NFU Mutual - Failure of this Business Motor Insurance company lead to my +£9k loss in my business - can i sue?

[clareFW]

Dear National Consumer Group

I hope this message finds you well. I am reaching out to seek legal advice concerning a significant issue I encountered with my current business motor insurance. The details of the situation are as follows:

On October 23, 2023, I discovered that my company's insurance coverage had been terminated due to a missed payment, of which I had not been previously informed. Despite notifying the insurance company of my change of address through multiple emails, reminders were sent to an outdated address, leaving me unaware of the missing payment.

When I inquired about the situation over the phone, the insurance company assured me that I could reinstate coverage by promptly making the missing payment. However, after the payment was made, they informed me that they could no longer cover my area in London and so they had to stop my insurance.

This unexpected turn of events caused a considerable amount of stress, particularly as my business relies on a unique vintage milk float from 1972 for deliveries of plastic-free groceries. Due to the vehicle's age and purpose, finding reasonably affordable insurance proved to be a challenging task. Despite my efforts to secure alternative coverage through brokers and insurers, I was unsuccessful, leading to a temporary halt in my business deliveries.

I also initiated a complaint regarding the incomplete change of address process, which underwent investigation by my insurance until November 30, 2023. They acknowledged finally their mistake and It wasn't until December 4, 2023, that I was able to reinstate my insurance. During this period, I faced a significant financial setback, impacting the peak sales season for my business, especially during the Christmas sales.

During this crucial time, I sought support from my customers through various channels. Unfortunately, despite their incredible support, the financial setback resulted in a precarious position for my company, leading to a loss of revenue and the departure of my main driver, Antonio, who found alternative employment due to the inoperability of the delivery van without insurance.

I have estimated the total loss to be approximately £7000, excluding the cost of hiring and training a new driver, the mental stress endured, and the additional workload undertaken to readjust my business operations.

In light of these challenges, I am seeking fair compensation of £9,500 to offset the financial setbacks my business has faced. I am reaching out to you for guidance on what I am entitled to request as fair compensation in this situation and if I could request more, and how I should proceed. I have already sent out a first letter with my sales reports from last year and this year to demonstrate the loss of revenue. Additionally, they offered £350 (with a cheque they sent out) for the stress, which I find almost disrespectful. They have requested me to send a bank statement, which I am prepared to do. However, before providing any further documentation, I would like to formalize my compensation request, especially since I am now seeking legal advice here.

Thank you for your attention to this matter, and I eagerly await your advice on the best course of action.

Sincerely,

C.

[dx100uk]

who?

dx

 

[unclebulgaria67]

Moved to legal issues part of the site.

Yes in theory you could sue the Insurance company for the loss you suffered. But do provide them with calculation plus evidence together in a letter before action, before you file the Court claim , giving them say 21 days to pay the amount.  And if they don't pay the amount or don't pay an amount you are satisfied with, then go ahead and issue the claim.

[BankFodder]

I think you may be able to do far better than the figure you think is fair.
There are various issues – including their breach of contract, failure to treat you fairly and communicate with you fairly and also in accurate data processing that refers to individuals rather than your business.
As my site team colleague @dx100uk has said, we need to know which insurance company you are dealing with. Also something about your business. What is the line of business and can you describe to us how it was impacted even if you don't want to give us the name et cetera of your business.

I see that you say that you are eagerly waiting advice – so we look equally to receive the responses to these questions.

They also suggest that you send insurance company a subject access request.

It will be extremely important that you provide evidence of your losses pointed out by my site team colleague  @unclebulgaria67 – both actual losses and the injury that you have suffered in terms of stress or distress  to you and your family.
 

[dx100uk]

4 hours ago, clareFW said:

as my business relies on a unique vintage milk float from 1972 for deliveries of plastic-free groceries

and with no driver thats pretty dead... when they did reinstate your ins...

[photoman]

Hello all,
Some of you may perhaps remember me ?
I was originally a member of this site way back in the early days when it first started, and was very active in the reclaiming bank charges section. An exciting and groundbreaking time ! 
Although I've not really been active herein since I do still often wave the flag for this site and all the wonderful, very knowledgeable and generous people on here, and I do encourage anyone with financial, consumer or legal issues or frustrations to come here, seek help and ideas (and also make a contribution upon their success).

So, it was myself who recommended to Claire that she come here to share her problems and experiences in a hope of getting some feedback and help.
Seeing the prompt, knowledgeable and supportive replies she's already received is a clear demonstration that my admiration for this essential site and it's wonderful members is not misplaced.  Thank you all.

