Tough one, I get your stance of "you don't need this info" etc, Ive personally no problem in providing my driving license number to an insurance company, Ive nothing to hide and they can do all the checks they want

Same. If it helps speed up the process and gives me cheap insurance I'll all for it.

It was 6 years ago when I changed to LV just as we moved to Colchester and they asked me to scan our licences at that time. Direct to their email address.

No problem, and till this year they didn't charge for changes...

To be honest, that was one of the reasons why I stayed with esure for so long, but having to pay £75 - £100pa more this year for the priviledge over otherwise similar providers wasn't worth. The difference was a lot less in previous years. Their loss.

Thank you for all the comments men, now an update. I contacted the brokers, RCIB in Essex, who are an LV appointed broker agency. I spoke to a more reasonable person but they were still intransigent about this. Even when I pointed out that I went through the comparison website and entered our DVLA details they insisted I e mail them a scan of our licences. That is where we parted company. I cancelled the policy, not them and there will be a small fee of £25 but worth it to be rid of these vexatious people. They would not acknowledge their error at proposal stage nor our need for security with such personal information over an internet server. I offered to read out the details but that was unacceptable. Ridiculous.

Insured with another provider within the hour and no real cost incurred. Their loss is someone else's gain. Will not be pushed around by pettifogging little inefficient pen pushers when it is so easy to get it right. There now, feel better now. Time for a lie down!!!!

Cheers to all, have a nice weekend. Concrete

Will not be pushed around by pettifogging little inefficient pen pushers when it is so easy to get it right. There now, feel better now. Time for a lie down!!!!

Sounds as if you feel that was £25 well spent .... :-)

Sometimes it is worth it!

Last summer (2019) i got 2 sim cards with anetwork that offered free phone calls in the USA and immediately ran into reception problems for both phones.

The contracts were for 12 months at a rate of £10 a month for unlimited calls and 10Gb of data.

I had a fight to pay only the contract cancellation fee as the network claimed it was a "discounted rate" for a 12 month contract and by cancelling I should pay the normal rate, but eventually when I got throught to an English speaking person at Head Office in Glasgow they saw sense, and I paid 10 months at the £10 cost less a 20% discount.

Then the bills and warning letters started AFTER i had paid..

I let it run till I had received 3 letters for each contract and the sent a letter before action and claimed £50 each for harassment or i would go via small claims court.

Was given an apology (systems error) (my foot) and eventually refunded.

It cost me something to get out of the contracts, but the feeling of relief.. was worth it.

....does this mean he will now need to obtain his proof of no claims bonus from the new insurer which he has now cancelled to satisfy the requirements of his next insurer?

In my experience previous proof of NCB remains acceptable for several months, maybe a year, after a policy terminates. It doesn't have to come from your most recent insurer. A question may be raised about cancellation I suppose.

....does this mean he will now need to obtain his proof of no claims bonus from the new insurer which he has now cancelled to satisfy the requirements of his next insurer?

In my experience previous proof of NCB remains acceptable for several months, maybe a year, after a policy terminates.

If you suspend or dont reinsure (because you don't have a car) most companies usually accept up to a 2 year gap in insurance cover.

It doesn't have to come from your most recent insurer?? That surely is nonsense, as you may have had claims or accidents in the meantime. That would be an easy get out for dishonest people.

NCD history and claims history are two separate things - I have protected NCD so always declare maximum NCD but and claims have to be declared separately.

The only RCIB I can find are insurance brokers, ie intermediaries. I can't find anything in their terms published on their website that says you can cancel by email.

Emails are always a bad alternative to a telephone call. Unless they acknowledge it, it doesn't form any legal contract. They are generally an insecure method of communication.

