car insurance cancelled, refused to give premium back.

[Ylow01]

I phoned to cancel my car insurance as i had sold my car, when I phoned to cancel it, they said they had already cancelled it!

 

I asked why and they said someone had called them to say that i didnt live at my address!

I told them thats rubbish as i do live there, they said they sent me a letter on the 12th giving me 7 days to prove my address

and as they hadnt received anything they cancelled it.

 

I had not received a letter I had only received an email from them on the 18th saying to send them the proof

and that i had 7 days from that email to prove to them or they would cancel it.

 

I had phoned them on the 23rd to cancel my insurance.

 

I told them they didnt give me the full 7 days to prove my address so they shouldnt of cancelled it.

 

The lady said that I would not be getting my premium back unless i send them this proof in the form of two utility bills.

 

I pay rent to my landlord who then pays for the gas, electric, etc...

I asked him for copies so i can send it to them and he wont give it to me!

 

I had only been with the insurer for two weeks and the are now keeping the full annual premium of £800 which is a lot of money to lose for no reason.

 

Is there anything I can do to get my money back?

 

Help!!!

[dacouc]

Tenancy agreement

[Ylow01]

Its not a proper tenancy, im staying at a friend of a friends place, i just pay him the money and he deals with the bills. I havnt signed any tenancy agreement and they was adamant that it has to be utility bills.

[honeybee13]

Hello there.

 

You've posted about car insurance. I'm sorry if I've misunderstood, I'm not sure why you're talking about utility bills.

 

My best, HB

[Ylow01]

To get my premium back they said i need to send two utility bills addressed to that address to prove that I live at that address.

I have already sent them my one years no claims bonus proof that has my name and that address on it so they know i have been insured for at least a year at that address.

Were they in the right to cancel my insurance before the seven days they gave me to prove my address?

[Ylow01]

My car insurance was cancelled without my knowledge! My insurance company had given me 7 days to send them some info or they would cancel it but they cancelled my policy before the seven days were up! Furthermore, they said they're not going to give me back my premium as they believe fraudulent activity was being done but I was not able to prove everything as when I rang to speak to them they had already cancelled it. Is this right, are they able to do that? Please help!

[BanditQueen]

Your insurance can cancel your insurance but they have to give you 7 days written notice. They should not have done it before the 7 days and they should may-be have given more time for the information. However, they have cancelled it and they believe they have acted correctly. You should at once get more insurance with another company and do not attempt to drive a car unless you have valid insurance as at the moment, right or wrong you do not have this. Then you need to write a strong letter of complaint about the cancelled letter and that you gave them the information as soon as you were reasonably able to do so. You should complain to them that you acted in good faith and that they have not produced one piece of evidence to support their claims of fraud. Ask them to do so and to refund your money. If they do not then take the complaint to the underwritter and then to the ombudsman. I would not go back with these people. The other problem you now have is getting new insurance as you will be asked have you ever had a policy cancelled or terms applied. For goodness sake do not lie! That will invalidate your insurance. Explain what has happened and that you have made a complaint: that will mitigate your application and will help to clear the way to new insurance. If they ask you to send them any documents: make sure you do so as soon as you have them or on request. If you do not: then contact them and tell them you cannot send the information in 7 days but will get it for them within 28 days. Send it recorded delivery! I am not being funny: but the application form is a contract between you and the company and it is based on a term called utmost good faith. You have to be honest with them or it invalidates the insurance. And yes, in certain circumstances they can and will cancel your insurance if they do not believe the contract has been made under that term. But they should also treat you fairly and not just cancel because they have not had some information and certainly before the term they say is up. You can also ask for more information and ask them to prove any claims that they make. Good faith is both ways. Whatever you do, make sure you have proper legal insurance before driving your car, and then make sure you complain to the horrible company that you have been with.

[honeybee13]

Hello again.

 

As you had two threads running about this, I have merged them.

 

HB

[TSx]

It's an odd situation.

 

By far the easiest option is to just prove your address to them. They have cancelled for mis-representation and if they can prove fraud, they are entitled to keep the premium.

 

The 7 days thing is a bit of a red herring - they did give you 7 days in the letter they posted, and by law, once a letter is posted it's seen as if it's been received. That just leaves you with the issue of a single email with the wrong wording. However, unless you can now prove your address, that doesn't actually change anything.

 

At the address you're living at, do you have anything registered there? bank statements? driving license? car tax? are you on the electoral roll?

 

If not, is there an alternate address where these things are registered at? have you ever done car insurance quotes at that address? were they cheaper?

 

Your options are now

 

1) Prove you address - by far the easiest option

2) Go to court - sue for breach of contract in the small claims court. They may back down based on this alone, but it seems like they have a fair bit of evidence against you

3) Go to the financial ombudsman (FOS) - before you can do this, you need to make a formal complaint which gives the company 8 weeks to investigate and respond to the complaint. If you are unhappy with this, you can take the complaint to the financial ombudsman. Unlike the courts, the FOS will decide if the insurance company has been fair in their dealings with you, rather than just looking at the law. It's free to use the FOS, and if you're unhappy with their decision, you can still use the courts (but if you go to the courts ffirst, you can't later go through the FOS).

 

It is important you get this sorted - for the rest of your life, you are going to have to tick that box that says you've had a policy cancelled (on all types of insurance) and you'll find the cost of insurance rockets.

[caro]

The utility bills from your LL will be of no use as they won't have your name on so won't prove anything I'm afraid.

[Ylow01]

They said it doesn't need to have my name on the utility bills, it just needs to be addressed to that address!

 

I don't see how they have a lot of proof for fraudulent activity just because someone called them. They have proof of my no claims bonus, at that address, they have proof that I'm a student, they have mo info on me than that anonymous caller! Anyone could be posted someone else's letters, open it, ring a number nd say whatever they wona say, doesn't mean that's the truth and that's their proof! I really just want my money back really!

[TSx]

To give you any possibly useful advice (other than what's posted above), you need to answer these questions - unless you just want an opportunity to rant.

 

At the address you're living at, do you have anything registered there? bank statements? driving license? car tax? are you on the electoral roll?

 

If not, is there an alternate address where these things are registered at? have you ever done car insurance quotes at that address? were they cheaper?

[unclebulgaria67]

The Insurance company have obviously sent some documents to the insured address and someone living there has contacted them to say you don't live there. Hence asking for something official to show the address.

 

If you want to see what the Insurers have about you not living there, then make a subject access request to their compliance manager.

[Ylow01]

I havent got anything sent to me at that address as i was just staying there, with a friend, as i was looking for somewhere permenant to live. Everything addressed to me was being delivered to my mums house. I havent done a quote at my mums but i dont think it would of been cheaper at hers anyway.

[dacouc]

I havent got anything sent to me at that address as i was just staying there, with a friend, as i was looking for somewhere permenant to live. Everything addressed to me was being delivered to my mums house. I havent done a quote at my mums but i dont think it would of been cheaper at hers anyway.

 

If you did get a quote on your mum's address (Even with a different Insurer or Comparison Site), the chances are the Insurers will know about it which may have been what flagged your file up for them to ask for proof of where your living especially if they had checked the electoral rolls or more likely your credit record and seen everything being sent to your mother's address.

[steampowered]

Check their complaints procedure and write a formal written complaint asking them to return the premium. You are not going to get anywhere over the phone, it needs to be in writing.Realistically, the complaint should give your address as the address on your application. If someone at that address has been destroying your post and telling people you don't live there then you have a problem.