I've some insight into the events leading to the original post, and think it best I don't get too involved, but I do know that Claire is immensely busy with work and life, so (after she has responded to the above posts) would appreciate if someone could kindly give her a brief explanation of the the kind of solutions and recompense she might be entitled to, the amount of time and effort it may take and the chances of success she might expect if she undertakes this herself.
Alternatively, would she be better handing matters over to a third party, and if so, perhaps whom (and hopefully this site would still get some small benefit from such route) ?

I'll now leave it to Claire to respond, update and interact with yourselves safe in the knowledge she's in good hands. Thank you all.

[AndyOrch]

I recall you photoman long time no see

 

Andy

[clareFW]

Hi, thank you all for your prompt responses.

I apologise for only being able to reply in the evenings; I'm the only driver for my plastic-free grocery delivery service, and I'm busy with deliveries throughout the day.

My insurance provider is NFU Mutual, currently the best option for my unique business, which involves using an electric milk float as the delivery van for plastic-free groceries, fitted in the van with a custom-made design and containers display.

I conduct deliveries every day from Tuesday to Sunday, covering North London, and also run a small shop that I can open when not delivering or when I have a driver which i used to have until my issue with the insurance. The bulk of my revenue comes from deliveries, and the shop serves as an additional source.

When my motor insurance was unexpectedly halted, the shop became a crucial alternative, allowing me to redirect customers there, and ensure a minimum revenue. However, its accessibility was limited for many of my customers. The delivery aspect is essential as it enables me to reach people who face challenges in physically shopping, such as those with disabilities, young children, the elderly, or those without transportation or time.

During the period when my insurance was suspended, I decided to use my private car to continue reaching customers. However, this posed significant challenges as my usual operations involved utilising the van to pick up customers' containers, fill them on the spot from the van, and deliver them back.  The transition to my private car required entirely different and more time-consuming procedures.

Handling the shop, managing deliveries, addressing customer service concerns, dealing with booking cancellations, and navigating the insurance situation—all on my own, alongside caring for my two children—left me finishing each day extremely late and starting very early.

The entire month took a toll on my physical well-being, compounded by the stress of uncertainty regarding the insurance investigation, and whether my company could endure the financial setback.

I discovered i wasn't insured  On October 23, 2023, and they put it back the 4th of December

[BankFodder]

Start off by sending a subject access request. Subject access requests offer personal data – not company data. I suppose the insurance was taken out in your companies name? However, you may as well try it.

You seem to have a lot of information about what happened – the fact that reminders went to a previous address et cetera. Much of this have you got in writing?
The key to sorting this out is to make sure that you have got a good file of evidence which substantiates every complaint you are making in every point you are making.
Also, please do be aware that we are all volunteers here. No one gets paid and maybe you could cut down a little bit on the narrative and simply give us the facts that we need.

[clareFW]

thank you and  sure, 

yes, everything is in writing, i have made sure to write to the insurance during the time they stopped to remind them about facts,  also had calls with them that they recorded, and they also sent a letter acknowledging the fact they made a mistake.

the insurance was under my company name yes

can you clarify this?' 

Start off by sending a subject access request, ' .

Should i send it to them ?

[BankFodder]

Yes, send it to the insurer because you need to know everything that they know. If you follow the subject access request link, then you will find a template which can be modified if you want and also you will find information about what you are entitled to have stop
you should accompany the subject access request with proof of your identity such as a utility bill or something.

Of course be prepared for them to decline on the basis that it isn't personal data it is business data – but let us try anyway.

Of course it is very helpful that you have everything in writing anyway – but it is worth fishing around to see what else might be available

[clareFW]

sure, ok, will do that asap, thank you 

[BankFodder]

Apart from their contractual responsibilities, the insurers are bound by certain statutory regulations devised and implemented by the FCA under the authority of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.

These provide a number of pretty strict rules – but unfortunately the public seem to know very little about them and as a result they are not very often enforced and I'm not aware of anybody bringing any legal actions on them.
However you have a right to bring a legal action and to claim damages.

If you are happy to do this and it seems appropriate then we will help you.

You should start off by having a look at the ICOBS rules contained in the FCA Handbook

FCA Handbook - FCA Handbook

WWW.HANDBOOK.FCA.ORG.UK

 

[BankFodder]

11 hours ago, clareFW said:

sure, ok, will do that asap, thank you 

ASAP should mean tomorrow. I'm afraid you're going to have to find some time to put in some basic spadework to get additional evidence. The quicker you get it going the quicker it will happen.
Organisations have up to 30 days to respond to a subject access request and you can be certain they take it right up to the limit.

Get this done quickly and then you can settle back for a little while but we will start having a look at the whole situation. You should certainly be looking at the ICOBS rules because they may well form the basis of an action.

