Thank you for your kind thoughts.However I am a muppet that fully understands his rights. Whilst you may scoff I strongly suggest you accqaint yourself with The Right of Privacy under the HRA. The Act is quite clear about being forced into disclosure of confidential information. Having spent the weekend with my niece who is a solicitor I await 9 a.m eagerly to cross swords with these empty suits...by the by..are you an insurance salesman..muppet?? Mr Stadler perhaps...Kind regards Mr Waldorf.

Very few if any Insurers currently check the DVLA database when you arrange Insurance, some will check your credit file.

However 99% of Insurers will require to see a photocopy of your driving licence (Some will require all named drivers) or arrange a conference call to the DVLA to check your licence for a theft or fire claim. Many will require it for an accident.

Many companies will now days want to see your driving licence and retain a photocopy (Which incidently normally displays a "fake" watermark when photocopied) eg Banks, your employer etc.

There's little information on your driving licence that the Insurer does not already know about you apart from whether you truely have any convictions / a valid licence.

I recommend you don't get to the stage where the Insurers enforce cancellation of your policy as the repurcussions (currently) last forever

Hi all

Good news to report, but first I really must thank the experts on this forum who have been sosupportive and helpful, most appreciated.

The upshot of this folly is that I contacted the insurers this morning and after a brief discussion was put in touch with the complaints section. I asked for a copy of their complaint s procedure, a data subject access request (Subject to the statutory fee) and copies of all correspondence. I then told them I was contacting the FSA Ombudsman which I duly did. Story told to FSA. The FSA would contact the insurers and get back to mme.About half an hour ago I received a phone call from the insurance company. My policy has been re instated, a small adjustment in premium due to refunds, and as a token of goodwill an extra months cover for gratis. Well helpful people...I have not had to reveal my driving licence details....their now!

As stated previously 22years ncb, 44 years of unblemished driving.

The final word is that I'll be bu###rd if I'm going to pushed round by the office junior or an empty suit..the law of the land stands no matter what there worthless terms and conditions state.A contract is made by both parties agreeing. In my case the terms and conditions were applied after the contract was made and the full premium paid. If you buy insurance over the internet I suggest you do a local screen print of every page that you are filling in.If their is no request for your licence details ( copy there of) before payment is made then the insurers do not have a porcelain receptacle to urinate in..as the man said."I love it when a plan comes together". Kind rgds.I

Indeed. Something fishy here: the FSA was replaced on 1 April 2013 by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority.

I've been driving since the 70's and have never been asked for a copy of my driving licence, anyone that tells you 99% of companies want to see it is mis-informed. I have though been asked for a copy by a previous motorcycle insurer and did send them it with the proviso that they returned it to me (without copying it) in a prepaid envelope that I kindly provided, in hindsight I would not do so again.

I do recommend that you safeguard important data such as your birthdate, NI number, phone reference number etc, never use use any personal data on sites like facebook and always use modified information you can trace if there is a security breach.

Bonzomatic has been most sensible, there is so much fraud around that we must all be on our guard constantly, dishonest people do work for reputable companies as well as honest ones, Indian call centres area prime example of criminal activity.

Take care,

Frost

Two seperate issues here; we're not talking about not divulging personal info to the interweb, this is about providing licence info to an insurance company (of which I'm still unsure what personal information it contains).

Bozomatic stats that the FSA (a defunct organisation) intervened to override a request for such information by an insurance company based on the HRA, all in a day.

Don't confuse the issue.

1. What happened to the word "please"?

2. I was not trying to confuse the issue.

3. Divulging any information to any service or company opens you up to fraud or criminal activity, so be very careful.

4.The less documentation you spread around the safer you will be.

5. Driving licenses are very valuable items to criminals, you should not let anyone have a copy.

Thank you, have a nice day

Frost

"I've been driving since the 70's and have never been asked for a copy of my driving licence, anyone that tells you 99% of companies want to see it is mis-informed. I have though been asked for a copy by a previous motorcycle insurer and did send them it with the proviso that they returned it to me (without copying it) in a prepaid envelope that I kindly provided, in hindsight I would not do so again.

I do recommend that you safeguard important data such as your birthdate, NI number, phone reference number etc, never use use any personal data on sites like facebook and always use modified information you can trace if there is a security breach.

