Got pulled for no insurance - Help!!
Discussion
Hi gang, run into a problem this evening and hoping for some advice.
Passed a Police car going the other way earlier, two minutes later it was behind me and pulled me over. My car had flagged up on their ANPR as not insured. I was not unduly concerned at this point as I could remember changing my insurance on the regular date of Jan 7th. Whilst the people on the other end of the officers phone were liasing with Hastings Direct, I told them how I distinctly remembered them asking for a 'proof of no-claims discount' and how i had signed a declaration form with my previous insurers details and posted it back to them. This is where alarm bells started to ring.
It seems that they (The insurers) cancelled the policy on February 5th as apparently this never reached them or never got to the right department. After initially returning the dclaration I heard no more and as a result thought no more about it.
I would like to state that at no point have I received any notification that this had happened. I spoke with my (former) insurers once I got home. The lady on the phone said that their records showed a letter was sent on January 29th giving me 7 days notice of cancellation if they never heard from me, another on February 5th advising me that it had been cancelled and a refund to my bank account. As I said above, I received neither of these letters. However I checked my online banking and a refund was paid into my bank on February 24th which was 20 days after the cancellation, I admit that I missed this at the time and have no excuse for that.
Having gone through all my policy paperwork, it has a form stating my preferred methods of contact. It clearly states I can be contacted by letter, e-mail, telephone or SMS. I was told of the cancellation by none of these methods.
Also in the policy documents it states that the proof of no claims is required 'for their records'. Nowhere does it state that cover is issued subject to this being provided and may otherwise be cancelled.
Back to this evening, my car has been impounded at a cost of £20 per day plus a £150 release fee. This is obviously on top of the £200+6 points fixed penalty. The officers, about whom I have to say I have no complaints or argument with, were very sympathetic however their hands were tied as no insurance is a very black and white affair at the scene.
Has anybody had experience of anything like this, and what action I could possibly take? Also am I better off taking a gamble on going to court to explain the circumstances or will it make things worse? Do I have a case against the insurers and would it help clear my name?
Any help or advice would be extremely well received, many thanks in advance.
Cheers, Darren.
edited to add detail
Passed a Police car going the other way earlier, two minutes later it was behind me and pulled me over. My car had flagged up on their ANPR as not insured. I was not unduly concerned at this point as I could remember changing my insurance on the regular date of Jan 7th. Whilst the people on the other end of the officers phone were liasing with Hastings Direct, I told them how I distinctly remembered them asking for a 'proof of no-claims discount' and how i had signed a declaration form with my previous insurers details and posted it back to them. This is where alarm bells started to ring.
It seems that they (The insurers) cancelled the policy on February 5th as apparently this never reached them or never got to the right department. After initially returning the dclaration I heard no more and as a result thought no more about it.
I would like to state that at no point have I received any notification that this had happened. I spoke with my (former) insurers once I got home. The lady on the phone said that their records showed a letter was sent on January 29th giving me 7 days notice of cancellation if they never heard from me, another on February 5th advising me that it had been cancelled and a refund to my bank account. As I said above, I received neither of these letters. However I checked my online banking and a refund was paid into my bank on February 24th which was 20 days after the cancellation, I admit that I missed this at the time and have no excuse for that.
Having gone through all my policy paperwork, it has a form stating my preferred methods of contact. It clearly states I can be contacted by letter, e-mail, telephone or SMS. I was told of the cancellation by none of these methods.
Also in the policy documents it states that the proof of no claims is required 'for their records'. Nowhere does it state that cover is issued subject to this being provided and may otherwise be cancelled.
Back to this evening, my car has been impounded at a cost of £20 per day plus a £150 release fee. This is obviously on top of the £200+6 points fixed penalty. The officers, about whom I have to say I have no complaints or argument with, were very sympathetic however their hands were tied as no insurance is a very black and white affair at the scene.
Has anybody had experience of anything like this, and what action I could possibly take? Also am I better off taking a gamble on going to court to explain the circumstances or will it make things worse? Do I have a case against the insurers and would it help clear my name?
Any help or advice would be extremely well received, many thanks in advance.
Cheers, Darren.
edited to add detail
Edited by LikesBikes on Wednesday 14th April 21:42
Paid in full at the time of taking out the policy. Was hoping that the refund hadn't happened, however it had. It was 20 days after the policy was cancelled and well over a month after the request for the proof of NCD.
Unfortunately I failed to notice this at the time.
Unfortunately I failed to notice this at the time.
Edited by LikesBikes on Wednesday 14th April 21:55
Dave_M said:
It wouldn't say on the certificate as that is proof of the agreement. Proof of no-claims comes before that, e.g. just after the quote (I think).
Thats what I'm not sure of, having scrutinised all of the documents received with the certificate I can find no mention of this anywhere2 sMoKiN bArReLs said:
Thankfully you're not trying to make a claim, just sort out admin. As this is the case, won't the insurer take your refunded cash back & resurrect the policy? It's no skin off their nose, and they get the business?
The girl is passing it onto the cancellations department, who had finished at 5 o'clock. Apparently they might ring me tomorrow if I'm lucky although more likely they'll just send me a letter. I wouldn't have thought they can backdate the cover as it was cancelled rather than suspended. It's a nice idea that I had earlier, however I can't see it happening as the ticket has already been issued.
