@hastings direct Car Insurance Cancelled

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Hi there,

 

I purchased a new vehicle on 10th October - that came with 7days free insurance, I therefore rang my previous insurance company to cancel the policy after receiving their renewal booklet (halifax car insurance) & arranged cover via Hastings to commence 18th October - they took a payment straight away of £32.89

 

On the 19th Oct, I received an email from Hastings saying

We'll amend or cancel your policy

We need to check some of your details to make sure everything on your car insurance is correct and suits your needs. We'll amend or cancel your policy if you don't provide these details by 26th October 2017, so it's important you get in touch.

Under the Consumer Insurance Act 2012 it's your duty to answer relevant questions about your circumstances correctly, and provide evidence when needed.

Please send us written proof of your no claims discount

We need to see clear copies of your renewal notice (all pages) or a letter from your previous insurer confirming your no claims discount.

Please note, we only accept proof of no claims discount if it's been earned:

In your name

In the UK

On a private car policy

In the last two years

Before the start date of this policy.

Please send us copies of your driving licences

We need clear copies of both the front and back of your photo card, as well as any other drivers named on your policy.

Please note, the DVLA stopped issuing paper counterpart licences on 8th June 2015. This means in England, Scotland and Wales, the paper counterparts are now invalid, having been replaced by a unique licence code (see below). If you passed your test before 1998 and were only issued with a paper licence, you should still keep this as it remains valid.

If you have a Northern Irish driving licence, the paper counterpart remains valid. Please send us a copy of this, and disregard the section below about unique licence codes.

We also need your unique licence codes

Please also send us a unique code for each licence requested. To find your unique licence code:

Go to http://www.gov.uk/view-driving-licence

Select "Start now"

Enter your driving licence number, national insurance number and postcode

Select "Share your driving licence".

You'll then be presented with a unique code. This code's only valid for 21 days, so please send it to us straight away. The code's only valid once, so if you need to provide it again in the future you'll need to repeat the process. It's also case sensitive, so please send it to us using the same capitalisation shown on screen.

Please send us your vehicle registration form

We need a clear copy of all the pages of your logbook or V5 for our records.

 

On the 20th I sent this documentation through including the 2 other drivers details.

On 27th I received a letter that stated the same as the email, so called them saying I sent this information through on 20th - they confirmed receipt but no one had looked at it due to back log and is now in the pipeline for review and not to worry as I am still insured until everything I sent is reviewed.

 

30th Oct - the first monthly payment of £27.63 leaves my account by DD.

 

All good I thought... how wrong was I.....

 

about 40mins ago I receive a text & email from Hastings stating that

We've voided your car insurance

Your car insurance has been voided from 18th October 2017. This means we'll treat the policy as if it never existed.

 

I've rung them to discuss and they have said it's because I've fraudulently declared the incorrect NCD as they have checked with my previous insurer and as a result the remaining value of the policy £255 will be deducted via the card they have on file. requested a manager to call back which will be upto 4 working days.

 

I ring Halifax car insurance, who have told me, yes the documentation that was sent to me states 7 years No Claims Discount, BUT that is based upon a renewal date of 5th November - and as I cancelled the policy prior to the 5th, it means I loose a year NCD, bringing it to 6yrs NCD which is what they've informed Hastings!.

They've said someone will call me back in 24hrs as I am raising a complaint.

 

In the mean time I've cancelled my debit card & direct debit for Hastings so no money can be taken.

I do not understand as to why they have said I've committed fraud & should be penalised when the document I received from Halifax state 7yrs NCD - but their systems state 6yrs.

 

Any suggestions --- in mean time I'm now looking for another car insurance provider as I have to take car in for first 1000mile check in the morning & be issued a courtesy car - cant do either without insurance...

[sgtbush]

Yep that's right.

You only have 6 years ncd. You cancelled the policy mid term.

You claimed 7 but have 6. Now that sounds like a mini mistake but for the insurance company to say fraud??? That's well over the top.

They can share information between themselves to combat fraud

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expecting me to pay out £255 over a mistake in documentation.

The documents that Halifax provided lead me to believe it was 7yrs not 6yrs.

 

Just realised.. I've only held the policy 15days.

It's 24hrs after their "cooling off" period.

[unclebulgaria67]

This is just really silly.

 

Lack of intelligence being shown by the Insurers..