What is clear is you exceeded the 14 day cooling off period before you sent the email. You now need to agree with them what charges are levied for cancellation which are explained in some detail in the terms on their website before they can request a cancellation from whoever is the underwiting insurer. Hefty charges look likely, judging from the terms, £60 fee plus pro rata refund of unused portion and lost comission....see below..... Any extras such as breakdown are non refundable....I wonder if NCD protection, legal cover etc are such "extras"

This is why its important to read small print and act before the 14 day period expires.

"We will deduct a cancellation fee of £60 plus any other applicable service charges that you have incurred during the course of your policy from any refund provided by your insurer. We will also retain 15% of any refund provided by your insurer in lieu of lost commission. If your policy is being paid by instalments the cancellation of finance charge will also apply. Where we receive no commission from the insurer, the fee applied in lieu of commission will be retained in full.

If the refund provided by the insurer is insufficient to cover our charges you will be required to pay the balance to us.

After the 14-day cooling off period has expired, breakdown, excess reimbursement and other purchased add-on premiums are payable in full."

Even LV has a nasty hidden in their terms that I fell foul of, meaning I couldn't cancel without losing a complete years payment of premium i had made for next years renewal. A claim before the end of the previous year after renewal for next year meant no refunds......

Fingers crossed you sort it without too much further pain, however you should look pragmatically at how much your refusal to cooperate has cost you.

Btw now I know they are brokers, they probably do not have the same rights of access as an authorised insurer to the DVLA database hence the requests for DVLA codes or photocopies of licences. As would any car hire company do.

Edited by brum on 21/10/2020 at 17:59

Well Brum, I appear to have an entirely different set of T&C's to you. I am quoting the ones sent to me with the policy details by RCIB. Cancel by e mail is acceptable. £25 cancellation fee. Even after all that my new policy is such value and includes extras not on the RCIB policy, that the whole exercise is virtually cost neutral. Which is fine, but even a small cost would have been acceptable to be free from these people.

If RCIB don't have access to the DVLA database then why did the comparison website ask for DVLA details about the drivers. Surely they could access this seeing as the website put them forward as a potential provider. I was, and am still adamant that I am not sending vital identity information via internet based e mail servers. As for your point about the car hire, I have always produced my licence for inspection when hiring. A bit different to scanning and e mailing you will agree.

As for your comment about me not being co-operative, I disagree. I refer you to my earlier point about security. Also you missed the point about all this so called vital information not being asked for during the proposal stage. Not AFTER the policy was issued. My co-operation was to the full when requesting and accepting a quote. What more could I do? Their job for them and ask them if they needed my licence details? I think not.

Cheers Concrete

From your first post "They took the money". They didnt take anything. You paid the premium for the contract you agreed to enter into. You were subsequently asked for additional information and took umbrage, much like when paying the premium you agreed to.

I think the original brokers will be quite glad to have lost your custom!

They did take the money. From my credit card a few days after the acceptance. Of course I agreed a contract and so did they. Subsequently requiring more information to do what? The contract was agreed and paid. Done deal. You are missing the point here: I will repeat it for the last time.

I gave DVLA details on the proposal website. They have access to this.

I was not happy to scan and e mail sensitive information over an internet e mail service.

I offered the details verbally or they could send someone to look.

Can you tell me why you think I am at fault here for expecting them to get the whole thing correct at the proposal stage? I suppose you would be willing to provide such information over internet e mail, that is your affair.They could not be any more please than I that we are shot of each other.

Concrete

I'm with you Concrete.

There are times when"we" have had enough of poor service and sometimes take the choice to go elswhere.

Recent, new phone, when broke the old one, new washing machine, sorry can't deliver so cancelled went to a competitor opposite(collected myself) Tumble dryer, got a suitable one that was available then told after placing order will deliver when in stock... but you wre showing available for delivery in 5 days.. so cancelled and went elsewhere..

The list could be endless.. I have done the same with car purchases and with car insurance.

An explanation taken from:-

www.adrianflux.co.uk/blog/2018/11/why-do-insurance...y.

