The Student Room Group

insurance policy cancelled without my consent

last night I received a notice from 'be wiser' that my car insurance was cancelled (my daughter and wife are included on this policy as learners). My son opened an insurance with 'go girl' on the same vehicle, and also used my name as that made it cheaper for him. And now 'be wiser' cancelled my policy. can they legally cancel my policy?
Original post by jbeen
last night I received a notice from 'be wiser' that my car insurance was cancelled (my daughter and wife are included on this policy as learners). My son opened an insurance with 'go girl' on the same vehicle, and also used my name as that made it cheaper for him. And now 'be wiser' cancelled my policy. can they legally cancel my policy?


Ask them why and how they are able to cancel. I expect they can, but i would have to look at the policy and only being allowed to have one policy per vehicle.

I'd have to look it up but technically you can have more than one policy, just cant recover more than 1x the value of the vehicle. they may have a clause forbidding taking out another policy without notification.

Have a word with the financial ombudsman.

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/contact/index.html
Reply 2
Original post by jbeen
last night I received a notice from 'be wiser' that my car insurance was cancelled (my daughter and wife are included on this policy as learners). My son opened an insurance with 'go girl' on the same vehicle, and also used my name as that made it cheaper for him. And now 'be wiser' cancelled my policy. can they legally cancel my policy?


Be Wiser is a broker. Who is the insurance actually with?

Why didn't you add your son as a named driver to the Be Wiser policy.

If your son isn't the main driver (and it would appear you are, rather than him) then what's he's trying to do is an insurance fraud called "fronting".
Reply 3
Original post by Doonesbury
Be Wiser is a broker. Who is the insurance actually with?

Why didn't you add your son as a named driver to the Be Wiser policy.

If your son isn't the main driver (and it would appear you are, rather than him) then what's he's trying to do is an insurance fraud called "fronting".


my son is the main driver but the go girl insurance was cheaper
Reply 4
Original post by jbeen
my son is the main driver but the go girl insurance was cheaper


Before your son tried to insure it, who was the main driver? If your son genuinely is the main driver you needed to cancel your policy and be added to his as a named driver.
Original post by jbeen
last night I received a notice from 'be wiser' that my car insurance was cancelled (my daughter and wife are included on this policy as learners). My son opened an insurance with 'go girl' on the same vehicle, and also used my name as that made it cheaper for him. And now 'be wiser' cancelled my policy. can they legally cancel my policy?


What @Doonesbury said apparently.

http://www.gocompare.com/car-insurance/fronting/

I misread. Its the using your name to get a cheaper premium. Its odd you didnt just ad him to the other policy.
Reply 6
Original post by 999tigger
What @Doonesbury said apparently.

http://www.gocompare.com/car-insurance/fronting/

I misread. Its the using your name to get a cheaper premium. Its odd you didnt just ad him to the other policy.


Yes, that's my read too. Technically there can be 2 policies on the one car, but not with the same parties on both.

That's how policies like Marmalade for Learners works.
(edited 6 years ago)
Original post by Doonesbury
Yes, that's my read too. Technically there can be 2 policies on the one car, but not with the same parties on both.


I go back to my first answer... I get the right one eventually.
Read the policy or ask the insurer why.or just ask the ombudsman. That would be my most efficient way (for me) other than looking it up to find the answer.

I cant see why it would be cheaper than just adding him to the main policy?

You can have 2 policies on the same car you just cant recover more than your insured loss. That means both policies kick in and they share the loss between them offering no advantage.

In this case am not sure its fronting because the son is declaring hes the main driver. The father being listed as the second driver doesnt count as they wouldnt know. I suspect for the cancellation to happen so quickly that the original insurers had it flagged up. There will be something in the policy.

So if bewiser is a personal lines broker then ask him, but id just ring the insurer or ombudsman(faster methods and from the horses mouth).

Thinking a bit further
Perhaps they have done it because he has materially changed the risk and not disclosed it to them. Insurers take a dim view on this. Im sure they would say or it says so in the policy about the ongoing duty to inform.
(edited 6 years ago)
Reply 8
Original post by 999tigger
I go back to my first answer... I get the right one eventually.
Read the policy or ask the insurer why.or just ask the ombudsman. That would be my most efficient way (for me) other than looking it up to find the answer.

