Who can I report this to?

[justamumseekingadvice]

Hello everyone! 👋

Last year I bought my first car and took out a black box insurance (the type which is fitted to your engine). I had a couple of minor accidents as most new drivers do, however every month on my driving report I always had high scores and was rewarded with bonus miles for good driving.

This year my insurance was up for renewal and because of the accidents that I had, my insurance went up slightly, and I had a cheaper quote from another insurance company so I chose to go with them instead because it worked out about half the price (still a black box policy but one that sticks on the windshield instead and connects to your mobile phone).

A month or so into my new insurance policy, I noticed that my scores had dropped very low (I’m talking from 90’s range to under 10 points). I knew that this was not correct at all because I have always driven safely (the first accident was not my fault, I was hit at the back, and the second accident involved an ambulance and I completely panicked and couldn’t pull over in time but had only been on the road around a month or so) and on top of that, because I now have slight agoraphobia since the pandemic started, I rarely go out and only drive my car around once a week within a 2 mile radius of my home.

I complained to the insurance company straight away and they said that they would investigate and let me know the outcome, I waited their reply which never came, and I ended up being in hospital for a long time so I didn’t get round to chasing it up, but equally because I hadn’t been driving during that time I wasn’t exactly worried about having a low score for bad driving - because no driving was happening!

Today, I get a random email completely out of the blue saying that because of my low driving score (for bad driving) my policy is now being cancelled and I have 20 days to find a new one.

I rang them and disputed this based on the fact that 1; I had a good history with black boxes until I went with them. 2; I raised a concern about the low score weeks ago which they were supposed to investigate but evidently have not or it wouldn’t have reached this point and 3; they are supposed to give out warning emails before cancelling a policy and the last email I got from them was 3/4 months ago.

The manager is due to ring me back tomorrow to discuss it because I was EXTREMELY unhappy that I tried to resolve this with them weeks ago and now I’m going to be left uninsured and unable to drive my car IF I need to because there is no way I’m going to be able to afford an initial deposit on a new insurance on top of Christmas, and I have a physical disability so I can’t walk to places I need to get to either.

If I was driving stupid every single day I would suck it up and get on with it, but I barely drive and when I do it’s always normally and safely - and now I’ve had a policy cancelled through absolutely no fault of my own and have the financial impact of this happening too.

If I can’t resolve this with the manager, who else can I report this to?

They asked what kind of solution I am seeking and I am thinking to either set me up on another policy free of charge of initial deposit, or reimburse me some of the money I have paid to be able to afford a new policy with someone else - is this unreasonable?

An insurance policy cancelled by the insurer will make it hard for you to get insurance.

I'm not sure if the page is genuine but thiswhat came up when I looked for car insurance ombudsman
www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/businesses/complaints-deal/insurance/motor-insurance

Have a look at the Honest John site
www.honestjohn.co.uk/cheap-car-insurance/

HJ used to have a columnn in the Daily Telegraph

I had a couple of minor accidents as most new drivers do

In the one year since you got your car? No, that's not actually normal driving at all, and I suspect there's more going on in the data that led to the cancellation.

I'd ask them to let you know the outcome of their investigation. Also a couple of accidents in a year when you haven't been driving much and one of them involving an ambulance I assume was painted yellow is quite a lot of accidents.

@gwenneh one of the accidents I was hit up the back by another car, so that wasn’t my fault. The second time was my fault, and I clipped the side of another car whilst trying to get out of the way for an ambulance on a very busy and fast road.

There is no data for my policy to be cancelled - I barely drive. I think I’ve driven under 10 miles in the last 4 weeks.

@gwenneh

I had a couple of minor accidents as most new drivers do

In the one year since you got your car? No, that's not actually normal driving at all, and I suspect there's more going on in the data that led to the cancellation.

I agree. Ask them for the reason. If you haven't driven much but when you have you have crashed into an ambulance this might be why.

What kind of accidents are we talking about?

I don’t think it’s accurate to say that most new drivers have several minor accidents.