Bonzomatic has been most sensible, there is so much fraud around that we must all be on our guard constantly, dishonest people do work for reputable companies as well as honest ones, Indian call centres area prime example of criminal activity.

Take care,

Frost"

I've worked in the industry for more than two decades and can guarantee you that 99% of Insurers will insist on seeing a photocopy of a driving licence or possibly a conference call to the DVLA before they pay a Theft or Fire claim.

Anyone that tells you 99% of companies DON'T want to see it is mis-informed...

• Theft & Fire claims are blighted by very high amounts of fraudulent claims so tend to trigger extra investigation. Requesting a copy DL has been standard for these claims for many many years. I even seen a few cases where people have crudely faked the copies and been caugh
• The only company I've ever known check with the DVLA at inception is Chaucer (I don't deal with them now days so not sure if they still do). I spoke to their underwriter about this and he explained the cost per client was relatively high, as a company it would cost them circa £250k a year (The DVLA charge per enquiry and the fee the DVLA charge for the data link) and however he mentioned they were discovering enough undisclosed convictions to generate £400k so they were happy.
• I believe they had an extra line or two added to the proposal forms about Data Protection (In addition to the standard DP notices)and them checking DVLA
• It did tend to upset a lot of customers as many resent receiving a letter advising them they need to send X amount extra including an admin fee.
• Insurers tend to work at the speed of continental drift and don't like change. They also worry that if they work in a different way to other Insurers they will lose customers due to customers going to a company that has not adopted whatever they fangled idea.
• You also have the issue of Utmost Good Faith on which Insurance was founded and most Insurers still believe in. They rely on clients to declare the correct information at inception, the checking of licences at claim stage is regarded as the customer proving the claim / the Insurer validating it.
• Having said that, Insurers are slowly embracing new technologies with many now checking for claims at inception stage against C.U.E and many checking credit files, some even check against the Hunter database at inception. I have no doubt that in the future the vast majority of Insurers will pay the DVLA fees and start checking licences at inception.
• There are a few Insurers that require a copy of DL at inception eg the esure group of companies do but also clearly advise of this http://www.esurebroker.com/faqs/proof_of_driving_licence (I've heard of many many people having their policies cancelled by them for this reason.

Edited by dacouch on 16/05/2013 at 19:39

Here is a slight variation on what has been posted previously:

1. I call for an insurance quote, answer their questions, receive a price, and make a payment.
2. My insurance documents are received through the post.
3. Two weeks after my initial call, I receive another letter requested a copy of my driving licence.
4. I contact the insurance company and indicate that I am reluctant to provide a copy of my driving licence, as it it a government issued photo identification document, which I never allow to be copied.
5. I ask what the requirement is for the insurance company to hold a copy of my licence, and am told that in the event of an accident the insurance company would have all the relevant details to hand.
6. I offer to present my original (not photocopied) driving licence to any of the insurance company's offices where their personnel have satisfy themselves as to its authenticity, and, make a note of any relevant details the insurance company may require.
7. The is unacceptable to the insurance company agent, the actual insurance company is headquartered outside of the EU.
8. I ask how they would intend to store any copy of my licence, and who would have access to it. To which I am informed that it would be scanned and stored digitally (electronically) and that any representative and/or agent would have access to the document.

For me, there remain 6 key issues with what has transpired:

• I was not informed in advance that the insurance company would require a copy of my driving licence.
• The insurance company has no reason nor standing to demand to hold a copy of a government issued photo identifiation document, as this was not agreed as part of any contract.
• There is no statutatory legal requirement for an insurance company to hold a copy of customer's driving licence.
• I have no offers nor guarantees that once any supplied copy is digitally scanned and archived that this information will not be accessible from outside the EU, which will have differing data handling conditions.
• At the end of the inurance period, unless renewed, the insurance company would no longer have a requirement to hold a copy of a driving licence. What would be there disposal verification procedures.
• The offer to present the original driving licence to them in peron has been made, yet why does this not satisfy their information requirements.

Essentially, once a government issued photo identification document is being digitally held, the owner of the data (the driving licence holder) has effectively lost all control of where this information may end up and by whom it may be accessed.

It is not even a question it being unable to be tracked, it is a question that insurance companies want your information, and are not held accountable as to whether they actually need it; how they will store it; what will it be used for, and by whom.