Sister in-law, no insurance question?
Discussion
BigsimonY said:
So my 19 year sister in-law pasted her test 2 weeks ago. She immediately bought a car from Arnold Clark. She organised insurance few days later and picked the car up. 3 days ago she was stopped and pulled by the police.
As others have said, she should be OK, but will need to get the insurer to send a letter confirming that she was covered. It shouldn't really matter whose error it was.But... had she really had no paperwork through from the insurer in that week between insuring the car and being tugged? If she had, did she not check it?
The correct answer was in post three.
I would further add, that many Insurers would not need to admit they made a mistake, providing there was no intention to miss lead them they will provide written confirmation that the would have paid any third party claims. Such a letter is all that's needed to satisfy the court that no offence was committed.
The above will not work with all Insurers and is subject to the Insurers being happy to cover the correct vehicle.
A polite and friendly call to them explaining the situation is the best option, be aware many frontline staff will try and bat you away in these circumstances so you may need to (Politely) ask to refer it to a more senior level or go via their social media
I would further add, that many Insurers would not need to admit they made a mistake, providing there was no intention to miss lead them they will provide written confirmation that the would have paid any third party claims. Such a letter is all that's needed to satisfy the court that no offence was committed.
The above will not work with all Insurers and is subject to the Insurers being happy to cover the correct vehicle.
A polite and friendly call to them explaining the situation is the best option, be aware many frontline staff will try and bat you away in these circumstances so you may need to (Politely) ask to refer it to a more senior level or go via their social media
Andyjc86 said:
Those saying that it would have flagged up when they checked the reg back, it could have been the same car.
I was MOTing a ford ka a while ago, and as I pulled in, already on the ramp was another ka (different colour). The reg's were wn59vxd and wv59vxn
I once saw the same make and colour car as mine with only one number different between the two reg plates. I was MOTing a ford ka a while ago, and as I pulled in, already on the ramp was another ka (different colour). The reg's were wn59vxd and wv59vxn
(A123 BCD, A124 BCD)
Got a bit of a fright and surprise at the time as mine was in a garage 50 miles away getting a new head gasket fitted!
was going to say to all the guys banging on about her n0t knowing if the ins co read car details to her it may well have been the same car. When I was working in a big Merc dealership you would get cars registered consecutively so you could have 5 silver C220s all with one letter different.
Black_S3 said:
Jim AK said:
I thought that even if it pays zero VED due to emissions or Disability exemption it still needs some form of 'Annual Registration' with DVLA.
It's exactly the same process just your bill is £0.DanSI said:
xRIEx said:
Not every quote system has registration lookup (at least, not for free).
Well for the last several years, EVERY insurance renewal I've gone through (a combination of online and phone calls) they ALL state the vehicle details, prior to any renewal happening. BigsimonY said:
3 days ago she was stopped and pulled by the police. After some checks its came back as no insurance on the car. It turns out the insurance company has taken the details (registration number) down wrong. The car was taken from her and she now has to attend court. As a new driver a resit of the test is now likely as its six points for no insurance. She phoned the insurance company that day and they confirmed that the wrong reg was applied to her policy.
Before this goes to the usual PH route and shouts of BS start, what was she stopped (and pulled, presumably tugged a bit too) for? You state that after checks the officer stated no insurance. I've had this on more than one occasion (delays updating on purchase, but once a letter out on a brand new reg, as above, Merc and the same model on successive plates), and have requested the chance to contact the insurer to provide verbal or written proof of cover. Given the faff to seize and impound a vehicle, I'm pretty sure unless some other offence was being committed, they'd have offered a 19 year old girl this opportunity too. That is unless she got a bit verbal with the plod and the attitude test went out the window?So, what's the rest of the story, then this can go more the way I was expecting it to?
I got pulled last year as my car had pinged anpr has having no insurance. Whilst sat in the police car he called my insurance co who confirmed that I was insured however they'd transposed one of the letters. Genuine mistake and I was fully covered. I corrected it there and then and was on my way within about 10 mins. Not sure why you sister in law had her car towed if it was a simple mix up like mine was?
I agree with 2 lefthands.
It seems there is more to this than meets the eye.
Insurance companies can look up cars by name / address of owner or registration number. Surely one of the above would have been correct?
IANAL however I would expect this to have fallen within the producer 7 day type things. Most police when it comes to insurance matters are fairly generous and will allow you to show cover notes/phone insurance company at the roadside.
I work in telephony and can tell you that all insurance companies which are regulated (which is them all) will have call recordings. The FCA recommends 3 years but my experience working with a couple of the UK's largest car insurance companies (one with a sea-captain, one with a red phone and one with a Rockstar going about getting a quote in 60 seconds) all store theirs for a minimum of 5 years.
So you can call up the insurance company and make the complaint, if it's a clerical error and your SiL gave the correct registration number but it was entered incorrectly then this should not result in a sentence, however I would still expect your SiL to Lawyer up.
