Ghost broking car insurance

So I've got myself into a bit of a situation, I passed earlier in the year and saved up with mostly my own hard earned money to buy a relatively cheap first car (I'm still at uni)

insurance prices on comparison sites were so high because of what demographic im from (young male), but I wanted to do things the legal way as I've always been so scared of having anything on my record. But my naivety to this business has gotten the best of me

I got a number from someone who assured me that a person they worked with offered legit car insurance, and that its trustworthy. I don't even know what this person does and what their role is, i assumed they're some sort of middle man. I got a far cheaper quote from them once I texted them my details (took some time for them to reply so I guess they assessed me to an extent). I called them just to make sure it was legit and they were saying yes.

I transferred them all the money for a year's insurance at their request and they sent me a picture of a cover note after a few days I think, on WhatsApp. After a few more days it was shown as insured on AskMID. This continued to be the case for some weeks, so all seemed legit, until I got a letter asking for proof of NCB that was apparently listed on my application. The NCB was something like 7 years, and bear in mind I've not even had my license for a year.

I called my middleman/broker person/whatever they are and they assured me it was an error and it would be sorted out. It didn't, and my insurance resulted in being cancelled, so the middleman arranged a new policy and I got a new letter from a total different insurance provider. The whole process of NCB proof-request, subsequent cancellation and rearrangement-with-new-company process happened again, and again, and again. I've been distracted with work and studies so have barely been driving, and as such have just buried my head in the sand.

Fast forward to now, my insurance is once again cancelled. But this time I got a letter from the latest company saying the reason why it was cancelled was not because of proof, but because I apparently lied saying my insurance has ever been cancelled before. The middleman person claims nothing is on my record, and the reason for this latest letter was because 'it was the same company that insured me last time' or some ****.

Now I just don't know what to do.
1. Is this ghost broking?
2. Are the cancellations on my record?
3. What do I do now? Can I get them wiped off? Is there a case for me?

I honestly didn't know it was potentially fraud until the first time my insurance was cancelled, in which case it was already too late. I would have NEVER gone down this route if I knew it was dodgy.

If something seems too good to be true, it probably is. In this case, that logic holds true.

Yeah, the cancellations are on your record, and you may even have a CIFAS marker (check your credit report).

In short, you shouldn't ever go through a middleman broker unless they are absolutely regulated and licenced - someone dealing through WhatsApp should have triggered the dodgy detectors in your brain pretty fast!

There's not much you can do I'm afraid.

I'm 21. This would surely just mean I can't drive for a long long time?? Can I even drive ever? Honestly this all seems so extreme given I did my best to avoid anything dodgy. I was honestly just totally naive.. Surely there has to be a way out of this

I just checked my credit report and thank God it says I don't have any fraud warnings or markers. I see a lot of insurance companies have searched me though

Hey! I’m in the same situation and I’m just wondering if you’ve sorted your insurance yet?

Hello, I am contacting yourself from BBC Watchdog. We are currently doing a piece on 'ghost broking' and I was wondering whether we could ask you some questions?