No insurance but I was unaware |
No insurance but I was unaware |
Mon, 27 Sep 2010 - 18:39
Post
#1
|
|
New Member Group: Members Posts: 2 Joined: 27 Sep 2010 Member No.: 40,875 |
I have a full licence which was clean until April. In april i was cautioned for using a mobile phone which i paid my fine and received 3 points. Yesterday i was pulled for speeding and was told to go in the back of the police car. When there they checked my insurance over there phone. It was found i had no insurance, which was news to me. I was issued a fixed penalty notice of 3points/60quid for the speeding offence and was also charged with no insurance which i disagreed with and told to take my insurance details to my local station. I called my insurance company and was told my insurance had been cancelled as i had missed a payment and i had been sent a letter of cancellation. I don't have this letter. I then went onto another insurer and got a policy, went down to my local station with my new policy and my policy which was cancelled around two months ago but which i was unaware off. I was told that i didn't have insurance on that day and argued that it wasn't my fault. I was charged with no insurance and told the matter would now be with the proscurator fiscal. I am now worried that i may lose my licence as i would have 3 points for the mobile use (april), 3 points for the speeding (yesterday) and 6 points for no insurance (yesterday); totalling 12 points making me lose my licence.
Does anyone have any experience of this or any advice on what route i should take? i.e should i pay my speeding fine immediatley? contact insurance company? contact the fiscal regarding the non-insurance? p.s my location is scotland |
|
|
Advertisement |
Mon, 27 Sep 2010 - 18:39
Post
#
|
Advertise here! |
|
|
|
Mon, 27 Sep 2010 - 18:43
Post
#2
|
|
Member Group: Members Posts: 311 Joined: 21 Apr 2009 From: North East (Newcastle/Scumderland) Member No.: 28,037 |
It happens to lots of people, and imo an insurer should never cancel insurance until speaking on phone to the person.
But I've yet to hear of anyone getting off with it, so no doubt you'll get 6 pts. You say its been cancelled for 2 mths, how come you haven't noticed the payments not coming out your bank account? The letter from insurer should be sent out by recorded signed for post, giving you 7 days from signing for it to pay. This post has been edited by GB69: Mon, 27 Sep 2010 - 18:47 -------------------- GB69 ..... 2 vs 0 South Tyneside Council (PCN's)
Thanks to the help of the forum members. |
|
|
Mon, 27 Sep 2010 - 18:48
Post
#3
|
|
Member Group: Members Posts: 13,735 Joined: 22 Oct 2007 Member No.: 14,720 |
The letter from insurer should be sent out by recorded signed for post, giving you 7 days from signing for it to pay. Should it? -------------------- |
|
|
Mon, 27 Sep 2010 - 19:26
Post
#4
|
|
Member Group: Members Posts: 22,678 Joined: 23 Mar 2009 Member No.: 27,239 |
Have you checked if the payments were made or not ?
|
|
|
Mon, 27 Sep 2010 - 19:59
Post
#5
|
|
Member Group: Members Posts: 311 Joined: 21 Apr 2009 From: North East (Newcastle/Scumderland) Member No.: 28,037 |
You can complain to the insurers, saying you didn't get a letter mentioning a missed payment and your insurance was cancelled.
Offer to pay what you owe if they backdate your insurance. They can do that, but often dont, worth a try. Complain to the Insurance Ombudsman aswell, costs the insurer money when they investigate a complaint. Ask why they was a missed payment, was it your bank refusing payment, if it was complain to your bank who may have no knowledge of a missed payment, get that in writing and tell your insurer it was there fault and they never took the money out, maybe a computer error. -------------------- GB69 ..... 2 vs 0 South Tyneside Council (PCN's)
Thanks to the help of the forum members. |
|
|
Mon, 27 Sep 2010 - 20:18
Post
#6
|
|
Member Group: Members Posts: 642 Joined: 8 Mar 2009 Member No.: 26,846 |
Would it be possible for the OP get both the speeding and insurance issue dealt with together at court - meaning he only gets 6 points and hence avoid totting?
|
|
|
Mon, 27 Sep 2010 - 20:27
Post
#7
|
|
Member Group: Members Posts: 7,686 Joined: 21 Dec 2004 From: ------------- Member No.: 2,073 |
Offer to pay what you owe if they backdate your insurance. They can do that, but often dont, worth a try. AIUI, insurers are prohibited from 'backdating' cover but, if the circumstances are deemed appropriate, they are able to offer a statement of indemnification which confirms that cover would have been provided on the day in question. |
|
|
Mon, 27 Sep 2010 - 22:49
Post
#8
|
|
Member Group: Members Posts: 926 Joined: 9 Aug 2006 From: Staffordshire Member No.: 7,044 |
I suggest reading the policy documentation to see what the section on cancellation says.
