Help with incorrect fault claim on my car insurance - Please

[Jenny819]

Hi,

I would like your guidance on a fault claim made on my car insurance when I was no longer the owner or registered keeper of the vehicle. Let me explain.

On the 14/01/2022, my car was parked outside my property, with no one in it, when a council refuse truck crashed into it. The driver of the truck took full responsibility and gave me their details. I felt it best to contact my insurance company and made a claim through them against the council. My insurance company stated it would go down as a fault claim whilst the incident was being investigated.
My insurance company arranged for CoPart to take my vehicle away to assess if its in economical repair. It wasn’t and so was declared a write off. The last time I saw my car was when CoPart took the vehicle away on 17/01/2022.
I received a sum of money for the viewed value of my car as settlement. The council insurance company accepted full liability and therefore this incident was deemed a non-fault accident on my policy. As far as I’m concerned this whole matter is now closed and settled.

Fast forward 2 years, I haven’t had a car insurance policy in my own name. However, realising that the 2 year anniversary date is about to pass since I last had car insurance, my no claims bonus validation window is about to end. Most insurers only accept no claims bonus within 2 years of last having insurance in your own name.

In anticipation of purchasing a new vehicle, I contacted my previous insurer from 2 years ago, to get proof of my no claims bonus. I received this, and to my shock, not only do I have the non-fault accident dated 14/01/2022, but I also noticed a fault claim dated 01/03/2022. I was utterly surprised by this as I didn’t have the car then. I contacted my insurer, who asked me to contact my underwriter, and so I did. My underwriter stated there was an accident involving my vehicle and the other party had car footage that showed my old vehicle crashing into it, hence a claim was made against my policy. I asked why I wasn’t notified of this, in which the underwriter stated they had made several attempts to contact me, via letter, email and phone call. I never received one correspondence on this matter.

In January 2022 I informed the DVLA that I was no longer in possession of my car in which they responded with physical confirmation acknowledging this. This confirmation was dated 29/01/2022.

I asked my underwriter for this fault claim (dated 01/03/2022) to be removed from my policy. The underwriter informed me that they will approach the third party insurer who made this fault claim against my policy to see if they will re-imburse my underwriter.
My underwriter informs me that if the third party insurer re-imburses them, the fault claim will be removed from my record. If the third party insurer will not re-imburse them, I have been informed the fault claim will remain on my record. Of course, if it remains on my record I will be penalised financially in future car insurance premiums.

Although I no longer had possession of the car, the insurance policy didn’t cease until 11/03/2022. The reason being is there was still some negotiation taking place in relation to the car valuation settlement amount to be paid to me.

This is the full story so far.

Question 1.) Can the underwriter put this claim on my insurance without my acknowledgement?
My contact details have remained exactly the same as 2 years ago. My thinking is, if they cant provide proof they’ve tried to contact me, then surely they cant add this to my claim without me being informed. Bottom line is, I wasn’t contacted.

Question 2.) How can this fault claim be made against my policy when the DVLA had acknowledged I was no longer in possession of the vehicle, and the underwriter and insurer/broker, both were fully aware that I was no longer in ownership of the vehicle as it was declared a write off? There seems to be a lack of common sense in this particular matter.

Question 3.) I seem to have all the proof I need, so where do I stand legally on this fault claim dated 01/03/2022 being removed from my record?
And can this be removed within the next 5 weeks so I can purchase a new policy within the 2 years no claims bonus window without paying a higher premium because of this fault claim?

Question 4.) The underwriter has stated that if the claimant’s insurer do not re-imburse my underwriter, then the fault claim will stand against my record. Is this legally allowed?

Question 5.) Is it worth taking this matter up with the car insurance Ombudsman to have this fault claim removed from my record if the underwriter doesn’t remove it? And would seeking help with the Ombudsman expedite the removal?


Your help and guidance will be very much appreciated. Thank you.

[echat11]

Hi Jenny819

Welcome to LB

It sounds like your insurance company to the 'easy way out', a lot of it sounds like nonsense.

How can they have 'meaningful footage'?, your car was stationary when it was 'crashed' into.

They tried to contact you, sounds like nonsense.

Send you old insurance company a SAR request, they have 30 days to provide all the data on your policy.
Tell them the SAR is for your records, don't elaborate why you are making the request.

https://legalbeagles.info/library/gu...ccess-request/

After you get your information, you need to lodge a Formal Complaint, follow the insures complaints procedure, which will be on their website.

Once you get a final response / deadlock letter, if you still aren't happy, lodge a complaint with the FOS.

The insurer has 8 weeks to investigate your complaint, then the FOS will accept the complaint.

They should put you back into the position you would have been in, without the insurers 'shenanigans'.

[Jenny819]

echat11 Thankyou for your reply. However, I think I need to clarify things.

I have mentioned two incidents in my opening post. The first is a non fault claim made in January 2022 where my car was written off by a dustbin truck. I made a claim through my insurance company and the incident was settled as a non fault accident. I have no problems with this.

