Dear all,
I just find this out, ... This is unbelievable but TRUE!!! I am still very angry about it.
To made a long story short, I changed my insurance policy from AA-Churchill to Tesco in July. I purchased my policy via the Tesco website & paid the money (about £380, TFPP plus breakdown coverage) with my credit card. I received the policy document (with insurance certificate & others) shortly. I sign the document & sent them back right away ? I sent them the policy renewal notice from AA as the evidence of my NCB (the Tesco policy document stated that they will normally accepted the renewal notice as NCB document, etc. I received the letter from AA to state my NCB after sending out the document to Tesco). I assume that everything is OK (after all, I have not received anything from Tesco afterward).
I called Tesco this afternoon to enquire about the possible change of insurance premium, and to my horror, they told me my policy has been cancelled unilaterally. About some minutes of anxious waiting, the guy told me that I have not response with their 2 letters about my NCB (apparently, they want the AA letter, NOT JUST the renewal notification) sent to me on 21 Aug. & 10 Sep. so they just CANCELLED MY POLICY UNILATERALLY ? NO WARMING, but, I simply received nothing since July, ?
I asked: ?How come I have not received any warming about the cancellation?? ?If I still have not received the cancellation letter, what would happened if I have to made a claim?? (this is possible since I have not received their previous 2 letters & they have NOT send out their cancellation notice yet!!!) They get my e-mail, mobile phone numbers & yet I am not informed and assuming everything is fine naively. I paid all the money up front more than 2 months ago & they can just cancel my policy right away with NO FAULTS ON MY PART as far as I am concerned!!!! They eventually reinstated my policy ? I am not sure, since they only told me on the phone ? I have to get something in black & white.
The guy just told me this is their company?s procedure & I think this is ridiculous. I am going to complain ? but what else can I do????
Be warmed: all of you with Tesco policy and under similar circumstance, pls. ring them to ensure that everything is fine (for the sake of peace in mind).
|
|
is that be warned, or as you say be warmed???
|
|
|
Perhaps they think that you'll see from your credit card statement that you've got some money back from them & wonder what it is ?
A similar happened to me once, when I cancelled the wrong direct debit - I had 2 with the same company - and as a result I drove round for 6 months with no insurance, whereas my house contents were covered twice over !
|
|
|
A couple of different sides to this...
Firstly, with NCD your policy amounted to 380 pounds. Without NCD I assume it was probably around double that.
Getting proof of NCD from people is notoriously difficult. Even if the insurer simply wants to remove the NCD, they still have to get another 400 quid out of you.
However, if you said you had NCD and cannot prove it, maybe you have had an accident or two. This could incur a loading of upto 50%, meaning that now they need to get 800 quid out of you.
Added to this, it could mean that you are a high risk account that they don't want.
In conclusion, I have total sympathy for their problem here.
On the other side is the question of lapsing cover.
To lapse cover with an existing legal document covering that period requires 7 days notice, registered, to the last known contact address.
However, if you were still using cover notes, then they could allow the cover notes not to be renewed with no further action. This would be your responsibility.
It might be unfair, or unacceptable, but it is your responsibility to ensure that you have the minimum required insurance to drive on the roads. There have been instances where it has been a total insurance company mistake, but the person is still responsible. Although, with a letter from the insurance company concerned the courts will normally, although not always let it go.
It is fairly common place for insurance companies to lapse cover where NCD documentation is not provided - btw the difference between a renewal notice from you rinsurance co and from your broker (in this case the AA) is that broker renewal notice can be obtained in duplicate whereas a normal ins. co. notice cannot be. Although there are also ways around that.
In effect then, probably horrible business practices, but probably not anything illegal.
M.
p.s. I typed half of this before lunch and half after, it may not make complete sense !!
|
When I changed my wifes insurance company earlier this year they asked the question of what years no claim bonus she was entitled to and from which company.
I seem to recall that they did the checking themselves upon receiving this information and did not require any documentation to substantiate this.
There was also a section which said that they checked a common insurance database to ensure that all information was verified.
I took this to mean that all insurance companies are able to look at any drivers record to ensure that all details given by the customer were true.
This would appear to be common sense to me. Why then would Tesco require a NCB verification from GY. Or was I misunderstanding my wifes documentation?????.
Alvin
|
Bear in mind that I have not even insured my own car in the UK for some years, never mind dealt with anybody else's issues. I know, at least more or less, where the law has changed. I can even comment on current practices. However, current tools are beyond what I have experience of.
Therefore, there may well be a current common database of which I know nothing. Although theoretically there could be data protection issues around this. Also, whilst it may be of value to the law, it would be of limited, or potentially no, value to the insurance companies, and therefore not something that they are likely to put extensive effort into.
Although even having said that, they may be coming from a claims reduction point of view, given that one of the most frequent scams is multiple claims for the same incident.
Insurance Companies, unlike brokers, are sometimes prepared to obtain proof of NCD from previous insurers themselves - especially the ones who are looking for the higher quality risks. Hence wanting to know details of the policy. Some Ins. Cos are even prepared to obtain the proof verbally, although perversely some Ins. Cos will also refuse to give it to them and insist on sending it to you.
This is probably why NCD is not always being asked for from the customer. However, one way or another, it will definitely be required. Don't forget, this is not really for proof of NCD; they are in reality loooking for proof of previous claim free insurance, of which NCD is seen as more proof than simply your word on a proposal.
Also, it would be a TOTAL no-no for one insurance company to give details of a claim to anybody else. They would instead refuse to offer proof, or limit the number of years quoted.
