need advice?

[Paul-GlzV]

need help . basically i got my insurance threw a broker (i won't disclose names as of yet to keep myself rite) on takin out my policy with a company they had sourced i asked as i always dodoes this fully cop policy cover me to drive othacars wit similar policy 3rd party wit owners permission they said yes. now i got stopped last wknd in my mate scooby on the way home from north coast at 4.30am i got pulled over by the fuzz the officer was on his own an had also been followin me from j1 in an unmarked octavia this was nutts corner roundabout where he pulled me over. as u'd imagine all my document's were in the starlet so i got a producer. on producin my documents at local station the officer said i'm not insured to drive other vehicles an i almost threw up in shock. so when i phoned the broker i took the policy out threw i simply asked could u check some details on my policy an asked am i insured to drive other vehicles the girl said yes straight away as i was fully comp so i explained wat had happened at my local station when i produced my license/insurance an told her it was not stated on my certificate?? she seemed confused an asked me to hold while she spoke to her manager. she came bk an said no i've got it wrong ur not covered,for some reason ur insurer hasn't given urself that level of cover. so i phoned the insurer direct they said they cannot give that level of cover to anyone in the motor trade. so i explained my situation an that the broker had told me different an based on the info they give me had drove anotha car an pulled by the police.they said if they had prof of them givin misleadin details maybe the can do somethin (the broker basically told me i was covered when i took out the policy and when given the info from police when i informed them the situation the realised they were wrong). maybe isn't gd enuf for me i'm lookin at losin my license an my job an best of all my starlet to cover the fine i'll get an bills.

any advice would be appreciated a hell of alot i'm really stuck on were to turn next. thanx for reading

 

[Aimee]

Gutted for you. Thats terrible but if i was you even though without proof an its your word against the broker. I would fight til my last breath especially if it caused all the hassel of job, car etc. What was said when you produced other than the fact you wasn't insured have you had a summons?

Have you not got the insurance cert? Should it not say on their about being able to drive other cars?

Bit of a hard situation to be fair but just be strong and fight it may seem like your fighting the world but i would keep my feet firmly on the ground if i was you.

 

[Paul-GlzV]

i'm not goin without a fight thats for sure. it states on the policy summary of drivin otha cars an says see section 1 on certificte. an is not stated on the certificate. this was the 1st i noticed this in the police station. as i was told by the broker before i took out the policy it would cover me, an also when i double checked after i produced to police then i told them the situation of when i produced an then they realised they were wrong. i hav to right to the complaints debt in kent for there underwriters to check the calls an prove that i was given false info by the broker. i've had a offence of no insurance put against me but no summons but i'm sure it won't be long.

 

[sacodetoro]

first of all while you remember, right down all the dates times and names of all the contact you've had with your broker and the company who underwrite.

How long have you had the policy? When did you recieve your insurance certificate.

Did you arrange the policy all on the phone? Did you pay the full amount over the phone? Did you have the insurance documents before you paid?

 

[Paul-GlzV]

i have times, dates but no names. i pay it monthly threw direct debt an i received documents after deposit ect was paid?

policy started on 27th aug following the quote over the phone

 

[sacodetoro]

what date did you get stopped? what was the deposit, was it payment for the first month? have you paid them since you got stopped?

 

[Paul-GlzV]

got stopped not sat past but previous well sunday it was 4.30am. deposit was £170-£180 roughly. next payment is due 24th this month

 

[sacodetoro]

so you haven't paid them anything since your deposit?

Tbh mate you're in a really shit position, insurance contracts are a nightmare and completely sided with the insurer, the problems are that you when "making the contract" thought you would have the 3rd party extension and then paid your £170 but when you get your contract you're supposed to read it as to what they are going to provide, in your case you had agreed on the phone to have the 3rd party ext but when you get the docs it says this isn't covered.
I only have a v.basic knowledge but as that's not what you agreed to in the first instance and you could then set the contract to the side and it would effectively be void but you couldn't do this if you had paid them again after receiving the docs as that would be seen as you accepting the terms on the documents and effectively their breach.

All this is really irrelevant to the court though as you still weren't covered when you got stopped, but you may be able to argue that your insurers were in breach of contract as you had taken out the policy on the premise you were going to be covered to drive other cars.

Basically the insurers lied to you to get you to take out the policy.

Get a good solicitor and see what they say, go to court and the Judge may use his discretion and you could keep your license

 

[gv1.3]

Basically the insurers lied to you to get you to take out the policy.

I think that is your opinion rather than fact mate.

The situation is indeed a shit one. You go through a broker who in turn goes and finds a good price for insurance for you based upon your needs.

This broker told you that you were covered to drive other cars but they dont issue the policy, the Insurance company does. The insurance company may have seen something they didnt like, you being in the motor trade etc, and decided not to permit you to drive other cars under the policy. I would assume that the broker was not aware of this as they usually dont issue the policy, the insurance company does.

This is not going to be much good to you now but it is so important to read your policy once you get it and make sure it details everything that is supposed to be covered. I got my policy for my Glanza and it just said "EP91 Glanza" I called up and got them to re-issue the certificate with "EP91 Glanza V" as it could have been a V or an S it was referring to.

Now ... what to do... I would seek legal advice and find out where you stand. My suspicion would be that the broker and the insurance company have their arse's covered in the fine print but worth checking with someone in the legal profession.