[clareFW]

i have sent the SAR. Now just waiting.

[BankFodder]

What date did you send it

[clareFW]

i just sent it yesterday. 

[clareFW]

@bankfodder I  received their answer with the data provided. 

 

[BankFodder]

Using our advice on how to prepare your court bundle I suggest that you use roughly the same method to arrange the documents that you have received as well as an index sheet.

Then start inspecting it for what it contains but also maybe more importantly anything that it doesn't contain..

Compare it with your own document so emails that you have and also your own records of any telephone conversations and see if they have supplied everything. Very important to understand if anything is missing and if so what

[clareFW]

@BankFodder Hi , it took quite a long time to go over all the recordings and emails. But i have done that.Looks like i have the things i need to go to the next stage

[unclebulgaria67]

@clareFW

I would want to see the NFU Mutual letter of 4/12/23 in which they admit their mistake.

Can you upload a pdf version of this, with any personal info redacted.

And also please provide a breakdown of your £9500 calculation of loss.

Why did the Direct Debit payment fail to go through originally?  Did you not receive a communication from your Bank about this payment not going through? If you took this to court, NFU might ask for you to supply copies of Bank records including notifications. 

You may have to accept partial blame for the loss and reflect this in the amount you are seeking.  

 

[clareFW]

Hi Clare

Thank you for your reply 

Attached is the letter.

I haven't received a letter from the bank. 

£9500 breakdown:  I expected a revenue of around £17,994.48 between October 23 and December 4, 2023, which was my last year's revenue. However, I only managed to generate £11,043.73, resulting in a loss of £6,951.48. Additionally, the cost of hiring and training a new driver is estimated at £2,500, as the process will inevitably slow down my business operations. 

I haven't added any other financial requests but i haven't quantified the extra work I had during and after this period & the stress resulted.

Final Decision Letter.pdf

[photoman]

Hi Claire,

Firstly, regarding the attached letter from the insurers, I note in their letter they say:
"We have let you down, so I am awarding £350. A cheque for this amount will be sent under a separate cover. compensation to be transferred into your nominated bank account. Please allow 14 working days for the payment to be received. I hope this will help make up for the poor service received".
Could you please clarify what the £350 'award' cheque is for ?
Take care, because if you actually bank this they might claim this is your acceptance of their offer and 'case closed'. Also be careful not to sign anything.
Could you also clarify what they are referring to when they mention "..compensation to be transferred into your nominated bank account".  
What are they referring to ? Is this a sum separate to the £350, and why are they calling it 'compensation' ?
Again, take care about accepting it and do not sign anything.

As for your claim generally, you say above:
"....resulting in a loss of £6,951.48. Additionally, the cost of hiring and training a new driver is estimated at £2,500, as the process will inevitably slow down my business operations. I haven't added any other financial requests but i haven't quantified the extra work I had during and after this period & the stress resulted".

Personally, I think you might be entitled to more.
In the first instance, you will also have suffered financial loss due to the loss of goodwill from existing customers, who during the time you could not operate would have had to seek goods elsewhere, and some would have have frustrated by your poor service. Of course, not all would know that was not your fault, but in any case, some of them will no longer remain your customers, so that is a consequential loss of income from the same incident.
In my view, I think you have a case to claim for those losses too.

There might also be other types of compensation you should receive (other members here can probably better explain the various types of  compensation, which if I recall are: Compensatory, Punitive and Exemplary).
Plus of course, on top of everything, you should also receive interest, as that has also been lost due to you not having the sums in your own account to earn interest.

These are my own thoughts.... but I'm sure others here who are more knowledgeable and experienced will have more to add.

regards to all

 

 

[unclebulgaria67]

Why did the Direct Debit fail to go through ?

If you had financial issues or your Bank made an error, then this is part of the picture.

I don't think you can rely on NFU writing to old address leading to cancellation.

If you ask for too much, NFU are likely to refuse to offer much more. They might increase the offer a bit. And then you would then be left with decision whether to issue letter before action letter stating losses (including evidence) and then if NFU fail to respond issue Court claim

If you end up in Court, then you will be required to provide much more information including full disclosure of your finances  business accounts etc. If a Direct Debit failed, why did your Bank not contact you ?

No reason not to Bank £350, but advise that this is not acceptance of any settlement, as the amount does not cover losses incurred.

[clareFW]

- direct debit failed for not enough money on that day on the account.

-  a £350 has been sent to my address as compensation for the stress, i didn't not yet put it on my account. . First they offer £100 that i rejected over the phone. they then increased to 350 by mail. 

- compensation to be transferred into your nominated bank account".  means the cheque is addressed to my bank account