The second incident is the one I have a grievance with and asking for help on. The grievance is with the fault claim that was made against my policy subsequently in March 2022. How did this happen? From what I understand is, my car was written off, towed away, repaired and made roadworthy again, was sold to a new owner and straight away had an accident. The car it crashed into made a claim on my policy. My underwriters confirmed there is dashcam evidence of this accident taking place with the registration plate of my old car. This footage has tied it to my policy which was still live even though I was no longer the registered owner of the car or in possession of the vehicle.

I hope this clarifies matters. My questions in my opening post I would still like answering please. Many thanks.

[Huxie]

Tagging des8 for their insight. I’m sure I read a previous post by des8 that suggested a live insurance policy against a vehicle could be claimed on irrespective of the ownership.

[echat11]

echat11 Thankyou for your reply. However, I think I need to clarify things.

I have mentioned two incidents in my opening post. The first is a non fault claim made in January 2022 where my car was written off by a dustbin truck. I made a claim through my insurance company and the incident was settled as a non fault accident. I have no problems with this.

The second incident is the one I have a grievance with and asking for help on. The grievance is with the fault claim that was made against my policy subsequently in March 2022. How did this happen? From what I understand is, my car was written off, towed away, repaired and made roadworthy again, was sold to a new owner and straight away had an accident. The car it crashed into made a claim on my policy. My underwriters confirmed there is dashcam evidence of this accident taking place with the registration plate of my old car. This footage has tied it to my policy which was still live even though I was no longer the registered owner of the car or in possession of the vehicle.

I hope this clarifies matters. My questions in my opening post I would still like answering please. Many thanks.

It does make sense, because your plate is tied to your policy, which was still in place, someone else has claimed against your policy, when in reality you have nothing whatsoever to do with the second claim. It's still ridiculous, my advice still stands.

[echat11]

Tagging des8 for their insight. I’m sure I read a previous post by des8 that suggested a live insurance policy against a vehicle could be claimed on irrespective of the ownership.

All things are possible in the world of insurance, people are forced to accept claims against them by their 'insurer' because it makes things easy for the 'insurer'. Then they worry about 'fraud' perpetrated against the insurance industry. The insurance industry is 'stupid' nothing stacks up.

[des8]

Really should have cancelled the insurance as soon as vehicle was collected and written off.

DVLA sent confirmation you were no longer registered keeper on 29th Jan
The fault claim is registered as at 1st March and I presume that is the date it was settled

It would be good to find out when the accident occurred

following the accident, the other third party would have informed his insurers, who would look to find the registered keeper, and search the NIB data base for any insurance. Unfortunately MIB aren't always up to date as insurers can be lackadaisical in advising them
Jenny's name appears and so the claim is passed over to her insurers

You will go round in circles trying to get the insurers to change (who are the companies involved? some are more unreasonable than others!)
So all I would do is send the insurers and DVLA a SAR to find out in detail what occurred.
If you can't get them to change when you have that information a complaint to the FOS might work.

[echat11]

Just to add to what des8 has says, the SAR information should show how and when the insurers has tried to contact you.

Also, someone should have 'twigged' that the names 'Jenny' and 'Arthur' (third party) are different.

Update when you get more info.

[Jenny819]

Thanks very much all.

[Jenny819]

Hi all,

I thought I would let you know the outcome of my car insurance claim.

I continued to press the underwriter’s claims department to remove the incorrect claim from my record. There were many emails and phone calls back and forth. Eventually they emailed a letter confirming they had removed my claim from the CUE system but it could go back on the system if they are not reimbursed with the money they paid out. The letter didn’t make sense and was stating conflicting information.

I made an official complaint with the underwriters complaints department and gave them a full account of all my telephone calls, emails etc. I also asked for a full SAR to be provided and threatened the financial ombudsman. It reached a point where the stress was high, and I conveyed this in the complaint. Again, many emails and phone calls later, I managed to get through to a handler who was sharper and more cooperative than the other handlers. She looked at my case on the same day, rang me and said the whole thing is a joke. She didn’t understand why they hadn’t resolved the problem for me and was confused with the letters they sent out to me. So someone was on my side and understood it from my viewpoint.

On the same day she confirmed (by email) my claim has been fully removed from the CUE system. It will not go back on the system and that the reimbursement issue was their problem. The fault claim was removed and I needn’t disclose this on my insurance quote. She also issued me a £150 cheque as compensation. If only I had dealt with her in the first place.
Obviously the handlers do not have the same training or consistency. It’s who you speak to at the time. She was extremely helpful and efficient.

Bottom line is, keep pressing the complaints department, keep all correspondence and evidence. Ask for key conversations to be in writing and threaten with the ombudsman. I certainly would have gone down that road if I hadn’t spoken to the right handler.

Thanks again for your responses.

[des8]

Thank you for letting us know the result, and congratulations on persevering and obtaining the correct result.
Well done

A word of caution though regarding the statement ".I needn’t disclose this on my insurance quote."
It will depend on the wording of the proposal form as to whether or not you will need to declare this incident if you are looking to change your insurers

[echat11]

Well done, thanks for updating.