 

A renewal notice is printed off about a month ahead of renewal and of course it assumes the policy will run until renewal so the NCD will be 7 years.

If you end the policy before renewal it will only be 6 years.

Did not require any phone call to the previous insurers to work that one out.

 

It is not fraud.

Just stupid people you are dealing with.

You need to give them hell and demand to speak to a manager.

[Hastings Direct. Joe - Soc]

Hi,

 

Thank you for taking the time to post your experience here, I'm very sorry you're not happy with it. I'd like to do what I can to help you so if you can email this post and your policy details to [email protected] I can then assist further

 

~Joe

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I spoke to a lovely woman at Halifax this morning whom said she was going to contact Hastings.

Halifax has stated that they listened to the call and insists that at no point did a member of Halifax Car Insurance say that the documents were tampered/fraudulent, they stated that the document was incorrect and it was 6yrs not 7.

She also stated that in all her years she has never seen something so petty and is going to do her utmost to help me ---- a hell of a lot more than what Hastings had done.

 

I presume that shed did contact them as I have just got off the phone following receipt of another Hastings email.

 

 

The email states:

We've cancelled your car insurance

Your car insurance has been cancelled from 2nd November 2017, at which point all the cover provided under your policy will end.

This includes your additional products:

Motor legal expenses

This is because we asked you for some information, but you didn't provide everything we'd asked for in the timeframe given.

Your balance

Your closing balance is £0 – you don't need to make any payments, and we don't owe you any refund. Here's a breakdown of your costs.

Total cost for time on cover

The cost of your main insurance policy, including insurance premium tax (IPT) at the current rate and any amendments, fees and additional products

£77.17

Our fees

Policy arrangement

£20.00

Cancellation

£45.00

Instalment interest

£0.00

Total credits received

£77.17

Please note that if any of your direct debits fail after today's date, this will affect the balance

shown here.

Your no claims discount

You have 7 years of no claims discount, subject to no further claims being reported, but we haven't confirmed this with the previous insurer.

What you need to do

You'll need to arrange alternative insurance for your car, if you plan to keep it on the road. Please note it's an offence under the Road Traffic Act to use or keep a vehicle without adequate insurance, unless you keep it off the road and declare it to the DVLA as off the road (SORN).

We're here to help

Feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

 

Notice how the dates have changed from 18th October to 2nd November????

 

I ended up speaking to XXXXXXXXX, whom has assured me that I now no longer owe any money.

She also went to to say that the underwriters would not re-open the insurance, but if I wanted to take out another insurance via the Hastings Group they would wave the signup fee.....

 

This experience has really effected me, as to be accused of fraud and making Fraudulent documentation (as stated by one of the Hastings team when I rang last week) - is not only a smear on my name but has caused me a great deal of stress, from being a nervous wreak at the fear of waking up to police at the door, to ringing the bank and informing them what has happened (the girl was on my-side thankfully)

 

Xxxxx went onto say that the insurance is now no longer VOID (meaning I would have to declare to other insurance companies) but cancelled instead.

I asked about a refund as I had made two payments:

One of £27.63 on signup and the other taken via DD on 31/10 for £32.89 - held insurance for 15 days and now out of pocket at NO FAULT of my own.

She said they would look into IF I would be refunded but as the policy is cancelled as per policy no fee would be return --- that to me is complete horse sh*t

 

"Joe", I've emailed as you have requested - of course please bare in mind that communication will be posted on here.

Edited November 7, 2017 by Andyorch
Name removed

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The person from Hastings I spoke to yesterday called this morning to answer my questions regarding this whole incident Shea's put the details in the following email.

 

Following on from our conversation today I would like to clarify a few details for you.

 

 

 

I can confirm due to an error on Halifax’s side, we previously voided your policy from inception, however this has since been reversed as we received confirmation from the insurer that this was a mistake on their side. I can confirm that Halifax have advised us that the no claims discount document you provided us with is genuine and there was no need for us to void the policy as you hadn’t acted out of the policy terms.

 

 

 

As a result of this I would like to confirm that you do not need to declare this to future insurers as a ‘voided policy’ as we now know this not to be true and have corrected our records to reflect this.

 

 

 

I can confirm you do not owe us any further costs and today we have issued a refund of £48.35. This will appear in the direct debit bank account within 3-5 working days. This also means we retained a total of £12.17 for the total days insurance which ran between 18th October 2017-2nd November 2017.

