insurance company cancels car insurance and dosen't inform insured person

hi, my sister and her husband took out an insurance policy over the phone following an online quotation. On the 9th of may she received an email to say she was covered and she would receive her policy document when she returned signed papers. She returned the paperwork and thought nothing further about it as she was organising for holidays.

On the 16th of june her husband visited the office to take out another policy. On his way home he was contacted by the insurance company to say that the previous policy had been cancelled as the car had an english registration. He had not been informed of this cancellation .

The staff later rang him back to say the company would insure him if he registered the car in the republic by the 3rd of july. On the third his wife rang to say the car was now registered in the republic but she didn't have the number in front of her as she was out of town and could she ring it in the next day. She was told this was ok but the next day when she went to ring it in she was told the policy was cancelled once more. Her husband then cancelled the second policy.

They have been informed that they will get 211.50 euro back on the first policy( original payment 382.32) and 267.5 on the second policy(404.74 originally paid).

They did not receive any policy documents on either policy. Does this rebate seem a little on the small size, I would have thought they would be entitled to more.

What do the Terms & Conditions say about cancellation? Are they available on their website - assuming your sister & husband don't have copies?

No information on their website about cancellation policy and they never received any documents to check t&c.

How long was it between the policy starting, and the company cancelling it? They may have reduced the repayment on the basis that the policy was in place between these dates.

In the first year of insurance most insurers will charge short term rates if the policy is cancelled - thus the large on cover charge. Was your sister informed that she needed to give an Irish reg ASAP (usually insurers won't issue full documentation until they have an Irish reg)? She should really have changed the reg within 24 hours of getting the vehicle. Saying that, If she was on cover, technically she should have received a 7 day registered cancellation letter and the company/broker could be brought to task if they didn't send this out. Also in my experience short term rates can be negotiated with insurers if a good excuse is given and a more appropraite pro rata rate applied.

the policy was taken out on the 9th of may, they were informed on the 16th of june that it had been cancelled earlier but as they had not been informed of this cancellation they don't know how long they were insured or even if they had ever been insured. They reinsured them on the 16th june until 3rd of julyso that is a total of 18 days.

First of all I don't think they should have to pay a cancellation fee as the insurer never informed them that they had a problem with english registered cars and when they cancelled the policy they never informed them it was cancelled so they were driving the car uninsured.

If they cancel a policy surely it is their duty to inform the insuree and also repaythe insurance fee.

When my sister contacted them at the deadline the staff said it was ok to provide the number the next day but when she rang with the number the next day they said it was too late.

All in all this seems shoddy practise to me and I think they should just have to pay for the 18 days.

What you think?.

the policy was taken out on the 9th of may, they were informed on the 16th of june that it had been cancelled earlier but as they had not been informed of this cancellation they don't know how long they were insured or even if they had ever been insured. They reinsured them on the 16th june until 3rd of julyso that is a total of 18 days.

First of all I don't think they should have to pay a cancellation fee as the insurer never informed them that they had a problem with english registered cars and when they cancelled the policy they never informed them it was cancelled so they were driving the car uninsured.

If they cancel a policy surely it is their duty to inform the insuree and also repaythe insurance fee.

When my sister contacted them at the deadline the staff said it was ok to provide the number the next day but when she rang with the number the next day they said it was too late.

All in all this seems shoddy practise to me and I think they should just have to pay for the 18 days.

What you think?.

As I wrote, she should have received a cancellation letter so that may give her a bargaining chip if she is negotiating the charge, but your sister will have to take some responsibility here. They had her on cover for 6 weeks and she did not receive an insurance disc. Did she not think this was unusual? Did the broker contact her during this period looking for outstanding documentation?I think her best bet now is to contact insurer/broker and try and negotiate a pro rata charge (this is a charge for just the time she has been on cover rather than a short term rate) using the lack of cancellation information as a reason for this. Get her to talk to someone senior in the company about this and she should receive a favourable outcome.

Jimbobp said:

your sister will have to take some responsibility here. They had her on cover for 6 weeks and she did not receive an insurance disc.

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I guess she never received a disc as the car was on UK plates for almost 2 months.. Sister's responsability increased..