You're uninsured

[Noger]

MrsMiggins said:

Noger said:

Who asks the "have you ever been refused insurance" question now ?

Well I just went to the Aviva site and checked their online quote service and that question is asked before you even start entering your details.

Aviva said:

To save you time, we base your quote on a series of some assumptions. Please confirm that you meet these criteria before proceeding with your quote:
No driver has had any criminal convictions in the last 5 years (other than motoring offences), been previously refused insurance or has a policy cancelled.

My guess is that they will all be the same.

I don't disagree that the whole question of what constitutes being refused insurance is a bit of a grey area now with so many people getting multiple quotes online using comparison sites. Are you being refused insurance if a company declines to quote? If a 17 year old phones Saga for a quote is that a refusal when Saga says no? I don't think that's what they mean, but I'm struggling to define what it does mean instead.

Edited by MrsMiggins on Monday 15th March 15:44

Aha, I was struggling to find one. None of the aggregators seem to ask the question directly. And RBSI group don't have that as an assumption on Motor - they do on Household because refusal to insure is unlikely there.

You are right of course, if it means "an insurer didn't quote" then we are all in trouble

I had always taken it to mean "an insurer has refused your insurance claim" but as it is bundled in with the "special terms" assumption can this be right ?

Maybe it means refused to continue insurance, i.e. refused to renew you ? Could you claim that "refused insurance" is not the same as "refused to quote". Hmmm.

[Oakey]

I get the feeling that question is deliberately ambiguous so whatever the ocassion it will always be in their favour.

It's amazing that insurers don't seem to give a toss about motoring convictions but a 'criminal' (isn't a motoring conviction a 'criminal conviction' seeing as you broke the law?) conviction means you obviously must be toxic.

[MrsMiggins]

Noger said:

I had always taken it to mean "an insurer has refused your insurance claim" but as it is bundled in with the "special terms" assumption can this be right ?

Maybe it means refused to continue insurance, i.e. refused to renew you ? Could you claim that "refused insurance" is not the same as "refused to quote". Hmmm.

I don't think it means that they repudiated/rejected your claim - I think the wording would be more precise if that was what they meant, but I still don't know what it actually means!

[Noger]

MrsMiggins said:

Noger said:

I had always taken it to mean "an insurer has refused your insurance claim" but as it is bundled in with the "special terms" assumption can this be right ?

Maybe it means refused to continue insurance, i.e. refused to renew you ? Could you claim that "refused insurance" is not the same as "refused to quote". Hmmm.

I don't think it means that they repudiated/rejected your claim - I think the wording would be more precise if that was what they meant, but I still don't know what it actually means!

TBH I think it is more cock-up than conspiracy. In the early days of internet quotes you would not decline a quote, you would give a high default premium to discourage the punter. But with the rise of the aggregators you now get more and more declines. I suspect it is a hangover from the days when refusing to quote was quite serious.

It isn't a rating factor, it is a knock out question, so what could they do ? Avoid your policy ? Because you once didn't get a quote from Saga ? Not a chance.

[F i F]

Noger said:

MrsMiggins said:

Noger said:

I had always taken it to mean "an insurer has refused your insurance claim" but as it is bundled in with the "special terms" assumption can this be right ?

Maybe it means refused to continue insurance, i.e. refused to renew you ? Could you claim that "refused insurance" is not the same as "refused to quote". Hmmm.

I don't think it means that they repudiated/rejected your claim - I think the wording would be more precise if that was what they meant, but I still don't know what it actually means!

TBH I think it is more cock-up than conspiracy. In the early days of internet quotes you would not decline a quote, you would give a high default premium to discourage the punter. But with the rise of the aggregators you now get more and more declines. I suspect it is a hangover from the days when refusing to quote was quite serious.

It isn't a rating factor, it is a knock out question, so what could they do ? Avoid your policy ? Because you once didn't get a quote from Saga ? Not a chance.

In 1987 before the internet started properly I called up an insurance company that has a red telephone to get a quote for a 205GTI that I'd ordered. Their answer was a refusal to quote as that wasn't the type of business they were interested in.

I didn't consider that was a serious refusal to quote just them attempting to follow their business profile, and that was also the view of the outfit I did insure with as I asked them if that met the criteria they were looking for, following the principle of "if you're unsure then mention it."