A salutory tale.

[macmillions]

A little story of my day today...

I was driving with my other half from Essex down to Seaford with my dog in the back of the Golf. Having just polished it yesterday and blackened all the bumpers, she was looking absolutely mint.

I pass the A26 roundabout and notice two police bikes in a layby, then one flags me down. I pull over, and my girlfriend just says, "not to worry, its just a stop check, as your a young male in a Golf, and there have been many thefts of them recently."

Policeman was very polite and asks me to step out the car and explains that the Golf has flagged up on the ANPR camera on the A23 as having no insurance! I assured the policeman that we certainly do have insurance, along with MOT and tax. He assumes that the ANPR camera may have just mis-read the numberplate (due to the crack in it ). However, after a number of minutes on the phone to a number of people and lots of compliments on the immaculate condition of it , it transpired that Admiral (I'm going to name and shame them) had cancelled our policy on the 24th of Jan, allegedly sent letters and and email to my g/f's email. I can tell you there is nothing of the sort.

The policeman was very understanding and could see that something had obviously gone wrong on either ours or the insurer's side of things. He asked if I had a policy for another car, which I said yes to, but unfortunately it doesn't allow me to drive other vehicles.

Well, after he managed to get through to Admiral again, it transpired that in December, we missed a payment, due to them taking the payment out early over the xmas period, and on that date, we hadn't been paid. Our fault almost entirely I admitt, but there was no warning that this payment would come out early. Then, they cancelled the insurance due to the missed payment. BUT, only tried to contact us through letters and email. And I can honestly say we have neither, otherwise we would have got this sorted asap. What's wrong with the telephone!? You give both mobile and home numbers when you sign up to an insurance company, so why not contact you that way if the s*** is going to hit the fan? And also, Admiral have since taken out TWO payments since the insurance was cancelled. AND, we managed to tax the car in Febuary? So we had no idea anything was amiss.

So, whilst at the side of the road, I ask the policeman if we can try to renew the insurance there and then, he said he would as it was an honest mistake, and if we could, he would waver the offence and let us go. However, because there was now an impending penalty on the car, Admiral wouldn't touch it. So that was that. The policeman read the caution, "you do not have to say anything etc" to me and issued me with a £200 fine and 6 points on my licence. Oh, and siezed the car, where it was taken to Shoreham car impound, which would cost a further £150 to have released (providing we could get insurance), plus another £20 for every working day it was kept there.

Oh lovely.

So we grab a taxi to finish our journey to Seaford completely astounded as to what had just happened. Got to my girlfriends dad's and got straight on the blower to Admiral, who insisted that they took all the correct steps in doing what they did, even though we swore blindly that we had not received ANYTHING from them. So we cancel our Direct Debit immediately through our bank to make sure no more payments are sent...

Next, time to re-insure the car. We called Adrian Flux, and hey presto, insured in 10mins, even with the pending convicition. We call the impound to say we can pick the car up and find out the impound is closed until Tuesday!

So just let this be a little learning curve to anyone that reads this. I take full responsibilty for the missed payment, but I fully believe the insurance company should have done more to persue us to prevent this from getting to this point.

I know this is a long post, but I'm just feeling a bit gutted at the moment, and I just advise anyone to just give their insurance company a quick ring to just double check you are indeed insured as you believe you are.

[zollaf]

blimey, thats quite horrific. i would have thought that since they were still taking payments, then the insurance must still be valid. also, how can they cancel your insurance there and then, but rely on a letter that will take another day at least to reach you. personally, i would have a word with the ombudsman about this. another good reason to not go with an insurance company that has stupid adverts on the telly, and is on price comparison websites. my traders policy is with an obscure firm that i have never heard of, and doesnt advertise, but are simply superb at what they do. glad you got it sorted though.

[paul b]

That's terrible! I'd hope there is something you can do about this, it's totally wrong. What a bunch of 'swears'.

[macmillions]

What most concerns me is that we were totally oblivious to this, driving like this for over two months! And if we had had an accident, or hit someone or something, then I dread to think what would have happened. We would never have driven the car on the road if there was any doubt about the insurance. To be honest, it is very fortunate it was me driving, otherwise, my girlfriend would have lost her licence, due to not having it for 3yrs yet. Therefore lost her job...

I'm going to write a letter to the ombudsman asap, as I have 28 days to pay the fine and declare my points. I most concerned about my points, as my Clio's insurance will sky-rocket now...

[Eshrules]

blimey, thats quite horrific. i would have thought that since they were still taking payments, then the insurance must still be valid. also, how can they cancel your insurance there and then, but rely on a letter that will take another day at least to reach you. personally, i would have a word with the ombudsman about this. another good reason to not go with an insurance company that has stupid adverts on the telly, and is on price comparison websites. my traders policy is with an obscure firm that i have never heard of, and doesnt advertise, but are simply superb at what they do. glad you got it sorted though.

as the old guy says - get in touch with Admiral and find out who their ombudsmen is and have a chat with them.

If Admiral have continued to take payment from your account, there is an inferred contract in place - they cannot cancel a contract and then continue to withdraw payments. It is illegal to charge for a service not being provided.

I think legal advice in this instance would prove to be invaluable bud, don't let this one drop.

[martin1810]

A very poor way for a company to behave. I would write to the chairman giving all the details and insist they sort it out. You don't have to pay the fine or send your licence for points. You can opt to fight in court. Then you will be able to explain that as far as you were aware, insurance was in place. Magistrates do sometimes use common sense. The reason why it is better to opt for court is that it puts everything off for a few months more, which gives you longer to sort things out with the insurers. Don't be afraid to go to court. You don't need a solicitor. You just turn up and state your case. Good luck.

[zollaf]

apparently admiral should have sent you a letter via recorded delivery to give you notice of 10 or 14 days that the policy was being cancelled. do you have any undelivered recorded delivery slips ? can admiral provide proof of sending you a recorded delivery letter? if they cant, and the receipt would be in their file of your details, then i think they would be at fault. but, seek legal advice first as i dont think this post would be sufficient evidence.

[ben0069]

short and sweet, That Sucks!

[macmillions]

apparently admiral should have sent you a letter via recorded delivery to give you notice of 10 or 14 days that the policy was being cancelled. do you have any undelivered recorded delivery slips ? can admiral provide proof of sending you a recorded delivery letter? if they cant, and the receipt would be in their file of your details, then i think they would be at fault. but, seek legal advice first as i dont think this post would be sufficient evidence.

Wow, well that is really interesting. I am currently writing to admiral to explain in full the situation I am in. Also, I have asked for proof of all their attempts to make contact with me. And we do not have any recorded delivery slips either. And our home phone has caller recognition, so could trace back any possible missed calls from them, which there are none. I am also going to write a letter to the Financial Ombudsman and the Financial Services Authority to help fight our case.

[zollaf]

i only know that because i googled it. i put in something like 'insurance company cancels policy', and that was one of the things i read a few times, and one was from an insurance company.