Esure, for example, say;- QUOTE We also have a right to cancel your policy at any time by giving you seven days' notice in writing. We will send our letter to the latest address we have for you. If the paragraph on how they can cancel the cover does not appear to have been followed, you have grounds for a complaint. Write to them explaining your complaint and set out what you want them to do to rectify the matter. They have a set timescale in which to investigate and respond. If you are not happy with the response, you have the right to escalate the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service but only once you have fully exhausted the Insurer's complaints procedure. Do not write to the FOS before you have done this, as they will simply return your complaint until you do so. |
|
|
Mon, 27 Sep 2010 - 22:54
Post
#9
|
|
Member Group: Life Member Posts: 1,204 Joined: 18 Jan 2004 From: Northants Member No.: 783 |
I am now worried that i may lose my licence as i would have 3 points for the mobile use (april), 3 points for the speeding (yesterday) and 6 points for no insurance (yesterday); totalling 12 points making me lose my licence. You will get a maximum of 8 points as the speeding and the no insurance were on the "same occasion". No insurance carries 6 to 8. I'd expect 6. So you will have 9 and have to be careful. To avoid an endorsement for the no insurance you would have top prove that you were misled by the insurance company which doesn't apply here. Check why the payment was missed and complain about the cancellation. |
|
|
Mon, 27 Sep 2010 - 22:57
Post
#10
|
|
Member Group: Members Posts: 311 Joined: 21 Apr 2009 From: North East (Newcastle/Scumderland) Member No.: 28,037 |
Offer to pay what you owe if they backdate your insurance. They can do that, but often dont, worth a try. AIUI, insurers are prohibited from 'backdating' cover but, if the circumstances are deemed appropriate, they are able to offer a statement of indemnification which confirms that cover would have been provided on the day in question. They can and do reinstigate insurance, if an Administration Error has occured. i.e. if they say payment was refused by bank, you get letter from bank saying no request was made for payment therefore the error was by the insurance company, hence administrative error and possible reinstatement of insurance from date it was cancelled. The FOS can help during your initial complaint, its on there website. -------------------- GB69 ..... 2 vs 0 South Tyneside Council (PCN's)
Thanks to the help of the forum members. |
|
|
Mon, 27 Sep 2010 - 22:59
Post
#11
|
|
Member Group: Members Posts: 13,581 Joined: 28 Mar 2010 Member No.: 36,528 |
Your insurers are almost certain to say that they gave you the required notice that your policy would be cancelled, and it is difficult to prove they did not. If you could you might succeeed with an argument that there are special reasons why your licence should not be endorsed.
The good news is that if you have already got 3 points for speeding on the same occasion from the fixed penalty, you should only get 3 points for the no insurance, not 6, by the operation of s30 RTOA 1988. You may have to be quite insistant to get the court or fixed penalty office to accept that, but it is not discretionary, it is statutory. -------------------- |
|
|
Tue, 28 Sep 2010 - 08:20
Post
#12
|
|
Member Group: Members Posts: 926 Joined: 9 Aug 2006 From: Staffordshire Member No.: 7,044 |
The FOS can help during your initial complaint, its on there website Informal advice is provided by telephone or email, however a full referral is not possible until later. QUOTE Don't always expect immediate results – some complaints may take time to investigate properly and resolve. And by law, the business you are complaining about has up to eight weeks to sort out the complaint itself, before the ombudsman service can get involved formally. http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/faq/...plaints_a1.html |
|
|
Tue, 28 Sep 2010 - 09:55
Post
#13
|
|
New Member Group: Members Posts: 2 Joined: 27 Sep 2010 Member No.: 40,875 |
The good news is that if you have already got 3 points for speeding on the same occasion from the fixed penalty, you should only get 3 points for the no insurance, not 6, by the operation of s30 RTOA 1988. You may have to be quite insistant to get the court or fixed penalty office to accept that, but it is not discretionary, it is statutory.
[/quote] What does this mean, i have searched on the internet for scots law and can't seem to find any info. Do you know where you can find this information? |
|
|
Tue, 28 Sep 2010 - 10:55
Post
#14
|
|
Member Group: Members Posts: 926 Joined: 9 Aug 2006 From: Staffordshire Member No.: 7,044 |
What does this mean, i have searched on the internet for scots law and can't seem to find any info. Do you know where you can find this information? This is the section of the Road Traffic Offenders Act Logician is referring to;- http://www.statutelaw.gov.uk/content.aspx?...p;filesize=8112 I'm not sure of its application in Scotland. |
|
|
Tue, 28 Sep 2010 - 11:40
Post
#15
|
|
Member Group: Members Posts: 13,581 Joined: 28 Mar 2010 Member No.: 36,528 |
Look below the actual section, where there is a series of boxes of "attributes". Under "extent" it has "E+W+S" which means it covers England, Wales and Scotland.
-------------------- |
|
|
Tue, 28 Sep 2010 - 11:54
Post
#16
|
|
Member Group: Members Posts: 926 Joined: 9 Aug 2006 From: Staffordshire Member No.: 7,044 |
|
|
|
Lo-Fi Version | Time is now: Wednesday, 17th April 2024 - 12:21 |