Hi All. I am having a real headache at the moment with homeinsure.co.uk / Thames bank insurance. Background: I split up from my ex-wife some time ago, but as we own a property together (wholly on my name) and no one else lives at the property, i still left some of my contents there as it is the safest place for them. This included some photography equipment, cycles etc. Additionally, all the bills etc on the property are on my name as i deal with anything official in relation to the property. The building is insured via a block management policy. History: Back in 2016 i took out a policy with homeinsure.co.uk (Thames bank insurance (HI)), as it happened to be the cheapest via confused.com The policy cost in the region of £185 for contents only. At the time, i was not advised that the policy would automatically be renewed. At the point of renewal in 2017, HI sent me an email, which ended up in junk mail with the policy renewal details, additionally if i recall no credit agreement details were sent. Unfortunately, i missed the window to cancel the policy by a few days. The policy cost had increased, even though no claims had been made. Unfortunately, due to serious health issues i wasn't able to argue the point, so left the policy standing. I am sure I did however request the policy not be renewed again. This policy cost was around £255 (37.8% increase). Current - The issue Fast forward to 2018, i no longer use the email address they email on as it is full of junk mail. I only found out the policy had renewed after receiving a credit alert of a new finance agreement, after some investigation i found out it was with creation on behalf of HI. The new policy was around £310. I contacted HI 3 days past the 14 day cooling off period. I spoke to a really arrogant team leader who refused to cancel unless i paid the cancellation fees plus additional charges. I said i would discuss with my ex and call back. Again, i had not agreed to a renewal or a new credit agreement. I then received an email on 31st December stating my insurance would be cancelled with no reasons given. I called back again on 07/01/2019 to find out how much the cancellation would actually cost. I was advised this would be £105 (premiums + cancellation fee). I was then dragged into a call with the same supervisor as previous which dragged on for 50 minutes. During the call I mentioned I do not live at the property yet have belongings there and the insurance and every other bill is on my name. The supervisor then mentioned we would not be insured in the event of a claim. I stated she was on the policy documents as well. The supervisor then mentioned my ex would need to be on the deeds. Every time I came to a decision she would try to confuse the matter further - almost just to antagonise me. Two options where on the table: Pay £35 and change the policy into my ex's name only. Pay £105 and cancel the policy. After consideration, the customer service, HI's annoying staff , we decided to pay the £105 and cancel as a new policy elsewhere would have cost around £80, and at least I would not have to deal with their antagonistic supervisor again. The supervisor then demanded I pay the balance immediately. To which I refused and wanted a breakdown. A few days later I receive an email saying I owe them £170. Had we been made aware of this we would not have cancelled and just let the policy run on. So my questions are: They quoted me £105 to leave. Was that binding? I was never advised that I would not be covered if I did not live at the property, and having my ex's name on the policy wouldn’t change anything. Which means I was not actually covered since the inception of the policy. Do I have a right to claim the policy back? - I have requested the call recordings from the inception of the policy. And of the last conversation I had with them - not heard anything back. How long do they have to provide me with the call recordings - I want them for my complaint to the FCA. They added a £10 'set up fee', and the cost of £45 for emergency cover in the £170 Any other advise would be appreciated. Thanks

Hi All Jut after bit of advice. I recently lost my pandora bracelet and 8 charms on holiday. I made a claim when I returned on my travel insurance. Limit for a single item was £300. My claim for the bracelet and charms was £490.00. They will only pay £300 as they say it was 1 item. Would you say this was correct? Charms were all bought separately over a period of a couple of years.

Hi all I'm wondering if anyone can help regarding a Single Justice Procedure Notice regarding driving without insurance. I was stopped by the police for having no insurance which they had checked on their database. I have not had insurance for a while as I cannot afford it. I have done my best to drive my car very sparingly, infact have only driven a couple of times. To summarise, my vehicle was impounded and has been scrapped. I received the SJN and have plead guilty within the deadline of 21 days. I did not write anything in terms of mitigation as I feared it might be used against me. I filed my statement of means, which are very small as I work only part time (I am a student). I have a previous MS90 which I got by accident as I never received the SPN for very mild speeding but this charge is now spent. Will this affect the outcome? I am wondering what the likely size of the fine will be? And wether there will be any other consequences such as a driving ban? Thank you in advance for your help.

