Thanks for the interest shown in this thread by everyone, I am happy to report that Aviva have finally responded favourably to my emails. They have credited the £53 cancellation fee back to my wife's sister-in-law, and issued her a letter of apology. I have now gone from slagging them off big time, to recommending that they be considered if you're looking for insurance.

It was Quote Me Happy, (or perhaps Unhappy.)

No I haven't, I should stress, my sister-in-law is not overly concerned with getting back the admin charge, although that would be nice. She is incandescent that Quote Me Happy just "pulled the plug" and left her unknowingly driving her car while uninsured. I thought that the Ombudsman only mediated in a dispute, and that the possible dire consequences of Q M Happy's action was not part of his remit. What I may do is, apprise the Association of British Insurers, or Insurance, of the companies actions, or lack of, to see what they say.

My brother-in-law's wife bought her car insurance from Quote Me Happy, using my computer and email address. Q M H sent her a Certificate of Insurance via email to my address in June 2013. Last week the DVLA informed her that she had no valid insurance registered on their data base. It materialised that Q M H had sent two emails to my address reminding her to provide proof of NCD. It further materialised that they had sent these emails to an address very similar to mine but with one letter omitted. They said that that was the address they were given, even though they got it right when sending the C of I. The upshot was that she was driving for 4.5 months with no valid insurance. Fortunately no incidents occurred and no police action is being taken and she is now insured with another company. When I emailed the company to ask why, when they had her address, land line, and mobile numbers they had just pulled the plug without trying to inform her of their intention, they replied, "We are an online only company, we don't mail letters or phone customers." Fortunately she got out of this fairly clean, they refunded her premium, minus a £53 admin charge. The thought of what might have happened though is terrifying, she drove uninsured for 4.5 months, completely oblivious of the fact.

In May this year my wife's sister-in-law asked if she could use our computer to search for a comparison site for car insurance. To make a long story short, I'll cut to the chase and answer any questions later, I won't mention the insurer unless the Mods ask me. She got a satisfactory quote, filled in the proposal form and remitted the full amount for 12 months insurance. She received, via email to my address, a Certificate of Insurance citing insurance from June 2013 until June 2014. Last week she received a letter from DVLA stating that no valid insurance for her vehicle appeared on their database. I contacted the insurer via email, and was told that two emails had been sent to the email address she had provided, (mine), asking for proof of NCD, when no replies were received they cancelled the insurance. In their email they quoted the email address that they had on record, it was close to mine, but minus one letter. It materialised that they had credited the premium paid back to the sister-in- law, minus a reasonable amount for the cover they had provided until cancellation, and taken a £53 admin fee. I pointed out that I was receiving their emails because they were replying to ones I had sent, which emanated from my computer, so how could they have a wrong address in their system? Plus, if I had given them a wrong address, how did they send the Certificate of Insurance to the correct one? I also asked how could they just let her drive for 4.5 months uninsured, when they had her address, and both her land line and mobile numbers to inform her of the situation? They replied that they were an on line only company and did not send snail mail or phone customers. She is not unduly bothered about the admin fee, but for 4.5 months she was driving completely unprotected, as were anyone that might have had an accident with her, fortunately she had no accidents. The police were never involved, she has no prosecution pending, and is now insured with another company, but both she and I want to apprise the public about this in order that they can avoid it happening to them.