To save on costs you can do the basics yourself, complain to insurance company and ask to hear the call recording. If your sister is correct then ask insurance company for a letter to confirm the recording, stating something along the lines of a clerical error was made.... along with a copy of said recording.
I am not sure if an insurance company would do this however as it opens a lot of legal doors for being sued....
Then take it all to the lawyer, should be covered in the 30 minute sitting you can get for a few hundred. Book his or her attendance at court date for 2 hours. Any costs I would then go back to the insurance company and seek from them if due to their mistake.
However ultimately the responsibility is on the insurance policy holder to verify the information is correct if the correct information was provided then it's reasonable to expect the insurance company to have recorded this data correctly.
But I suspect that your SiL should be back in her car now if she has the updated corrected documents from her insurance.........
It seems there is more to this than meets the eye.
Insurance companies can look up cars by name / address of owner or registration number. Surely one of the above would have been correct?
IANAL however I would expect this to have fallen within the producer 7 day type things. Most police when it comes to insurance matters are fairly generous and will allow you to show cover notes/phone insurance company at the roadside.
I work in telephony and can tell you that all insurance companies which are regulated (which is them all) will have call recordings. The FCA recommends 3 years but my experience working with a couple of the UK's largest car insurance companies (one with a sea-captain, one with a red phone and one with a Rockstar going about getting a quote in 60 seconds) all store theirs for a minimum of 5 years.
So you can call up the insurance company and make the complaint, if it's a clerical error and your SiL gave the correct registration number but it was entered incorrectly then this should not result in a sentence, however I would still expect your SiL to Lawyer up.
To save on costs you can do the basics yourself, complain to insurance company and ask to hear the call recording. If your sister is correct then ask insurance company for a letter to confirm the recording, stating something along the lines of a clerical error was made.... along with a copy of said recording.
I am not sure if an insurance company would do this however as it opens a lot of legal doors for being sued....
Then take it all to the lawyer, should be covered in the 30 minute sitting you can get for a few hundred. Book his or her attendance at court date for 2 hours. Any costs I would then go back to the insurance company and seek from them if due to their mistake.
However ultimately the responsibility is on the insurance policy holder to verify the information is correct if the correct information was provided then it's reasonable to expect the insurance company to have recorded this data correctly.
But I suspect that your SiL should be back in her car now if she has the updated corrected documents from her insurance.........
2lefthands said:
BigsimonY said:
3 days ago she was stopped and pulled by the police. After some checks its came back as no insurance on the car. It turns out the insurance company has taken the details (registration number) down wrong. The car was taken from her and she now has to attend court. As a new driver a resit of the test is now likely as its six points for no insurance. She phoned the insurance company that day and they confirmed that the wrong reg was applied to her policy.
Before this goes to the usual PH route and shouts of BS start, what was she stopped (and pulled, presumably tugged a bit too) for? You state that after checks the officer stated no insurance. I've had this on more than one occasion (delays updating on purchase, but once a letter out on a brand new reg, as above, Merc and the same model on successive plates), and have requested the chance to contact the insurer to provide verbal or written proof of cover. Given the faff to seize and impound a vehicle, I'm pretty sure unless some other offence was being committed, they'd have offered a 19 year old girl this opportunity too. That is unless she got a bit verbal with the plod and the attitude test went out the window?So, what's the rest of the story, then this can go more the way I was expecting it to?
BigsimonY said:
2lefthands said:
BigsimonY said:
3 days ago she was stopped and pulled by the police. After some checks its came back as no insurance on the car. It turns out the insurance company has taken the details (registration number) down wrong. The car was taken from her and she now has to attend court. As a new driver a resit of the test is now likely as its six points for no insurance. She phoned the insurance company that day and they confirmed that the wrong reg was applied to her policy.
Before this goes to the usual PH route and shouts of BS start, what was she stopped (and pulled, presumably tugged a bit too) for? You state that after checks the officer stated no insurance. I've had this on more than one occasion (delays updating on purchase, but once a letter out on a brand new reg, as above, Merc and the same model on successive plates), and have requested the chance to contact the insurer to provide verbal or written proof of cover. Given the faff to seize and impound a vehicle, I'm pretty sure unless some other offence was being committed, they'd have offered a 19 year old girl this opportunity too. That is unless she got a bit verbal with the plod and the attitude test went out the window?So, what's the rest of the story, then this can go more the way I was expecting it to?
xjay1337 said:
Insurance companies can look up cars by name / address of owner or registration number. Surely one of the above would have been correct?
I've never known it possible to search based on name and address (certainly not from a broker's point of view) and as above, not every insurance seller opts to find vehicle details by reg lookup.
xjay1337 said:
I'm not sure, I just remember when I first took insurance out on my first car I couldn't remember the reg of it when I phoned up to ask about a modification.
I gave them my address and they asked for my date of birth and it was fine.
Was that getting a quote for a new policy, or for a policy you already had?I gave them my address and they asked for my date of birth and it was fine.
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