Cheers gents
Edited by LikesBikes on Wednesday 14th April 22:35
Wings said:
Did you receive a request for proof of NCD, if so had you provided proof of the same.
Any complaint you have with the insurance company, re cancellation of the cover/policy, should be directed via the Insurance Ombudsman.
Incidentally I have recently taken out several motor insurance policies, where after making payment and receiving temporary cover note, I have then been asked to provide either proof/support for NCD, or to make a declaration on limited personal annual mileage.
Once I received the full certificate, I was asked to provide this NCD. My previous insurer failed to provide one despite my specific request. I received the reminder which said I could 'complete and sign the enclosed declaration' instead. I did this and returned it. As I said after posting it, I heard no more and thought no more of it. First I knew of it was when I was sat in the back of the Police car.Any complaint you have with the insurance company, re cancellation of the cover/policy, should be directed via the Insurance Ombudsman.
Incidentally I have recently taken out several motor insurance policies, where after making payment and receiving temporary cover note, I have then been asked to provide either proof/support for NCD, or to make a declaration on limited personal annual mileage.
Many thanks, really do appreciate all comments.
Thats what the Police Officers said, although they sympathised with me and could see exactly what had happened, I was driving without insurance and as such received the fixed penalty for the offence.
What I'm hoping for is that somehow I can get something to take to court to use in mitigation to avoid the conviction or at least reduce the penalty. I drive for a living and any points on my license for such a serious offence won't impress my employers. The points and codes won't show the unfortunate sequence of events that led to the conviction and I will be regarded as a criminal by anyone who has cause to look at my license.
Was only pulled tonight, so have 28 days to decide whether to just take the points and fine or go to court.
My worry is that if I go to court I'll just make things worse for myself, the points could (I guess) be upgraded to a ban in which case I'm out of work.
I have 7 years continuous cover in cars and about 11 years for bikes. I'm hoping that this, along with being employed continuously since I left school, might help to show that I'm not the type to flout the insurance laws.
sidekickdmr said:
hey mate, i work in hign level insurance complaints for all the big brands
deal with this kind of stuff every single day.
Sorry to say it but if the system says that the canx letters were sent then its prob game over.
unless they made any errors elsewhere they would have sent you 2 "still no ncd proof" letters and 2 canx letters. why didnt you get these, your address correct?
They say they sent the two cancellation letters (one threatening, one confirming), never received these. they made no mention of "no ncd" letters in their records however I think the declaration came with one, which I completed, signed and returned.deal with this kind of stuff every single day.
Sorry to say it but if the system says that the canx letters were sent then its prob game over.
unless they made any errors elsewhere they would have sent you 2 "still no ncd proof" letters and 2 canx letters. why didnt you get these, your address correct?
Yeah will be getting insurance tomorrow to get the car back, then looking for advice. Don't know if this is too specialist for the C.A.B.? Not sure where to get advice specifically for this sort of thing, can't afford to pay for a solicitor right now.
Will bump this up again in the morning, never know your luck.
Cheers all, really do appreciate it
Thats what I'm thinking about, plead guilty, explain what happened and hope for leniency.
put the question to these people, they should get back to me within 24 hours apparently so will see what they say.
Many thanks,
Darren
put the question to these people, they should get back to me within 24 hours apparently so will see what they say.
Many thanks,
Darren
Stitch said:
The list of coincidences leaves a bit of a whiff:
Insurance Co don't get your letter
You don't get insurance co's first letter
You don't get insurance co's second letter
You don't notice the repayment of your premium (you must have one hell of a bank balance or did the statement go missing in the post as well?).
If I were you I would try and get your day in court - I am sure everyone in the courtroom could do with a laugh
Cheers for that, very helpful.Insurance Co don't get your letter
You don't get insurance co's first letter
You don't get insurance co's second letter
You don't notice the repayment of your premium (you must have one hell of a bank balance or did the statement go missing in the post as well?).
If I were you I would try and get your day in court - I am sure everyone in the courtroom could do with a laugh
As it happens I've just spoken to the insurer and it would seem they did receive my declaration, although last night they said they hadn't. Also when was the postal strike? would that have been the end of Jan/beginning of Feb?
They claim that my previous insurer said they did not recognise my name, car or address. However in front of me I have the certificate for that year with my correct name, registration, address, d.o.b. and occupation. However when they couldn't get the details they cancelled the policy rather than try and contact me via the 4 methods of contact I ticked on the original agreement.
The girl on the phone said that I was the victim of a mistake and she's very sorry about that. All these details are now passedonto the ombudsman who is very interested indeed thank you stitch.
Off to recover my car now, will be back later to provide more detail if required.
Many thanks all. Well, almost all
Got cover this afternoon to collect car, trouble is I missed it closing by 5 minutes so will have to be tomorrow now.
Anyway, they said they couldn't get anything from the previous insurer. However a bloke I spoke to today called me back with a new quote. He said that confirmation of no claims bonus was required before the policy could start and he managed to get it over the phone in 5 minutes with just my name and address?
As I recall, Hastings were considerably cheaper than the next best quote, £301 rather than over £400. Interesting after looking into their fine last year.
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