Overhaulin'

Can a Insurance company refuse to cancel my policy?

I was involved in a accident were a 3rd person hit my car and accepted liability. My insurance company collected my car to Ford to undergo repairs. 3 Weeks later I got a call to say they have stopped work as my car is "modified" and I never notified them. Apparently the alloy wheels and speaker upgrade count as a modification. I got my car back and 3rd party insurance completed the works. Anyway... received a letter stating Insurance company requires so many bits of documentation from me or they will cancel my policy. A little P off I called them and basically wanted to cancel my insurance. I was told I am unable to cancel my insurance whilst my account is under investigation and I have to continue with my monthly payments until the underwriters have made a decision. Is this allowed? I am paying for a service of which I am not receiving as they have said I will not be covered whilst the investigation is ongoing. Please help, recently lost my job and have now sold vehicle, but continually making payments even though I am not covered :( For them refusing to cancel were do I stand legally? If I cancel payment wouldn't I still be liable for payment? I don't like debt collectors... When they talk about modification I thought its about changes to performance. The alloys on the car are ST alloys which could of been on there from new. The speakers on the other hand sound louder? But why should they care what my system sounds like? Head unit has not been changed. I brought the car with these modifications and I was unaware until Ford brought it to light. Who_is_jack*** are you serious about them may wanting to prosecute me? I am really scared.

Public Comments

1. If you stop your payments they will cancel it fast enough. Go on line, choose a new company, Contact them and explain the position. If they take you on, agree a date to change, stop payment End of. If you don't have the car stop your payments NOW!!!
2. No! You can cancel your insurance policy anytime. you do no have to pay insurance if do not own insured car. If there is a left premium you must pay that even if you cancel policy but not always, you can inform them first then cancel your payment (direct debit)
3. do not make anymore payments ans demand back the payments you have made
4. You have not declared the modifications so you are under investigation. Of course alloy wheels and a speaker upgrade are a modification, what else did you think it was? You have defrauded them by not disclosing all the details so they have the right to investigate. They may prosecute so your going to have to wait until they have got all the facts they require. ANY and ALL changes that take it from stock to a vehicle are a modification.
5. Seems they can. "If I cancel payment wouldn't I still be liable for payment? I don't like debt collectors..." Yes you would, so ignore idiots who are saying just cancel the direct debit, it will be worse.
6. You are required to advise your insurers of any modifications you make from the standard car they are insuring. It says this very clearly in the conditions etc. Not to do so is a breach of the contract. It's not just about performance, it's also about any mods which might make the car more attractive to thieves, the classic examples in fact are exactly what you've done, different alloys and changes to the sound system. I take it you are paying off your premium by monthly instalments. In that case, you are still liable for the payments, in effect you are paying off a loan which they granted you to buy the insurance in the first place. It's in their gift as to whether they allow this loan to be drawn to a close and finished, and it looks like they're not prepared to do so yet. Don't just cancel the payments, they will quite rightly come after you for the balance outstanding, plus of course any fees or costs.
7. Without seeing the full terms and conditions of your policy no one on here will be able to give you good advice about this other than to say you were driving a car with mods that were not declared and so committed insurance fraud which is a criminal act. It presumably was not an ST and so could not have had them from new. Alloys are a regular and definite mod which makes the car more attractive to thieves and is known to increase the risk of theft so it is a relavent mod. They are unlikley to prosecute but are likely to blacklist you making insurance hard or impossible to get for a while.
8. I would in all honesty pay up and shut up. You were lucky that 3rd party insurance completed the repairs and you had a car to actually sell. Did you buy your insurance on line? When you ring a company and get a quote this question on modification is better worded and it is easy to understand it. A far worse scenario would have been if you had caused the accident and injured someone and then had the issues involved with the none declaration to cope with. But either way your insurance history is now really compromised and your next search for insurance is going to be horrendous and very difficult. They will need to complete the investigations and make a decision on what will happen and until they do that you need to keep paying. It is unlikely that they will prosecute unless you are unlucky enough to be the poor sod that they choose to make an example of but whether the insurance industry as a whole decides to pursue you for the costs of all this is another question.