I cant see why it would be cheaper than just adding him to the main policy?

You can have 2 policies on the same car you just cant recover more than your insured loss. That means both policies kick in and they share the loss between them offering no advantage.

In this case am not sure its fronting because the son is declaring hes the main driver. The father being listed as the second driver doesnt count as they wouldnt know. I suspect for the cancellation to happen so quickly that the original insurers had it flagged up. There will be something in the policy.

So if bewiser is a personal lines broker then ask him, but id just ring the insurer or ombudsman(faster methods and from the horses mouth).

Thinking a bit further
Perhaps they have done it because he has materially changed the risk and not disclosed it to them. Insurers take a dim view on this. Im sure they would say or it says so in the policy about the ongoing duty to inform.


Yup they definitely need to get to the bottom of it because having your insurance cancelled will cause problems later. I imagine there's another car in the household so renewing that will be problematic (and possibly more expensive) if one of the main/named drivers has a cancelled policy behind them.

I wonder if both policies are with the same insurance holding company hence the speed of their action...
If the main driver (the son) is on one policy, then won't the initial insurer cancel on the basis that the three people insured on its policy (dad, mum, daughter) are all secondary drivers and none of them are the main driver?

I agree that having everyone on one policy sounds a lot simpler. Wouldn't the simplest thing to be to put everyone on the Go Girl policy if the son is the main driver?
Original post by Doonesbury
Yup they definitely need to get to the bottom of it because having your insurance cancelled will cause problems later. I imagine there's another car in the household so renewing that will be problematic (and possibly more expensive) if one of the main/named drivers has a cancelled policy behind them.

I wonder if both policies are with the same insurance holding company hence the speed of their action...


Maybe, but they often share information for anti fraud purposes as well. I always found motor insurance a bit dull, so a broker with working knowledge would be able to give a quick answer, but only the insurer can give the definitive reason and whether they will change their mind. I agree they should chase it up now to make sure they arent unduly prejudiced.
Reply 11
Original post by Crumpet1
If the main driver (the son) is on one policy, then won't the initial insurer cancel on the basis that the three people insured on its policy (dad, mum, daughter) are all secondary drivers and none of them are the main driver?

I agree that having everyone on one policy sounds a lot simpler. Wouldn't the simplest thing to be to put everyone on the Go Girl policy if the son is the main driver?


Yep. But potentially more expensive because the named driver is, presumably, an inexperienced driver.

But yes that's the reality.

Posted from TSR Mobile
Original post by Crumpet1
If the main driver (the son) is on one policy, then won't the initial insurer cancel on the basis that the three people insured on its policy (dad, mum, daughter) are all secondary drivers and none of them are the main driver?

I agree that having everyone on one policy sounds a lot simpler. Wouldn't the simplest thing to be to put everyone on the Go Girl policy if the son is the main driver?


We dont know for sure why they canceled, which is why you ask them, but I agree theres enough inconsistency to ring alarm bells. They may just have cancelled on seeing another policy being taken with different main drivers or even hyst another policy without being notified. A phone call will give the op the answer.
Reply 13
Original post by Doonesbury
Yes, that's my read too. Technically there can be 2 policies on the one car, but not with the same parties on both.

That's how policies like Marmalade for Learners works.


Generally, you can only have one type of insurance policy active per vehicle. Standard insurance, learner insurance, and temporary insurance - three different types in the insurers eyes.

The problem here is the two full insurance policies being active on the vehicle - this is generally always (from every policy I've seen) against the terms of the policies, hence the cancellation.

EDIT: although, you are usually given a few days notice before the policy is cancelled.. it's all very strange indeed.
Reply 14
Original post by IWMTom
EDIT: although, you are usually given a few days notice before the policy is cancelled.. it's all very strange indeed.


Yes, you'd think the policy holder(s) would get a warning first and, say, 3 days to comply or something.
Reply 15
Original post by Doonesbury
Yes, you'd think the policy holder(s) would get a warning first and, say, 3 days to comply or something.


We once changed insurers and forgot to cancel our old policy (it auto renewed at renewal) and both insurers sent us letters giving us 5 days to determine which we wanted to keep active - perhaps this was because they were both underwritten by BISL.

Quick Reply