This exact same thing happened to me with Norwich Union - I missed a dd payment and then sent a cheque which they CASHED. I had a car accident later that month and found out to my horror that they had cancelled my policy(without writing to tell me) and I was thus driving uninsured and unable to claim to get my car fixed. Never did i receive a letter informing me of this,, or asking for my certificate of motor insurance back.I made an official complaint to them which they turned down - I find this amazing since they were IN POSSESSION OF MY MONEY at the time of the accicent. I'm still fighting this now - or at least trying to. As far as they are concerned it is case closed,I'm not sure what else I can do.

I think they're useless because I believed I was fully comp insured - had an accident a few weeks ago where a car hit me, called them to report it for them to tell me my policy had been cancelled because of a missed direct debit. Thing is, I sent a cheque for the missed dd - WHICH THEY CASHED. After refusing to pay my claim, an electronic transfer of the missed premium turned up in my bank 5 days later - this could only have been sent AFTER i made the phone call reporting the claim. Not sure where i stand on this - the fact thatiwas driving uninsured scares the life outta me. i didnt receive a SINGLE letter telling me my policy was cancelled, nor any requests for my certificate of motor insurance to be returned, yet they say they sent 2, Fact is, I NEVER GOT THEM - i would have rectified the situation immediately if i had.