Please can you guys advise me what I can do. The Third party insurance making it very difficult and seem like they are looking for ways not to pay. If this is the case I will be liable for the costs, which would set me back in life. Background 1.I had a collision, and claimed for the damage to my car personal injury. (it was non-fault but the Third party claimed 50/50). The case went one. 2. Third Party gave me a cheque for half on non-prejudice basis. The day they sent this, My solicitor took the hire car back from me. 3. Cheques take some time to clear, However I saw a car I liked. I asked for a loan from my cousin, on the basis that I pay him back when the cheque clears. (he previously said no, as I had nothing to pay him back. A few months down the line my solicitor called me. They cant get a better offer than 50/50. Its his word against mine. I asked what will happen to the hire car fees. They said you will get half. The other half will be written off by the hire company. I agreed. I thought everything was done,. but 7 weeks later... Issues 1. Third party wants proof I brought a car (I give them insurance documents) 2. Third party checks my bank statements. They ask were is the transaction for the car. (The car was brought cash in hand, I gave them proof of the bank transactions of my cousin loaning me money, plus screen shots from his bank. And screen shot that he paid my insurance money. 3. Third party gets in touch again. Where is the cheque we gave you and why did you not borrow money earlier. (I sent a screen shot of the cheque in my bank and said no one wanted to give me a loan) but once the cheque was posted I had people willing to loan me money as I had means to pay them back. not heard anything back yet. Questions Why are they making it so hard? I just want this to over. My life has been put on hold. Because I am afraid of what may happen if they refuse to pay. I seen many posters around about the same situations, but never the final result. I just don't want to keep prolonging this. I have provided enough evidence to show the need for a hire car, plus they have my bank statements they know my financial situation. what more do you think they can ask?

Having been on the wrong side of Insurance Companies and having my insurance voided through a careless error in filling out an online comparison application, I decided to start a government petition to try to get insurance voids time limited. Insurance voids can happen for many reasons, careless errors, unintentional omissions, financial difficulty, negligence, black box insurance contraventions. It's fair to punish offenders but not for life, this needs to be time limited like penalty points on a license. If this issue has affected you or anyone in your family please sign and share this petition. petition.parliament.uk/petitions/238286 Thanks

Had 250ltr of our hot water tank leak through the ceiling recently. There was a little damage there before (shower leaked a few years ago) but it was too much hassle to fix. Now the damage is much much worse. The insurance are paying for the flooring but are refusing to pay for the ceiling saying I've not experienced any financial loss because it was damaged already? Is this normal? Surely its like saying you can't have a new carpet if its wrecked because there was a fag burn on one corner?

Hello people, I am new on this forum so please have patience with me. Last year I was searching for insurance for my girlfriend's car so I went on money supermarket or confused (can't remember exactly which one ) I put the details on there HER being the policyholder and me as named driver on policy with the option for business miles everything ok i got quotes from a lot of companies and we have chosen GoSkippy from the whole list, made the papers put down details for direct debit insurance went on and i though I have a business insurance but I was mistaken. The problems started yesterday when she changed the workplace and the new company asked her for business insurance (she is a career). I phoned the company to ask them to put her also on the business insurance and then i had the surprise when they told me she has the business insurance, not me. I told them that they give me a quote for the business insurance for the named driver, not for the policy owner and they told me that they don't do business insurance for the named driver only for the policy owner and they gave the policyholder a phone call (after 2-3 month we made the policy) but no one answered, and they indeed acknowledged that they had the initial proposal with business miles for the named driver but they changed that and they dint told us. I asked the lady what was happening if the police caught me without the business insurance and they impound the car and she told me i with be to blame.I asked for a cancelation of the insurance she said ok but i have to pay some cancelation fees , and i told her i with not pay because its not my fault either they put me also on the insurance with business miles or cancel for free the insurance and she told me that neither one of my options are available. What options do i have here? Because apparently, i lose either way. Thank You PS : The lady from the phone aknoleged that the conversation is recorded and that they changed the original proposal with the new one without informing us. PS: Please excuse my writing, i am a foreigner i am learning now how to properly write in English. Thank you again for your patience.

