Help with car insurance...

[a803sgo]

I've been insured with Kwikfit since January 2014 and in that time my wife (named driver) has had 2 accidents, they were both her fault.

She also had 1 with our previous insurer (Aviva) again this was her fault, so 3 accidents altogether which were all her fault.

The policy with Kwikfit was up for renewal at the beginning of 2015 and I went with them again as after a bit of haggling they ended up being the cheapest at around £500 for the year, down from £800ish they originally wanted.

When I spoke to the lady on the phone, it seemed as though it was a straight forward renewal, she didn't ask me many question and all I wanted to know was weather the new policy provided the same level of cover as the old one - I was told it did.

Everything seemed fine until yesterday when I received a letter from Kwikfit wanting another £400 for not disclosing an accident that my wife had back in April 2014.

I rang Kwikfit and they indeed only had 2 accidents on their system even though the missing accident happened whilst insured with them. I told the lady on the phone that the renewal proposal form showed 3 accidents, including the one that was missing from there system.

She said it was very strange and that I needed to send them a copy of the proposal form I have showing all 3 accidents, I'll be doing this on Monday when I can get to a photocopier at work.

The letter Kwikfit sent me also said that they were reducing my NCB from 9 to 4 years because of the undisclosed accident although the renewal form shows all 3 accidents and 9 years NCB.

I checked the paper work for the new policy and it does indeed only show 2 accidents, I wish I had checked this sooner but with the policy renewing I didn’t bother.

Sorry for the long post and I hope I’ve been clear but are Kwikfit within their rights to do this?

Any thoughts on this would be welcome.

Thank you.

[des8]

Re: Help with car insurance...

Hi
To get this straight:
You were insured with Kwikfit for the period Jan 2014 to Jan 2015
Claims were one prior to 2014 (known to Kwikfit and two during policy period jan 2014 to jan 2015
They offered renewal at Jan 2015 at £800 which was negotiated down to £500, which you accepted.
You completed a proposal form for renewal disclosing the three claims.
As Kwikfit were clearly in possession of the correct information they cannot increase the premium.

The position re NCB is slightly different in that the scheme is only concessionary, and is a reflection of the claims experience.
So if your claims record should only be 4 years under the Kwikfit scheme IMO they can correct the record.
If they don't, and you use the incorrect 9 Years NCB when seeking alternative insurance with another company, that new company could be misled about your record

[a803sgo]

Re: Help with car insurance...

Firstly thanks for the reply.

You were insured with Kwikfit for the period Jan 2014 to Jan 2015
Claims were one prior to 2014 (known to Kwikfit and two during policy period jan 2014 to jan 2015
They offered renewal at Jan 2015 at £800 which was negotiated down to £500, which you accepted.

All correct.

You completed a proposal form for renewal disclosing the three claims.

This didn't happen, I got sent a completed proposal form (Statement of Insurance) from Kwikfit showing the 3 accidents, including the one that’s they’re disputing.

As Kwikfit were clearly in possession of the correct information they cannot increase the premium.

This is where there’s confusion, although they clearly knew about the 3 accidents (2 of which happened whilst insured with them including the disputed one) the paperwork for the renewed policy doesn’t show them and neither does there computer system, it was only when the underwriter told them about it that they bought it up.

I’m wondering whether the change in underwriter has caused this, Zenith were the previous underwriters of the policy and this is who Kwikfit used to quote for the renewal but in order to get a cheaper policy Kwikfit changed underwriters to Highway.

Nevertheless Kwikfit still new about the missing accident as the original proposal form completed by Zenith shows.

The position re NCB is slightly different in that the scheme is only concessionary, and is a reflection of the claims experience.

My issue with this, is that the renewal letter showed all 3 accidents and this didn’t affect the NCB but now all of a sudden it does with the same 3 accidents.

Thanks again.

[des8]

Re: Help with car insurance...

I'm not sure if Kwikfit are acting as brokers or holders of a binding contract.
In any event it doesn't alter the outcome.
If they are brokers and they made a mistake they have to pay the difference to the insurers.
If they are binding contract holders and quoted a wrong premium, again it's their error and they stand the loss.
At least that's what happened in "the old days".
Now they are just as likely to invoke the cancellation clause in the contract!
Bearing in mind they can cancel your insurance (normally with seven days notice)at a prorata return of premium, you might be wise to obtain new quotes so you can negotiate with them if necessary from a position of knowledge

RE NCB... doesn't matter. as it is only concessionary they don't even have to mention it. They are under no obligation to give it or to confirm it to a new insurer.