M.
|
|
|
|
I agree. NCD verification is a thing of the past. I often swap companies, and I have never had to provide any verification. The companies swap all the information they need. They have all the necessary information about every car and every driver already.
Cliff Pope
|
Out of interest, last year I was insured through Tesco (it's a front end for Direct Line Insurance, by the way, or so they told me). I had to go through the same rigmarole of proving No Claims Discount and it was not easy to do. After all, your previous insurance company is just that, previous, and by definition is not making any money from you anymore. So they're hardly likely to crank up the customer service apparatus on your behalf.
I don't know if this NCD procedure is generally symptomatic of Tesco Insurance, but the reason I moved on was because of what I thought to be their hopeless administration.
I think the important point here, though, is that this is not a scam. They are doing nothing which is illegal, as Mark (Brazil) has pointed out. Questionable, yes. Unprofessional, probably yes too. But not a scam.
If there's a moral to any of this, it's that you gets what you pays for. I chose Tesco because they gave me the best deal at the time, in terms of premium. Maybe I should have opted for a more expensive but more customer-oriented office. At one time you found an insurance company which gave you a good quote and a reasonable level of service, and you stuck with them. So there was never the need to prove your discount entitlement. These days insurance premiums are all over the place, and it always pays to look for alternatives when it comes to renewal. But of course that means that you're forever sending papers back and forth. Progress? Hmmmm.
|
|
|
|
Thanks for all the comments, ...
I called Tesco again yesterday, ..., I still cannot spoke to their Team Leader / Manager, ... Another guy told me that they did not received my letter/document in July - so 3 letters have been disappeared apparently. Fair enough, may be I should complain to the Royal Mail as well!!!
My point is: I get the evidence to proof my NCB - both from the renewal notice & a letter from my previous insurance comapny. For some unknown reasons, the letter sent by me had not been delivered. Tesco sent me 2 letters but I have not received them as well. Tesco then terminate my policy without any notification / warning, ... (I expect a letter via registered mail, etc.) If I have not called them, I would not find it out (I paid the money but does not get the cover), ..., in other words, I violate the law with no fault on my part, so WHO SHOULD TAKE THE LEGAL RESPONSIBILITY in case of any claim???
P.S. By the way, they just told me this is their company policy, ..., no explanation what so ever, ... etc. No one even has the courage to apologise to me for that, ..., what can I say!!!
Thanks.
GY wrote:
>
> Dear all,
>
> I just find this out, ... This is unbelievable but TRUE!!! I
> am still very angry about it.
>
> To made a long story short, I changed my insurance policy
> from AA-Churchill to Tesco in July. I purchased my policy via
> the Tesco website & paid the money (about £380, TFPP plus
> breakdown coverage) with my credit card. I received the
> policy document (with insurance certificate & others)
> shortly. I sign the document & sent them back right away ? I
> sent them the policy renewal notice from AA as the evidence
> of my NCB (the Tesco policy document stated that they will
> normally accepted the renewal notice as NCB document, etc. I
> received the letter from AA to state my NCB after sending out
> the document to Tesco). I assume that everything is OK (after
> all, I have not received anything from Tesco afterward).
>
> I called Tesco this afternoon to enquire about the possible
> change of insurance premium, and to my horror, they told me
> my policy has been cancelled unilaterally. About some minutes
> of anxious waiting, the guy told me that I have not response
> with their 2 letters about my NCB (apparently, they want the
> AA letter, NOT JUST the renewal notification) sent to me on
> 21 Aug. & 10 Sep. so they just CANCELLED MY POLICY
> UNILATERALLY ? NO WARMING, but, I simply received nothing
> since July, ?
>
> I asked: ?How come I have not received any warming about the
> cancellation?? ?If I still have not received the cancellation
> letter, what would happened if I have to made a claim?? (this
> is possible since I have not received their previous 2
> letters & they have NOT send out their cancellation notice
> yet!!!) They get my e-mail, mobile phone numbers & yet I am
> not informed and assuming everything is fine naively. I paid
> all the money up front more than 2 months ago & they can just
> cancel my policy right away with NO FAULTS ON MY PART as far
> as I am concerned!!!! They eventually reinstated my policy ?
> I am not sure, since they only told me on the phone ? I have
> to get something in black & white.
>
> The guy just told me this is their company?s procedure & I
> think this is ridiculous. I am going to complain ? but what
> else can I do????
>
> Be warmed: all of you with Tesco policy and under similar
> circumstance, pls. ring them to ensure that everything is
> fine (for the sake of peace in mind).
|
> ..., in other words, I violate the law with no fault on my
> part, so WHO SHOULD TAKE THE LEGAL RESPONSIBILITY in case of
> any claim???
The legal responsibility is yours. It would be you who received the prosecution for no insurance.
However, you could threaten to sue, with a good chance of not needing to, to get your money.
|
|
|
|
My daughter insured her flat contents through Tesco. She had a break-in, and the awfullness of the claims process, the personal interrogations, and the many months it took to get paid made all the family resolve never to insure anything with Tesco.
Mike Holland
|
|
|
I, too, made the mistake of insuring one of our card through Tesco. They have made constant mistakes, they are appallingly difficult to contact on the phone and I found the only way to get any sense out of them was to send a recorded delivery letter to their chief executive, threatening to enlist the help of the insurance ombudsman. And even after that they have still fouled things up.
I wouuld counsel peope never to place business with this appalling outfit - they are truly dreadful...
|
|
|