Hi. This has become a talking point between me and my biker mates. Why are we asked to pay pillion insurance? My full bike licence entitles me to carry a pillion, and I do not need an insurance company's further permission. Car drivers are not asked to pay for passenger insurance. Several of us have asked our insurance companies, normally at renewal, what this is for. Answers range from "It's illegal to carry a pillion if they aren't insured seperately" to "It's so we can represent the pillion if they are injured." The first is obviously wrong, the second raises so many further questions that it is untenable. Would they really represent the pillion against their own insured if the insured were at fault? I know that drivers/riders can be liable if an injury is caused by their actions. We just haven't been able to find a definitive answer and I know that several people believe that it's just another way to get a few extra pounds from us. Thank you in advance for any interest.

Hi, can anyone help at all. I received this letter from peter vardy recently. I purchased my car 12 month ago, and paid £399 for Gap insurance for 4 years. The letter is as follows "We hope you are enjoying your new car and would recommend us to your friends and family. As part of our commitment to forging a long-term relationship with all our clients we hope you will allow us to continue to look after your car long into the future. Whilst writing we have taken the liberty of attaching your status disclosure document relating to the insurance product you have purchased from us. We can confirm that you have a purchased GAP insurance policy which started on xx/11/2017. Our records show these details may have been omitted when you ordered your vehicle. You are not required to take any further action as a result of this letter, however receipt of this letter will start your statutory cancellation period detailed in your policy summary. Full information on the policy can be found in your terms and conditions, which you have already received. Please accept our apologies for this oversight. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. Head of Compliance." Now to me this reads like the statutory cancellation periods starts from when I have received this letter, in November 2018. I phoned the number on the letter, and the call handler says no, that the notice period starts from when I took out the policy? any help appreciated.

Hi all, I have been refused life and income insurance by legal and General after they rejected me based on my medical report. I had cancer 17 years ago, not an aggressive tumor and my consultant is positive it will never come back. It was a very rare tumor and only a specialist consultant would know the details. Basically they have took one look at my report and refused me. Can I appeal? Can I request to see their report (not my medical records but why they refused me) Can anyone recommend an insurance company? Thankyou!!

Name on my NI Card, is not in full as on my Passport I was given the NI card with a short version of my name. Anyway I've have applied for a job, where I need to show my NI card (which are no longer produced) or NI Record, which I believe is no online, can I go online to the HRMC site register and update my NI record, so my name is now in full as per my Passport? Its not a name change, but update to my full name as on Passport

Hello all, Had to guess as to the best place to put this as a bit of an odd case this: A year or more ago I took out Income Protection Insurance with Trent services. On May the 3rd 2018 I was told -totally out of the blue- that I was to be made redundant. Last week I received a letter from Trent services saying they were going into administration but a new company was taking over from May the 9th so I needn't worry. The issue is that my "incident date" as they call it, is six days prior to that and therefore, although my claim is legitimate, it can't be/won't be paid. The old company has no money to pay it. The no one won't accept responsibility and my employers can't change the date of my redundancy because of potential audit repercussions. This puts me in a pretty dangerous situation as I have only just committed to a new mortgage (two hours prior to redundancy!) Is there anything I can do? Thanks all Ali

I have found that Barclaycard/ Stonebridge had been charging me for an accidental death insurance I did not want or apply for some years ago as being self employed and working at heights I had to carry my own special accidental death insurance. I have contacted both companies in March 2017, they passed me back and forth until late last year with no result other than an offer of £25 from Barclays and £50 from Stonebridge which I did not accept. In Stonebridges case they wanted me to sign a form saying that the payment was in full and final settlement which I found strange. I went on to make a claim through the Financial Ombudsman, but they were about as useful as a chocolate fireguard. They have just come back to me to say they cannot help. My question is should I now make a claim on the small claims court and if so who shall I make the claim against as I do not want to get bogged down between the two companies again. Any advice would be welcome. I have full documentation and a sequence of events if that helps. Many thanks for any help.