@CheesyFootballsAreEvil that happened when I first got my car, I haven’t had anything happen in almost a year, and I had very high scores from my first black box every single month and received bonus miles as a reward showing that I was driving safely.

There is no data for my policy to be cancelled - I barely drive. I think I’ve driven under 10 miles in the last 4 weeks. that's the issue then. They don't have enough data that proves you can drive safely.

@CheesyFootballsAreEvil No, I had the accidents with my first insurance company. I’m having problems with my second insurance company who I went with for my renewal - I have had no accidents with them at all.

[quote justamumseekingadvice]@CheesyFootballsAreEvil No, I had the accidents with my first insurance company. I’m having problems with my second insurance company who I went with for my renewal - I have had no accidents with them at all.[/quote]
I see this yes. But you've hardly driven with your new company?

@VodselForDinner One accident someone hit me at the back so that wasn’t my fault, the one that was my fault was trying to get out of the way for an ambulance and clipped another car slightly - you couldn’t even see the damage to their car. Plus that wasn’t with this insurance company so it has nothing to do with their quote or data etc.

@CheesyFootballsAreEvil I drove more when I first got the policy but over the last few weeks I’ve driven less and less because of overwhelming anxiety (becoming slightly agoraphobic) and I have also been unwell and in and out of hospital quite a lot too which has led to no driving around.

To be fair she didn’t say she crashed into an ambulance 🙈 she was moving out of the way of an ambulance. You need to see the data for the period you have been insured with this company so you can go through it point by point with the manager on the phone.

You can usually log in to your account and see how the insurer is assessing your driving. What does this tell you?

If you only drive 2 miles a week, a taxi would be cheaper than running a car

Is it possible your current mileage is so low the insurance company thinks you're fiddling the system somehow - ie driving more but somehow disabling the black box so it doesn't record your data?

Maybe, due to the lack of driving, they think you've interfered with the box?

If they cancel it you will struggle to find anyone to insure you.

Are you sure your policy doesn't have a minimum number of miles driven to be valid? If you're getting a discount for having a black box then I'd guess you do actually have to drive the vehicle.

@CorrBlimeyGG when I go onto ‘my driving’ section all it gives me is the journeys I have done and my overall score - a lot of these journeys are saying that my phone hasn’t been present to record the data even though it has been in the car with me - that’s why I raised the concern that it wasn’t working properly with them but they’ve done nothing about it - just cancelled my policy instead.

Regarding the lack of miles - I am not aware of a minimum amount as such - but if this was a reason why surely they have a responsibility to contact me and ask me why I’m not driving or inform me that I have to start driving more or they will cancel etc?

Going on the information you give, you sound high risk. (Two bumps in your first year, anxious, panicky, denying you are a poor driver, etc). If I were you, I wouldn't be too demanding. Take what you are offered and count yourself lucky if you get insurance again.

I've got to be honest and say I'm beginning to think that the insurance company have got concerns for a valid reason. You seem to be unwilling to take on board valid comments here (that 2 accidents in year 1 isn't really average, for example) - and when it's being pointed out (again very validly) that you are probably driving so little that they can't accurately assess your safety, you again deflect to the insurance company staying they should have warned you you weren't driving enough. I'm pretty sure that it will say in your contract details that it is on you to ensure you update with any changes - which would include a drastic change in mileage.

On top of this, I suspect statistically that someone driving so little is actually an increased risk to an insurance company.

@Silvershroud only one accident was my fault and I have proof of being a good driver by always having high scores with my other insurance company (they were the ones I had my accident with). I have done nothing with my new insurance to class me as a high risk driver and my insurance with them is extremely cheap with a next to nothing excess to pay - that’s not exactly showing a high risk driver is it.

@margotsdevil only one accident was my fault - a lot of new drivers are most likely to have an accident in their first year of driving. I have not had anything happen since. A one off (considering the other one someone hit me) isn’t a high risk person. Plus if the insurance company was that concerned about me I’m sure that my monthly payments would be a lot higher when they first decided to give me a policy. Nothing has happened with this insurance company.