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?

And I don't think accidents that are absolutely not your fault can really count toward whether someone is classed as a bad driver or not. For insurance purposes I understand but people making out like OP is terrible because she's had ONE minor bump in his first year of driving is crazy imo. Whether someone else went into the back of her through no fault of her own is neither her nor there, that was nothing to do with her driving. That could happen to anyone.

A member of my family has very advanced driver training (emergency services). They have still been involved in a very bad accident before where someone else was at fault. No one is immune to that happening.

I think it's most likely an issue with your phone than the box.

You seem to think just because the phones Bluetooth it is the same as connecting the app on your app to the black box. It's not.

I had the same issue with my Tom Tom.

The phone was on, the sat nav was on. I could make and receive calls, but because the app wasn't connected to the sat nav texts, traffic, etc didn't work. VERY FRUSTRATING and I'm sure partly due to a poor quality app.

When I put my mind to it I realised that physically clicking on and opening tomtoms my drive app on my phone everytime before switching on the sat nav every single time I drove worked, annoying, but worked.

Then I looked into it further and disabled my phones energy saving settings for the sat nav. It was previously "helping me" by closing the link between the app on my phone and sat nav every time it was inactive - and not restarting it when I got back in the car. Annoyingly it now randomly pings at me that it's connected - erm no I'm sat on the couch! But at least it's reliable when I need it.

I suspect a similar problem with your black box and that the non technical customer care team know their equipment works fine and think you're trying it on.

As others say you need to fix the problem at your end - check app setting on your phone, make sure it always runs in background and disable any energy saving. Then ring up and ask for another chance. Don't mention the accidents (irrelevant), do mention your past driving record YOUR issues in connecting your phone and ask for technical support. It's very important they don't cancel as others have said.

I'm afraid it's a good lesson in if it's not broke, don't fix it. Changing policy to save a few quid has cost you dearly. Next time just negotiate with the good company to reduce their quote either to match or meet half way.

@MinuteToFive

But in any case 2 accidents in 19 years is very different to 1 accident in 6 months

It's only different because it's NOW been 19 years. There was obviously a time when it was 1 accident in 6 months, you know... 6 months after it happened

My point was, it's not an indication that OP is a terrible driver who will go on to have accidents every month/year of her driving life. I've never had another one in 19 years. I don't consider myself a bad driver because of that 1 (two if you count someone else going into me) incident two decades ago.

But that isn’t how insurance works. It’s based on 3-5 years driving history plus some other factors. The OP could have 2 accidents this year. They are analysing the risk based on recent history!

They are analysing the risk based on recent history!

Yes, and they then offered her insurance based on that. It's not a factor once she's ALREADY insured by them. If they'd refused to insure her initially fair enough, but they didn't. Its obviously not why they are now cancelling her insurance, they already knew about the accidents before they offered to insure her initially

By the ops own posts, her phone isn’t sharing her driving with the app. Their terms say they can cancel the insurance if that happens.

They don’t know the op’s specific circumstances and issues. They’re going on what the black box tells them.

No advice on black boxes, but I got a 'we're canceling your policy' out of the blue once. It really can impact on future insurance.

I spoke to a lovely advisor at that same company who said I should call and request to cancel it, before their cancellation date. It then doesn't need to be declared when buying future insurance.

Hope that helps, if only a little!

And I don't think accidents that are absolutely not your fault can really count toward whether someone is classed as a bad driver or not

The problem is would you like a careful driver, or a lucky one ? Insurance - by it's nature - favours lucky drivers over careful ones.

When my sister learned to drive, she was sitting in a queue of traffic which was moving slowly, downhill, towards a junction.

The person in front had their handbrake on, as they should. They then moved forward by taking the handbrake off and reapplying it without touching the brakes. With no visual lights my sister didn’t realise the car was going to stop and rolled into the back of it (at low speed). This was far more the other driver’s fault (due to extremely poor driving habits) than my sister’s, but it was of course classed as being her fault by the insurers.

It is entirely possible to be responsible for an accident which is deemed not to be your fault by insurers.

Did you get to the bottom of it OP?

Firstly ask very clear questions of the insurer. Black boxes gather quite a lot fo data, and if the score is low it may be driven by any number of factors, including breaking, speed and in some cases driving inappropriately. I helped create a black box for example which was sensitive enough to know if you had gone straight over a mini-roundabout. If you are still not happy then make a formal complaint. A bad insurer will try not to log this- they love to term this feedback or an expression of satisfaction, but make sure it is clear you are complaining. If this still delivers nothing consider complaining to the financial ombudsman service (FOS), noting the urgency given your insurance position. Given you have had insurance cancelled, you will now find it difficult to get cover.

So glad you have found a new insurance company. Better to cut your losses and run .

@daimbarsatemydogsbone

Are you in the USA op? I assume you are since you called the windscreen a windshield?

I know it's not the point of the OP, but I also call it a windshield, am in the UK, and am not American. I'm also not British

OP I'm really pleased that you've managed to find another insurer that you can afford, and without the black box too! I'm another one who is shocked at how nasty people have been on here tonight. I do have one piece of advice to offer, which you may or may not already do, but when dealing with these things, always do it via email, even if you are forced to make a phone call to ensure that the issue is resolved speedily, follow up with an email stating what was discussed and asking them to confirm that you have understood it properly if needs be, this ensures a paper trail that you can refer to at a later date if necessary. I also make sure that I note down the name of the person I've dealt with if calling, together with the time and date, and can't believe how often this has come in handy over the years, as if you can go back to them and say 'I spoke to so and so, at 3.15pm on the 10th December 2021', it gives them the impression that you have a carefully worded record of what was said, and while I realise that a lot of companies record calls, it's good to be able to show that you keep records of your own and aren't about to be fobbed off with a load of B.S.

Finally, like another poster, I too would recommend getting back to driving as soon as you are well enough, get some real miles under your belt, and ideally do it without anyone else in the car, so that you can really rebuild your confidence without any distractions.