Discussion
Greetings all. Here lies a long saga.
When I got my MR2 I rang around for insurance quotes, did the usual. The cheapest was Bell at around £1300 for a 24 year old, no NCB, driving about a year and 4 months with 3 points from sussex revenue camera department. My current insurers offered to match the quote. They were my parent's old insurers and offered the cheapest rate for my rover so I went with them. Seeing as they already had my details I took them up on their offer. A month later when the paperwork came through the details had changed. I was suddenly driving for 8 years, my MR2 had 5 seats and other things were out. Naturally I refused to sign it and sent it back after phoning them to correct it. Later when the new paperwork arrived it came with a covernote saying that my cover had shot up to £1700. I was miffed but really needed the NCB. I'd already been with them for a few months so decided to ride it out for a year and ditch them (1st mistake). Cue May of this year. I get a letter saying that my DD was cancelled for no reason and they decided not to tell me for a few months. I called them. They wanted money immediatly and were not willing to wait for payday. I rode it out and sent a cheque. My brokers cashed it. I called back a week later saying that I am not a person who breaks the law and I want to know if I am insured still. They said, and I quote "You are insured". They said this very clearly and loudly, in its own self contained sentance. I thought nothing of this until last week. I was commuting to work. I had a large silver/battenberg traffic police merc behind me at the Chichester r/bouts. He's behind me, i do the roundabout run and come out headed for Tangmere thinking he wants to get past. I pull into lane 1. He follows. "crap he's following me, He's not overtaking, he's keeping distance, wtf? lane 2 is clear, back to 70". I get up to speed and the blue lights come on. I pull onto the sliproad at the next junction as its the safest place to stop for miles. I shut down, get asked to get out. I think there is a problem with my car.
He starts telling me all the things I did wrong while he was following me and that he was worried I was driving too agresively. He did so in a good tone telling me he didnt want to extract me from the armco at some point in the future (thanks, i'll go a bit easier on that Goodwood roundabout). He then procedes to tell me that he stopped me because I was flagged as uninsured. He starts asking me where I live, who my insurers are, why my car is listed at a different address etc. I give all the information I have offering to call my broker from my mobile. He says that it isnt necessary and lets me go on my way telling me that I need to call my insurers as there appears to be a problem.
I ring my insurers and get the backup guy as ll the brokers are on holiday. He also cannot find my file. (i've temped at insurance companies, the ammount of files lost at any one time is staggering). I ring around for a few days and they say they will call back.
Cue today. I get back from work and am greeted with
[quote=Insurers]
Dear Sir,
With reference to your telephone call last week whilst we were away on holiday regarding your car insurance, the policy was cancelled due to d/d default on 13-5-05. We tried to reinstate the policy when we recieved your cheque but (removed) were unable to do this so as your cheque has been banked we wrote our cheque No 123456 for £530.83 which was sent to you on 24-5-05. I have checked our bank statement and it does not appear to have been cashed. I hope this explains the situation.
Yours Faithfully,
soandso
Muppet and Muppet Insurance Consultants Limited[/quote]
I'm livid.
If the policeman had decided to press on with charging me would I have been able to drag my insurance company into court and make them take the blame for their mess?
I'm going to be late for work tomorrow because i'm going nowhere till I get cover. I also want that money on my doorstep in a week. No ifs, no buts. I dont know if they have broken any laws or this mess but I would happily spend more than the missing money to see a solicitor take them apart in court right now.
When I got my MR2 I rang around for insurance quotes, did the usual. The cheapest was Bell at around £1300 for a 24 year old, no NCB, driving about a year and 4 months with 3 points from sussex revenue camera department. My current insurers offered to match the quote. They were my parent's old insurers and offered the cheapest rate for my rover so I went with them. Seeing as they already had my details I took them up on their offer. A month later when the paperwork came through the details had changed. I was suddenly driving for 8 years, my MR2 had 5 seats and other things were out. Naturally I refused to sign it and sent it back after phoning them to correct it. Later when the new paperwork arrived it came with a covernote saying that my cover had shot up to £1700. I was miffed but really needed the NCB. I'd already been with them for a few months so decided to ride it out for a year and ditch them (1st mistake). Cue May of this year. I get a letter saying that my DD was cancelled for no reason and they decided not to tell me for a few months. I called them. They wanted money immediatly and were not willing to wait for payday. I rode it out and sent a cheque. My brokers cashed it. I called back a week later saying that I am not a person who breaks the law and I want to know if I am insured still. They said, and I quote "You are insured". They said this very clearly and loudly, in its own self contained sentance. I thought nothing of this until last week. I was commuting to work. I had a large silver/battenberg traffic police merc behind me at the Chichester r/bouts. He's behind me, i do the roundabout run and come out headed for Tangmere thinking he wants to get past. I pull into lane 1. He follows. "crap he's following me, He's not overtaking, he's keeping distance, wtf? lane 2 is clear, back to 70". I get up to speed and the blue lights come on. I pull onto the sliproad at the next junction as its the safest place to stop for miles. I shut down, get asked to get out. I think there is a problem with my car.
He starts telling me all the things I did wrong while he was following me and that he was worried I was driving too agresively. He did so in a good tone telling me he didnt want to extract me from the armco at some point in the future (thanks, i'll go a bit easier on that Goodwood roundabout). He then procedes to tell me that he stopped me because I was flagged as uninsured. He starts asking me where I live, who my insurers are, why my car is listed at a different address etc. I give all the information I have offering to call my broker from my mobile. He says that it isnt necessary and lets me go on my way telling me that I need to call my insurers as there appears to be a problem.
I ring my insurers and get the backup guy as ll the brokers are on holiday. He also cannot find my file. (i've temped at insurance companies, the ammount of files lost at any one time is staggering). I ring around for a few days and they say they will call back.
Cue today. I get back from work and am greeted with
[quote=Insurers]
Dear Sir,
With reference to your telephone call last week whilst we were away on holiday regarding your car insurance, the policy was cancelled due to d/d default on 13-5-05. We tried to reinstate the policy when we recieved your cheque but (removed) were unable to do this so as your cheque has been banked we wrote our cheque No 123456 for £530.83 which was sent to you on 24-5-05. I have checked our bank statement and it does not appear to have been cashed. I hope this explains the situation.
Yours Faithfully,
soandso
Muppet and Muppet Insurance Consultants Limited[/quote]
I'm livid.
If the policeman had decided to press on with charging me would I have been able to drag my insurance company into court and make them take the blame for their mess?
I'm going to be late for work tomorrow because i'm going nowhere till I get cover. I also want that money on my doorstep in a week. No ifs, no buts. I dont know if they have broken any laws or this mess but I would happily spend more than the missing money to see a solicitor take them apart in court right now.
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