Hi everyone, I am looking for some advice as to the application of the Consumer Rights Act or other relevant legislation to insurance replacements. The situation is as follows: I had an iPhone replaced under insurance in March of this year. It was replaced with a brand new, sealed unit in original Apple packaging. The phone has developed a fault 5 months after receiving it. On contacting Apple, they advised that they were not the retailer and that I should contact the people I got it from and request a replacement under the Consumer Rights Act. Apple did, however, completely accept that the fault was a manufacturing or pre existing fault and actually told me that if they had directly supplied the original phone, they would have replaced it no questions asked. I have contacted the insurance company and asked for a replacement and they have refused to replace the phone without me making a new claim and paying an excess. They claim that their T&Cs state they only offer a 90 day warranty and that the Consumer Rights Act does not apply to them. I argued that they supplied me a new item, which I have indirectly paid for as I pay the insurance premium that allowed the replacement and therefore I have consumer rights and they should replace the item. It is my opinion that they are acting in the same capacity as a retailer when they supplied the phone and hence should afford me the same rights. So, my questions are: Who is right? Should I pursue a claim or give up and pay the excess? Is there any other legislation that is relevant here? Do I perhaps have some rights with the O2, the original retailer of both the phone and insurance policy? Note that O2 Insurance is not actually part of O2 at all, they are actually Brightstar Insurance, a separate company. Thanks in advance! rune

Friend of mine had a limited company and his van is on finance in the name of the limited company. The V5 is in the name of the company but the insurance is in his personal name. I don't think there is anything wrong there as you can insure (with owners permission) a vehicle that does not belong to you. but - the ltd company is now dissolved, he is still paying the finance. How does he stand legally with regard the V5 being in the name of a dissolved company and the insurance in own name.

Trying to add a replacement car to my car insurance as previous written off-no fault of mine..other driver went into me whilst I was stationery. Case still open. I need to insure a replacement car but my insurance has advised I have to register this incident as my fault until case concluded. Apparently both parties have to register same on insurance until case concluded. Can anyone advise how I can get a car insured without trebling my premium..

Just to let people know about the trouble I have had with budget insurance. I took out van insurance with them in May this year, as well as the insurance I took out break down cover. This month I had purchased a new van , when I tried changing the insurance over to my new van Budget wanted to double my premiums even thou through an online comparison site they were quoting £20 cheaper than I was paying. When I queried this they said that was for new customers and not for existing customers and they would not budge. I decided to cancel the insurance and has to pay £50 cancellation fee as well as £48 for the break down cover as this was non refundable. I raised a formal complaint with them and they did refund the cancellation fee but they will not refund the £48 breakdown cover, so I am now paying for breakdown cover that I cannot use and cannot transfer. Hope this helps some one else JJ

Is it possible to force the landlords insurance to provide a copy of a survey they carried out due a insurance repair job that was queried as poor workmanship by the landlord ?

Hi everyone. We've had a motor trade policy for 5 years now. 10 days before renewal this year, the insurer flagged up 4 vehicles we've had for a while, and wanted proof of ownership and V5s. I neglected to send these when requested. Over the next few days, they started sending me emails regarding renewal, and that the policy will auto renew. The policy autorenewed, but I know they always want proof of trading (ie. recent invoices) and driving licences. I could see emails coming through, that we had X days to send these documents. In all this, I understood that the deadline for the documents for the renewal was 5pm on the 25th May. I sent the proofs of trading and driving licences, and said in my email "Here are the documents for renewal", and asked to confirm some details about cover. The lady answered my email, but didn't mention those previous proofs of OWNERSHIP of the other vehicles. I assumed those were for the past policy (same insurer). I carried on as normal, awaiting the insurance certificate. It never came, and the following Thursday 31st May (almost a week later) I called them at 4pm to chase it up. I was then informed that insurance had been cancelled due to not providing those proofs of ownership. I'd never gotten so much as a courtesy email informing me of this, and had been driving uninsured for a week. They said if I sent them, they would see about insuring me again. As it was late, they called me the following day (1st June) to say they could cover me, but that since it's a new month, the premium is now £450 more. They wouldn't budge. AND I now have a cancelled policy in my history, bumping up my premiums. Now my question is, all the policies so far were under our Ltd company which is being closed down. Obviously on the schedule of fact it was "Mr X and Miss X (XXX Ltd)" and the account payer for the insurance (on their docs) is "XXX Ltd". We are no longer trading under that Ltd company, we are now a partnership. So when we're asked have you ever had a policy cancelled, what do we say? Legally, if I say no, since the cancelled policy was under a Ltd company, am I covered? Thank you.

