Just been pulled over by the police

[Outandabout43]

Fuming right now.

Been on a night out with work, partner picked me up, he is a named driver on my car.

Had issues with insurence when I renewed. Noticed policy was inactive after paying yearly fees. Spoke to insurence who apologised, stated the policy will be activated and gave £100 as a gesture of good will, this was in may

Police just pulled us over. Breathalysed DH driving the car and stayed we had no insurence. Checked policy and it's come up again as inactive. Have been told we have 7 days to prove insurence or DH will get 6 points in his license, this will effect his job.

I'm mortified. Obviously I'll contact insurence on Monday, but what if they say we are not covered. I've attached a screenshot of email provided by insurence but I'm really panicking now. What do I do??

Take insurance certificate to local police station within the 7 days and all will be well. I’ve done it. It’s a formality.

But when I log onto my online insurence it states policy invalid.

Do you have your insurance documents? They are usually emailed to you or they email a link where you can logon to a website to view them, if you have that then you have nothing to worry about. You could also check the payment went from your bank, that might be a quick way to put your mind at rest.

If you paid for it and received the document, you’re covered. You just need to have the insurance company confirm it’s an issue their end and then provide that to the police.

Payment defo went out, but was an error with system on insurence side. Called them In may and they apologised and sent money in compensation (see attached email) documents where then shown on online account and thought no more of it. Just got pulled over and checked online account and it states inactive.

There’s clearly still an issue their end. You can sort this in the morning op, you paid the insurance and had notification you were covered as of March 2024 - you’ll be fine.

And while you’re sorting this out with them, find a different insurance provider - this one is clearly incompetent.

I showed the email to the police and they where so rude and upsetting its now made me really worried. I'd been out with work friends and DH picked me up with young DD in the car asleep, it was like i was being judged for having a drink.

I know it states I'm covered since March 2024 but what if they go back on what they have said. I've never been in trouble with the police in my life.

I tried to call insurence but it states they are only open for complaints Monday to Friday

They won’t go back on what they’ve said, you’ve got it in writing. And if they did happen to go back on what they said, they’d have needed to contact you to tell you that you weren’t covered anymore, which they haven’t done. Honestly op, they confirmed it was an error their end and compensated you for your trouble. There’s obviously still a problem their end. This will all be resolved. As for the police… sometimes you’ll get a decent one, sometimes you won’t. Don't fret about what they think of you.

You don't need to make a complaint right now, so contact First Central via their web chat, WhatsApp, or the claim line and get hold of anyone that you can. You just need the insurance certificate that shows the valid length of cover. Then after this you can complain to First Central, but I would cancel your policy with them and move to one of the big name insurance providers. First Central seem like a total shit-show.

If you pay by monthly direct debit, are all your payments up to date? Are they being collected as you would expect?

@HamBagelNoCheese originally I set up as DD. I noticed the next month the unsurence had not took the payment out when I went online it stated policy not active and u had an outstanding balance of £800 and something. I panicked and paid the full amount. 2 days layer still no policy. I called them and the lady u spoke to stated this was a cancellation fee, u explained I did not want to cancel and when she looked up on this stated this was an admin error. I then made an email if complaint and received a call back explaining it was an error on insurance side. I complained stating what if I had been pulled over by the police and they stated they would if admitted liability. This was in may. As a gesture of goodwil they sent me a cheque for £100 and my policy was then available on my online account.

Got pulled over this evening by the police saying the car was not insured. Showed them the above email and they stated it proved nothing, went on my online account and it stated policy invalid??

But have they been taking the money each month?

Maybe just ring to try and query it this morning if the line is open. Also, see if they have a social media page? Complain on there, these companies don’t like complaints.

The police are never going to accept an email as proof of insurance, as anyone could produce a fake version. They, rightly, go by their insurance database, and your insurance company has let you down again by not showing your policy as active. You have 7 days to show the police you are insured, so try not to panic - you can contact the insurance company, get them to correct their mistake again and provide you access to your original insurance certificate that shows you are insured from March this year.

@SwingTheMonkey I paid in full for the year

Wow they sound like a shit show! Use a proper insurer that actually is a recognisable name. First direct, admiral, Churchill etc.

@Inlaw thats helpful advice!

🙄

What a twatish response!

OP, it's an admin error, you've paid, you've got confirmation, it'll be fine.

You're over thinking this, because you've had a shock.

Go to bed, sort in the morning.

Get onto them on Monday, get a copy of your certificate and take it to the police station on Monday.
If they have cancelled without telling you, it’s possible they’ll charge your DH with no insurance, but if you’ve got proof it was in place originally and you weren’t told, then you’ve likely got a defence in that (I’m sure that won’t happen but just to reassure you!).
I’d also follow their complaints procedure then go to the ombudsman if not resolved satisfactorily.

I would contact your insurers in the morning. Even if complaints are Monday to Friday, you can make some noise and see what you come up with. You have til next Thursday to sort this.

OP call insurance first thing Monday and ask for email confirmation then go right to your local police station. Sometimes annual payments for things aren’t processed properly and will sit wrong on your account, but when you’ve no reason to check you don’t notice it.
sorry you had a shit end to your night love x

OP, in the email you have posted what refund are they refering to?

Also your post is a little confusing. Am I following...

You were set up with this policy on a monthly DD. However, it failed due to their error and you paid in full. This then ended up not being the policy cost, but the cancellation fee.

Are you 100% sure you paid in full? Because a monthly policy costs more in total due to it also being a loan. Did this person you spoke to when paying in full correct the policy to being paid annually? This is something you would have seen on your online account when checking back in May.

Also, you should have been sent you certificate by email at least. Even if set up on paperless online management. Yes, all your other documents would not be emailed, but the certificate should have been. Print it off and take it to the police. That is your proof.

I also agree with binning this incompetent company off when this issue is sorted.

OP I would put in a complaint, ask for further compensation die to distress caused then complain to the financial Ombudsman. This is awful.

What 🤣

Is this first central support team or something?

Your service is clearly shit. Sort it out.