 

 

 

Please let me know if I’m able to mark this complaint as resolved for you by responding directly to this email.

 

No mention of accusing me of fraud and no apology....

[Hastings Direct. Joe - Soc]

Hi,

 

Hopefully you're happier now with the outcome, I sincerely apologise for the error made in choosing void rather than cancellation. If you're not happy to consider the issue resolved, do let me know. Also, I'd like to ask that you please edit out our colleague's name from post #6 for her security.

 

Thanks, Joe

[AndyOrch]

Name removed

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Hastings Car Insurance letter.pdf

Happy?????

How can I be happy with the outcome of begin accused of fraud.

Not just verbally but also by the letter I have received today.

 

I have not knowingly tried to deceive anybody!!

 

Not once has a member of Hastings said they will look into the accusation - its like its being swept under the table.

Even when I spoke to your colleague she diverted the conversation away from that!

 

Whats to be done about it?

[Hastings Direct. Joe - Soc]

Hi Ads_uk,

 

Your concerns have been noted and raised to the customer relations team to look into for you. They will acknowledge your complaint within five working days with more information and your reference number.

 

Regards,

 

joe

[sgtbush]

Hastings -----

Just say sorry. The numpty( from Hastings to customer) that wrote the letter is using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. Probably one of your interns.

 

You could of wrote back when discovered the mistake and said..

On investigation your letter from previous insurer was for a renewal with them. Currently you have only 6 years NCB not 7. Here is the amended quote ( which would only beena few quid) please instruct us what you want to do by xxxx date and we can either continue insurance or your free to look for a better quote

[unclebulgaria67]

Suggest Hastings look to resolve this quickly, before the Daily Mail who read these pages start asking for information for an article.

 

A customer services officer at an Insurance company should not be reporting any fraud. They should collect all relevant information, then pass it on via their line manager to an Underwriting manager. Before any decisions are made to report any fraud, the information should be double checked, to make sure a mistake has not been made. Had the information been checked by a competent person, it would have been pretty obvious an error of judgement had been made.

 

Suggest the complaints manager urgently resolves this and discusses internal processes with the compliance manager, to ensure all staff know what they are doing. There will already be fully documented processes in place and it might just be the case that these need to be communicated again, with a training note to be signed by everyone.

[sgtbush]

Agreed with UB.

Can I also suggest Hastings re do their advertising campaign as its annoying. My 7 year old could come up with better ideas on the Hastings theme and number ending 1066.

I hope you didn't employ saatchi and saatchi to come up with the idea.

If you did no wonder your so expensive!!!

[AndyOrch]

Less of the personal attacks please..lets keep this on topic...Im sure Joe will do his best to try to resolve this amicably.

 

Regards

 

Andy

[ukguy2k]

I find it strange I been riding 4yrs with 4 ncb and I never been asked for anything since I used them 2month ago

 

 

I swapped insurance as Swinton wanted £30 and theses did it for £15 mth

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Phone call from their complaints resolution team.

Full of apology (bout time), they are going to fully investigate their procedures as he agreed it should not have gone this far.. he said by way of compensation they are giving £75, and ensures me my details were intercepted and stopped from going on the cifas register

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This just gets better.

So the whole complaint revolved around me sending the renewal which stated 7yrs no claims and halifax stated 6yrs.

Well this morning I've received a letter from Halifax dated the 7th November confirming my Proof Of No claims as........... SEVEN YEARS!!!!!!!

 

I've spoken to them and they said following your complaint a decision was taken to amend the records to 7years!!!

Now I've quoted 6yrs to my new bloody insurance company.

Raised a new complaint with Halifax - I honestly can not believe this..

[unclebulgaria67]

People think that no claims discount years are some legal entitlement that are part of some organised system run by Insurers.

 

This is not the case. It is a discretionary discount. Some Insurers offer up to 5 years, some offer up to 7 years etc. Insurers have offered differing amounts for a very long time. It is not the number of years that is important, but what percentage discount they offer to give you the net premium that is best value for you. A 5 year no claims discount, might be cheaper than 7 years offered by another Insurers.

 

Just update your new Insurers with the 7 years and it may or may not make a difference.

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£14 difference.

Plus Halifax are now giving £50 as a gesture of good will.