"It’s common for insurance companies to request copies of your documentation when issuing a new policy. However, many drivers are left wondering exactly what purpose this serves.

While providing a copy of your driving licence and other documents may be a minor hassle, insurers have a legitimate reason for carrying out a DVLA licence check. In fact, ensuring all policyholders provide full and accurate information regarding past convictions and penalties can actually save you money.

In the event of an accident, anyone found to have withheld information from their insurance provider runs the risk of their claim being invalid. Under the Road Traffic Act, it’s the insurer who is liable to pay for any third-party losses. Validating the accuracy of the information provided reduces the likelihood of this happening, with savings that can be passed down directly to you"

It's procedure in France for the Insurer's agent to request your licence, UK or French, when you insure the vehicle, they put it on the copier and the copy goes in your file.

Also, when registering a vehicle at least one of the registered owners has to have a valid licence to drive that vehicle - as in my motorcycles, OH does not have a moto licence but is a co-owner on the registration document.

Edited by focussed on 25/10/2020 at 11:05

A small point, a french licence does not have the licence holder's address on it, so it is not used as an ID document, we have an ID card for that.

As far as I know, nor does any other european country.

I don't really understand why you think that providing an insurance company with your licence details is so fraught with security concerns.

"I thought not being willing to scan and e mail information on an internet e mail system would need any explanation"

So explain it anyway please.

The likelihood of the copy of your DL or personal information or whatever being intercepted while in an electronic format on it's way from you to whoever you are sending to is extremely remote. On the contrary, regardless of how you send the information, whether it be email, snail mail, by phone or in person, at some time the information is going to be in clear text on somebody's desk to enable somebody to read it, that is the real risk.

An example, not quite the same but you should get the picture.

As I live in France I buy quite a lot of items from the UK using my UK Visa card, using the secure website merchant facility we are all familiar with, checking that the "https" security is present - I have never had a problem with that in the 11 years I have been in france.The https url means the information is encrypted within a server somewhere and only the last four numerals of the credit card number are visible.

But twice I have encountered the situation where I have had to reluctantly give the credit card number over the phone - a telephone order, which means somebody has to write the number down on a credit card merchant slip.

Both times with reputable limited companies, both times there was funny business afterwards, one was spurious transactions appearing on my account and the other a warning from Barclaycard that my credit card number had been hawked around cash machines in a northern town on the day I put the order through, presumably by a staff member trying to guess the pin code.

Both times I complained to the company concerned and got nowhere,

So this illustrates that electronica is as secure as it can be - other methods less so!

She is a seasoned long serving police officer who sees the risks for what they are. Small maybe but real none the less. Eradicate or reduce the risk and you are more secure.

This is a reflection on life in general. Everyday behaviour is based on habit, which has been learnt almost since birth, allowing for risks seen as significant and ignoring others, which very occasionally come to pass. Young people take more risk, perhaps partly because that is their nature and partly because they don't take kindly to advice. Crossing a busy road is one risk, getting habituated to drugs is another.

One philosophical question is how one can allow for the very tiny risk of a mammoth catastrophe. This country was not prepared for Covid, though the risk of that should perhaps have been thought higher.

Hi Concrete

Did you ever get rid of RCIB? I am having terrible trouble with them.

Edited by Avant on 31/12/2020 at 23:52

I see that RCIB have this statement on their website :-

We share the same Headquarters in Romford, Essex with our Breakdown Brands; AutoAid, Autonational and Euro Rescue. RCIB, and it’s brands are generally a Web/Phone based application and renewal service.

Oh dear ....

I have found one thing important in dealing with insurance, cars etc

GO DIRECT !

By all means use a comparison site, but also check direct.

Brokers are not woth it unless you have specific needs.

And yet my broker does better than the comparison sites (mostly) despite me not being very unique - thing is there are two different types of brokers, those who find out what the customer needs and then matches that to an insurer - and those who are simply agents for a handful of insurers.