is one of the reasons that motor insurance costs so much !

A disqualification though will NOT invalidate your NCD. Rule of thumb is 2 years but certainly Aviva and CIS (Co-op) spring to mind. Might be worth speaking to Tesco too.

I'm assuming that you have a "combined" shop/cafe policy which is essentially a comprehensive policy covering vrious perils and including public liability. Should there be no exclusion by the council in the placement of "street furniture" and signage and, as you say, all reasonable precations taken to ensure secure then I fail to see where your insurer can refute your claim. This should clearly come under the PL section of your policy ( have seen many examples in the past where similar incidentshave been covered ) and would expect the policy to respond. I suggest you write to the insurer ( not broker ) using the address for complaints which should be stated at the end of your policy document, and ask for clarity of the specif wording of the exclusion etc. I can't think how this can be excluded. They are trying to wriggle outof it as this is clearly a liability to a third party incident and weather cannot be excluded - what if the cause was a chimney poy falling ??? If they continue to refute, please put a copy of your policy on here so we can pick holes in it. Also advise who/where has refuted claim.

DJW, An insurer does have the right to recover any outlay they make should your policy be voided but in all the years I've worked in this industry, I've never actually heard of any enforcement to an individual for motor. I would however question why the insurer is looking to void your policy. Is it a minor non-disclosure or omission such as forgetting about an incident a few years back or a minor conviction. More personal lines motor insurers are trying to get out of paying claims etc than ever before ( not just the .com pirates but some so called reputable ones ) and is simply a way of increasing profit/reduce overheads and certanly not in the consumer interest. I would therefore challenge their reasonong behind the potential voiding of police. If you could provide full details then perhaps I or someone else may be able to offer further advice.

Hi Rebel11, I've now had a reply from the letting agent who effectively are washing their hands of the situation and referring me to the LL. I've explained to them the issues in my letter however they just keep saying that "and repairs" etc are the LL's responsibility as the LL is the managing agent. I've no idea on tenancy law however I would've thought that the Letting Agency was acting on behalf on the LL ( thus his agent ) and have responsibility to put right any problems. My arguement is that I did not have an opportunity to challenge anything on the Inventory prior to signing the tenancy. Does anyone know "in Law" if am I entitled to cancel this tenency on an "ad Initio" basis - if that's the right terminoligy for this sector of law !! Thanks

Whilst my own area is large corporate type insurance, the same principle will agree to an annual policy whereby there will not be a cancellation clause - as it is a commercial product, the usual 14 day cooling off period will not apply. Instaments are simply a facility to pay the annual premium. Saying that though the insurer/broker would be obliged under the FSA to provide full renewal documentation within 30 days of the renewal date. I think the best way of trying to resolve the issue is to get a letter from the FA confirming you were covered under their group arrangements and any Insurer worth their salt will agree to cancel "ab Initio" i.e. as if no cover was in force. Strictly speaking though, they are within their right.

Yeats, As this is a "Commercial" Insurance policy, you certainly would need to give an agreement to renew however in general, this is an annual contract and probably only has a cancellation clause benefitting the Insurer and not the policyholder. Liability claims can have a long tail i.e. claims made long after expiry but during the period cover was granted hence the reasoning that no rebate would be forthcoming. If you can get a letter from your County FA confirming there was a duplication in cover and that the FA policy would respond in the event of any claim then your insurer may consider the policy void and cancel "ab initio". Personally though I think you may be stuck with the policy in view of potential claims occurring - worth checking with the FA though.

Just done so - see above post

Wisona30, Please see my thread which may also be of assistance to you Trojan http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/residential-commercial-lettings/261839-tenancy-signed-house-not.html

Thanks very much for you prompt response which I'm sure will be of assistance to others in a similar situation.

Apologies, just noticed Wiosna30's was a duplicate post any have read the comments on the original. I would be grateful if comment could be made in respect of my letter. FYI - Monies paid by Bank Draft for an Assured Shorthold Tenancy

Hi All, My situation is very similar to that of Wiosna30 in that on we signed ( and paid deposit + 1 month rent ) ant the letting agent late on Friday. We went on Saturday to check all ok however to our horror it was not as expected. We viewed the property twice and all appeared well and previous tenant seemed resonable. However when we viewed on Sat AM, all was not well & wife was in tears. I therefore spent 4 hours there yesterday noting all faults etc. A professional inventory was carried out with a number of observations and recommendations however non carried out. One of the immediate observations was that there were no longer any curtain poles, the house was in dire need of redecoration and no cleaning had been done. I am attaching a letter which I've written to the agent however really need to have some expert advice on this matter. We are due to move out of current property on Friday as current LL selling property however we cannot move into the property in its current state, especially with two young children - It needs a good couple of 000s spending on it not withstanding the fact we can't put up any curtains. I would be grateful for someone to advise me of my rights here bearing in mind we have paid over £2k in deposit, rent and handling fees. I intend to speak to CAB tomorrow but meantime want to get this letter off to the Letting Agent today by e-mail if possible. I appreciate a lot to read but hoping for your informed responses soonest ( and will also help Wiosna30) Many thanks in anticipation Trojan CAG - Ltr 1.doc