You're uninsured

[saaby93]

A mate phoned up his insurance couple of weeks ago to check a few details on his policy that was about to auto renew. All ok confirms credit card details etc - so he sits back and let's everything happen.
A week after it's renewed ( or so he thought) a letter comes through 'thank you for contacting us to confirm that you do not wish to renew your policy'
Panic!- Quickly back on the phone to sort it out.

Obvious question, what would have happened if he'd suffered an ANPR pull or worse - an accident?

No prizes

[Noger]

Letter from insurer confirming indemnity, if it was their mistake.

[14-7]

I suppose it depends on how arsey the insurance company want to be. Most, if it is their fault, happily extend the cover over the period that was a mistake, in this case a week.

[saaby93]

Wouldnt the response from the insurer be, sorry youre not covered we thought youd cancelled?
Can they backdate through to the missing week?

[Noger]

You can't back date cover. So cover would start from when you phoned up to say "Oi!". You would then get a letter saying the insurer would have covered you for that period.

[LD1Racing]

Did they take any money from his card when he first tried to renew his policy?

[bluetone]

I always check the database after renewing my insurance/whilst waiting for the paperwork to arrive:

http://www.askmid.com/ownvehicle/

[aka_kerrly]

I similar thing happened to a friend of mine. He was paying monthly installments and received notice of his renew and called up and said yes i want to renew and was told the insurer would take care of everything. Two months down the line he got pulled over accused of no insurance. He contested it and offered to produce his documents as he had a certificate but someone at the insurance company forgot to register his insurance with the insurance database. As a result his car was impounded, he paid £150 to get it back and the insurers said 'sorry' and that was it. I believe he still hasnt had any form of compensation from them. The police were satisfied as he had a certificate and bank statements showing the insurer taking the direct debits.

horrible situation to be in though.

[saaby93]

LD1Racing said:

Did they take any money from his card when he first tried to renew his policy?

no they just checked the number they had on file was correct, so that come the due date they could take the payment. They didnt.
Probably pressed the wrong button somewhere.
Askmid says he's on cover now so all ok

Edited by saaby93 on Thursday 11th March 12:02

[oldsoak]

saaby93 said:

LD1Racing said:

Did they take any money from his card when he first tried to renew his policy?

no they just checked the number they had on file was correct, so that come the due date they could take the payment. They didnt.

So when he found he had more money in his account than he should have had...he still waited for the insurance company to send that letter before checking why he had all that money he really shouldn't have had if the payment had been taken?
I'm sure if I had more money than I should have in my account that matched an insurance payment I'd be on the dog to them before they had chance to send letters to ask why they hadn't taken the payment.

Edited by oldsoak on Thursday 11th March 12:03

[saaby93]

oldsoak said:

So when he found he had more money in his account than he should have had....

too easy oldsoak
Do you check your credit card bill before it arrives

[oldsoak]

saaby93 said:

oldsoak said:

So when he found he had more money in his account than he should have had....

too easy oldsoak
Do you check your credit card bill before it arrives

No...anyway I use MONEY that is mine...you know that old fashioned token for paying for stuff...I don't use credit cards to pay bills.

[Tross]

You would have hoped the Insurance Company would have taped their initial conversation, most of them do these days, failing that he would join the long list of Insured drivers being prosecuted/suffering untold grief due to the fact the MID is incorrect.

Always check your own details ( that's what it's there for ) to ensure you own car is covered

Good luck all

[saaby93]

inkiboo said:

I pay for everything on credit cards, despite having more than enough cash to pay for the same items. Difference is, buying on a credit card gives you far more protection than cash/debit cards.

Only if the bill actually reaches the credit card company!
Barclays claim their debit card changed to add the same protection as credit card

[AyBee]

I've been astounded by how happy insurance companies are to cancel insurance documents without ensuring that the car owner is fully informed. Know of a case not too long ago of one cancelled because they couldn't take out the direct debit and another where proof of no claims didn't make it, in both cases, the owners didn't realise their insurance had been cancelled and continued to drive uninsured!! Ridiculous!

[oldsoak]

inkiboo said:

oldsoak said:

saaby93 said:

oldsoak said:

So when he found he had more money in his account than he should have had....

too easy oldsoak
Do you check your credit card bill before it arrives

No...anyway I use MONEY that is mine...you know that old fashioned token for paying for stuff...I don't use credit cards to pay bills.

I pay for everything on credit cards, despite having more than enough cash to pay for the same items. Difference is, buying on a credit card gives you far more protection than cash/debit cards.

I buy 'stuff' too on credit cards...Like I said (and what you obviously missed) is I just don't pay bills with them.. Monthly payable motor insurance premiums come under the heading of 'bills' in my world.

[saaby93]

The insurance company have said that he was uninsured for the intervening days.

If you phone just before an automatic renewal it's converted to manual. Saying thank you very much and leaving it there doesn't automatically renew.

[killsta]

saaby93 said:

The insurance company have said that he was uninsured for the intervening days.

If you phone just before an automatic renewal it's converted to manual. Saying thank you very much and leaving it there doesn't automatically renew.

Eh? So what are they saying he is supposed to have done?

Calling and saying 'Yes, please renew my insurance' really means 'I'd like to renew but don't do it yourselves, I'd like to forget about it first and have you remind me a month overdue'?

[saaby93]

In summary heres what happened

A mate had a reminder a couple of weeks ago that his insurance was going to auto renew. He wanted to check some details , did that and they confirmed his credit card - it was the same as before.
He left it at that thinking it was going to autorenew

A week after it's renewed ( or so he thought) a letter comes through 'thank you for contacting us to confirm that you do not wish to renew your policy'
Panic!- Quickly back on the phone to sort it out.

What's happened is that when you phone up it reverts to manual mode ( most people phone up to cancel or alter their policy).
What he should have done ( but didnt know) was either confirm payment then, or phone up one more time.

The insurance confirmed that he was not covered between it not auto renewing and him phoning up, and 'you were lucky you werent stopped'

[chr15b]

oldsoak said:

saaby93 said:

oldsoak said:

So when he found he had more money in his account than he should have had....

too easy oldsoak
Do you check your credit card bill before it arrives

No...anyway I use MONEY that is mine...you know that old fashioned token for paying for stuff...I don't use credit cards to pay bills.

i pay my annual insurance on my credit card because it's convienent to me, my credit card is paid by DD, the DD is set to take the full statement amount, not the minimum payment.
cant speak for the OP's mate but you cant tar everyone with that brush