I was in a car crash in October with my husband and our children, the car was written off and we ended up having to pay the entire years premiums within 7 days. We weren't in the wrong, but the knock on effect of an open claim has left us having to pay higher insurance premiums and we were unable to replace our car for months. I've wrote this in depth, but I can't paste it from here, unless somebody else can. I was just wondering if anyone has had a similar experience and if so, how long did it take until it came to an end? My husband, our children and I were in a car crash in October 2017 after a man decided it would be a good idea to turn his head 90 degrees to the left whilst driving at the national speed limit, going around a corner! We were travelling in the opposite direction to this man, when my husband noticed him. My husband drove us completely off the (county) road, to the left and stopped the car. The man then decided to look at the road he was driving on and noticed us, then his instincts told him to swerve his car, head on into us! We were off the road, there was no other traffic in either direction. The road was clear for him, but he ran his car into us on his right!! He started up his car and tried to drive away, but his car made a crunching sound and stopped him. The police just happened to drive by and it was (we thought) clear who was at fault, but his insurance company is big and ours are small, and someone on the drivers side is denying liability, even though the driver had previously accepted it. Our car was written off, car seats were rendered unsafe and we were faced with an insurance bill of almost £1k, to be paid in 7 days, because apparently, when your car is written off, you need to pay the remaining balance to your insurer and we were 2 weeks into our new insurance cycle. We live in an isolated rural area, a 2-hour drive away from our nearest family and my husband had a 2 hours drive to get to work and back each day. 'Luckily' this happened on my husband's first day of our holiday week, so we had a bit of time to try and sort something out. We eventually got a courtesy car, but it wouldn't accommodate all our family and the cost of replacing the car seats was too high for us to cover. Just the cost of getting a courtesy car cost us a small fortune, having to go back and forth (40+ miles) to the hire company and garage by bus, over 4-5 days. We were foolish to think that this would be resolved easily. We were on the right side of the road, the other driver wasn't, simple right? We were faced with the reality that the £1k we'd just paid the insurers, to pay off our annual car insurance bill, was not going to be finding it's way back to us anytime soon and now Christmas and 2 of our kids' birthdays were here! Credit cards and overdrafts were now needed to do the shopping and we were unable to spend Christmas with our family, which had never happened before. It devastated my parents and the kids' missed spending the day surrounded by all their family, like they'd grown up with. I can't drive and buses don't run here very often, and the cost of getting to the nearest town with the kids is over £20 to get there. I wasn't able to leave the house until January, when we were able to buy another car. We have continued back and forth with the insurance company, but it's now June 2018 and all our money went into paying the insurance company and replacing our car. I can't believe that this is our reality! Our insurance company has told us it's now our word against theirs, and we've been advised to back down, but we weren't in the wrong, so we told them no and that we wanted to fight the decision, but that now means that there's no end in sight and that money we paid, will not be returned until the case is closed. We are unable to have a holiday this year, we haven't had one for years, but we'd saved for the previous few years and all that saving paid the insurers and replaced a previously decent car. The kids don't feel as safe as they did and I don't feel like I can keep them safe anymore. This man is still on the road, driving around our area and that's the worst thing. He's a danger to himself and everyone else. I would really appreciate any help anyone could offer and if anyone knows how long this is likely to go on, that would help greatly. I know there are so many more needy cause on here, we have a house and we have staple foods like pasta, so we're not in as much need as those with ill children, so I don't expect or want funds that could otherwise help those causes. I just wanted to share our story and perhaps make a change to the way these things are dealt with, because our problems are very real. Thank you for reading.