If it turns out you do not have a case against the broker or insurance company I would call the broker and ask to speak to a manager. I would explain the situation very calmly and explain that because of the incorrect advice you were given you are now facing having your license revoked. I would advise them that you would appreciate a simple letter from them which states that you were misinformed by a member of their staff regarding the policy that was being issued to you.

Go to court and explain the situation in simple terms and hope that you get a sympathetic judge on the day. I would also make a point of saying that you are glad this was discovered by the police and brought to your attention as you were totally unaware and thankfully this was discovered now rather than in the unfortunate event that you were involved in an accident whilst driving someone elses car.

I feel for you dude, this is indeed a crap situation to find yourself in.

 

[Stulet-GTT]

I would call the broker and ask to speak to a manager. I would explain the situation very calmly .

This is the best bit of advice, alway's stay calm even tho you just wanna lose it...

Most call's are recorded so if you can remember the date/time you spoke to them they might have it recorded...

Hope you get it all sorted and it goes your way...

 

[sacodetoro]

I think that is your opinion rather than fact mate.

The situation is indeed a shit one. You go through a broker who in turn goes and finds a good price for insurance for you based upon your needs.

This broker told you that you were covered to drive other cars but they dont issue the policy, the Insurance company does. The insurance company may have seen something they didnt like, you being in the motor trade etc, and decided not to permit you to drive other cars under the policy. I would assume that the broker was not aware of this as they usually dont issue the policy, the insurance company does.

It was a sweeping statement that wasn't totally correct, yes.

In contract law terms, the broker is acting as an agent and has the ability to bind the insurance company.

In my interpretation the act of the broker telling you were covered to drive other cars was misreprepresentation as it was an inducement for you to enter into the contract.

It was negligent misrepresentation on the part of the broker who is representing the insurer.


Dylan's right however you won't get anywhere with the insurance company as insurance contracts have ridiculously unfair clauses in them and they can be enforced as they are insurance contracts and are exempt from alot of laws preventing unfair terms etc.

My advice would be to do as dylan says, go get legal advice and try and get the broker to confirm in writing that you aren't covered third party contrary to what they had advised you over the phone when you were taking out the policy.

Your problem will be that you've paid them a few times since you got the documents which state you're not insured to drive other cars.

you might be lucky and get to keep the licence

 

[Paul-GlzV]

thanx for all the help an advice it's a big help. rep all round. i'll update on fri when i speak to citizens advice an solictor as i don't wanna lose my license or job but mainly my starlet

 

[turbojim]

Well man i was in this very same situation wen i was fixing my gt starlet i bought a 1lt starlet as a daily til i left for australia i rang my insurance company before i paid for the car to transfer my insurance and they said i did not need to as i was covered on any other car (my insurance is not with a broker but straight with the company)

so about 2 weeks later i get stopped at a check point about 10.30 at night and the gaurd asked my for my insurance details as the insurance disc was from my gt so i gave her out my insurance policy and she asked me to get out of the car she said i was not insured on the car and i nearly flipped, i told her i had rang my insurance company to transfer my insurance and they told me i didn need to, but she didn believe me so they took the car off me(all this happen literally 5 mins from my house)

she told me they would impound the car until i went into the station and proved to them i was insured, i asked her to wait 5 mins and il prove to her there and then but she wouldn wait a second they just packed up and fu**ed off :shoot:

i rang the insurance company the following morning and asked them and they said i was but i said i want my insurance transfered now so they did i went into the cop station and gave them my details again

im guessing i was lucky as i only had to pay for the car to be impounded for a night about 150euro although thats fu**ing ridiculous to park the car in an empty yard

just said i would tell you man as i was in the same situation and thats all that happened to me , i cant believe your going to loose your licence

 

[Jay]

A harsh lesson mate, get EVERYTHING in writing.

I had the unfortunate pleasure of having Quinn Direct to deal with for years and the amount of misleading stuff they said on the phone was shocking. One employee even explained how I should 'front' my insurance for a second car.

I know it will be sickening to do it but ring the insurance company and calmly explain the situation. It is them who have misled you and if that is the case you need to face the facts before the police start legal proceedings.

Worth contacting the Insurance ombudsman if you feel your insurance company is at fault.

 

[sacodetoro]

Worth contacting the Insurance ombudsman if you feel your insurance company is at fault.

Very good idea, never thought of that. It will help give you more credibility if there is a formal complaint with them so the Court doesn't see you as just coming up with excuses.

 

[Jay]

It will also show the insurer that you are not going to just go away. A formal complaint via this route would be my own course of action. It would also be a good idea to run the situation past your solicitor as he/she could offer a more credible input that just us eejits on a web forum.

Good luck with getting it sorted bro.

 

[Jay]

Also just thinking - investigate your mate's insurance cover in case it covers him for letting others driving his car with his permission. With mine I can let people drive so long as I'm in the car with them.

It's a long shot but worth checking as it'll make all this go away.

 

[Paul-GlzV]

small update i've spoken wit the officer as has my mate (owner of the subaru i was driving) he's on r side all i need to do is get in writing from the insurance broker that they made a mistake an were in the clear. if not were both goin to court an i'll be lucky to walk away wit my license if i get any sort of punishment for there fuck up tho i'm takin those cunts to court for fraud? as the officer kindly told me i could lol. will let all know the outcome when i hear back from the insurance. thanx paul

 

[Paul147]

Best of luck with it mate!

 

[Paul-GlzV]

thanx mate i'm gonna need it. u've no idea how tempted i'am to phone them an give them dogs abuse:shoot::shoot::shoot: