Last night my brother had his Corsa GSi impounded. He was originally pulled over for a brake light out.. but they checked the insurance and it came up that as off saturday night, co-operative cancelled his insurance, without a word of warning. When the cop rung Co-op, they said that they cancelled it because he didn't pay. But on his bank statement it shows that it was paid. The cop asked them whether they gave him any warning and they said they sent 1 letter about a month ago, but it was never received.

Surely one letter is not enough? and also the fact that they cancelled the policy on a saturday night?

The police said that this 1 letter is not enough and the cop said he will help my brother out as best as possible because he feels it's wrong what they have done.

When my brother got home and slightly calmed down he got onto the phone to them and had a good go out them and all they said is that it's not their problem anymore because he is no longer anything to do with them.

He now has to pay £500 to get the car out of the impound and he has to pay for a new policy to get it out.

I just want to know whether this is right? and maybe what can he do?

Cheers guys.

Insurance companies always find there way to worm there ways out of these situations as they truwly r crooks,

Put it this way i missed about 3 payments over 5 months mine never got Canclled but iv also veen in situations were insurance have wormed there way out of owin me a car!

Id suggest phonin up the fsa ombudsman (regulation authority) or consumer direct and ask them to prove this letter and secondly u should mention he DID pay the insurance and prove on the statement id be pretty sure they would back off because if they want to go court you can start claiming alsorts at the very least consumer acts mention basically u pay for services and should not be disadvantaged paying the services which your brother clearly has.

Theyd rob u for every penny you have so its a dog eat dog world, hit them back twice as hard and do it to them by the book show them u mean business

Good luck id imagine u would have made some way on this by now neways 

no idea if they can or not...

but if he has proof that he has paid his insurance then imo (as some one that has no experience of any thing like this what so ever) i can't see how they could do it

tell him to go see the peeps at the citizen advice. sounds like hes been shafted by the insurance co

if the money has gone out and they can not prove a letter has been sent or received then surely they have no leg to stand on?

the point you need to be asking is about the money going out, if their grounds for cancelling are none payment, and you have proof of payment, then what reason do they have?

Something doesnt add up with what you are telling us to be honest

My brother has phoned them and they still want him to go to court..He went to the police station with his bank statement and they said he shouldn't lose his liscence but he will have a fine. My old boss said this happened to his son once (with the co-operative too!)

Anyone else had problems with the co-op? I'm with them now and haven't had a problem..

that's why I put this topic up because noone can see it being right?.. He has to pay for the car to be taken out of the impound, pay for a new policy.. it's not worth it.

Maybe he hasn't told me everything that has gone on.. but it's just funny how my old boss's son had this happen too.

cheers guys

Hey,

Working in an insurance industry I think I can offer help.

firstly, has he asked for a complaints proceedure. If not, get on this, you want a manager, you want someone wih authority and do NOT settle for "my manager is in a meeting roght now" .. thats bollocks.

If that does not work, contact the Financial Ombudsman Service - http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk (you need to have followed the companies complatins proceedure in full and still have no satisfaction for them to accept your case though)

They will then charge your insurance company £400 for the file to be done (hahahaha) Your Insurance company compile a FULL document on whats happened throughout the complaint, word for word and sent to the F.O.S Who will review this, send them the proof that you say you have showing that this is paid, along with fees for impounding etc.

If you need any more help/advice etc, PM me and I will explain further

I hope you get your satisfaction (well your brother) and sue the s**t out of them for the Depression, and stress this has put on you, your family and your life.

Take em down matey

I had the same with the Co-op,

They sent a letter saying the payment wasnt made, and if it wasnt by a certain date it would be cancelled.

I got this letter AFTER the date it was due to be cancelled, and I hadnt checked my bank so didnt know it hadn't been paid, so I ended up driving with no insurance for a few days. - My fault but one letter received AFTER they cancelled it wasnt the best, youd have thought they'd phone you, seeing the second you do an online quote they ring you up!

Insurance is such a scam

to answer the original question, yes, the police can impound the car for no insurance under operation reclaim.. they would have done all the necessary checks and although its no fault of your own, the car technically still had no insurance at the time he was pulled !!

Vardy Pop- Thanks and we'll get onto that asap!

Harris Racing- I quite agree.. insurance is a scam!

Cheers for the help!

this is the reason why i dont pay monthly.

Jesus if this happened to me I'd be furious past the point of reason.

Yes they can get away with cancelling your policy with out telling you

Then once you have points on your licence for drivung without insurance they can charge you even more £££ .... lol

Yes they can get away with cancelling your policy with out telling you

Then once you have points on your licence for drivung without insurance they can charge you even more £££ .... lol

Your wrong there, they do have to inform you of policy cancellations or changes to the policy in writing. I know that because i had a row with mine over them changing stuff on my policy without informing me, they do do it but they are supposed to inform you.

To the op I have heard quite a few stories about co op insurance being a bit dodgy before so doesn't surprised me at all, but if you can prove its been paid for then you should be ok.

He's just told me he's received a letter yesterday from the co-op saying that they've cancelled the insurance! It's bloody rediculous!

He got back on the phone to them today and they still said it's nothing to do with them. So he's printed off his bank statement showing that it has been paid and he's going to take them down properly!

thanks once again guys.

They have to give you 7 days notice to cancel insurance. I know I just had mine cancelled by the Post Office as I got a bit angry and told them I wasn't paying £238 extra per year to take my girlfriend off the policy (she's had her licence since last tuesday) and defintetley not paying a £148 cancellation fee.