My daughter is NOT self-employed but works for a company that requires her to meet clients within the region she works in. Her contract does not state that she had to have a car but she has been told that she must use her car to go meet clients. Fair enough. When she went to claim her fuel expenses they refused because they said she needs business insurance on her vehicle and once she produces a certificate to prove this they will then pay for the fuels at 45p per mile. W Why should she have to pay for business insurance, it is not her business. She has said she would be happy to get it insured for business and then claim it back from the company but they say they wont pay it. She likes the job and does not want to leave but as I say this was not written in her contract. Others within the company have forked out for business insurance just to get peace but my daughter is taking a stand on this. Where does she stand legally? Any help or advice is much appreciated.

So I need some advice. Long story short, I was working for a small lettings agent. I was given a company car however the owner told me to take out personal car insurance, stating that he would pay the monthly direct debit. This was the case and I was working their for a couple of months until unforntualy I had an accident in the car making it a write off. I then had to claim on the insurance, the car was paid out, after that the owner decided he didn't want me to work their anymore. I then lost my job, the owner canceled the direct debit for the insurance which then, in turn, caused Direct Line to cancel the insurance. I then, however, started receiving letters from Direct line insurance stating that I owed the £1809.71 for the rest of the insurance premium as per the terms and conditions. I ignored these letters for months, however, I am now receiving letters from Moorcroft Debt recovery LTD who have been instructed by Direct Line insurance to collect this £1809.71. I need some advice asap, I am currently not in a situation where I can pay off this debt and to be honest I don't really want to.

Ace and Studio customers who purchased optional accidental damage and theft insurance are entitled to a refund Through our own review we have identified concerns with this insurance, which was sold through the Ace and Studio brands, and have notified the FCA. We concluded, along with the FCA that the insurance did not provide adequate value to customers. Therefore, together with Assurant General Insurance Limited and ANV (which is now part of AmTrust at Lloyd's) who were at various times the underwriters of the insurance, we wish to put customers back in the position that they would have been in had they not purchased the insurance. What we're doing to put things right We have designed and agreed a customer contact and refund programme and will refund Ace and Studio customers the premium they paid for the insurance together with interest. The average premium amount to be refunded will be approximately £38. We have identified approximately 330,000 affected customers. https://www.express-gifts.co.uk/looking-after-our-pp-customers And ... https://www.thinkmoney.co.uk/news-advice/bought-cover-from-a-catalogue-company-how-to-get-a-refund-0-8575-0.htm

hey hoping someone can advise me! I had my first car insurance cancelled in 2013 coming up to 5 years ago the reason being that i took the policy out as i was buying my first car and mistakenly said id had my licence for 1 year (id had it for 10 months) so when i sent my licence as proof they cancelled the insurance. The fact is it was a silly mistake,i just thought oh its been around a year i wasnt trying to deceive them as i knew i was going to have to send proof anyway.. i now seem to be paying for this mistake! Will I have to disclose forever? and as a consequence most insurers will turn me away? My current insurer know all this but my premium remains nearly the same as when i first took it out despite the fact i am now older than 25, have 5 years no claims and have a 1.3 litre car.

Hi guys, About a year ago my daughter in Law was reversing out of a parking bay in her local Tesco car park. As she was doing so another driver came up fast behind her and there was a very minor collision (nothing more than scuff marks). They exchanged details and when she got home she informed her insurance company (Hastings). They duely recorded her account of what happened, told her not to worry about it and that they would probably ask Tesco for any CCTV evidence they may have. That was the last she heard of it until yesterday. Shes now received a letter from some solicitors (cant remember the name) saying that they represent LV (the other drivers insurance Co) and demand just over £1700 within the next 7 days or they WILL proceed with court action. It would seem that the other driver has claimed on his own insurance and the insurance Co are now trying to claim it back from my daughter in Law. So Im wondering where she stands with this? How can a solicitor demand money from her for a decision made behind her back and which gave her no chance of defending herself? Is this just a solicitor trying to pull a fast one or are they entitled to do this? Im waiting for a copy of the letter and will post it up when it arrives, but my son mentioned that it contains clauses from the Road Traffic Act etc. Thoughts anyone?