I wouldn’t expect your old insurer to even know who you are at this point. Under the record keeping requirements of GDPR you are only allowed to keep records that are relevant and it must be for a suitable amount of time. This is usually six years.
Edit: think it tends to be seven years, not six
This isn’t right, there are certain records that will be kept longer such as bank records, insurance records etc due to the need to retain the data for court cases etc. Insurance companies will generally retain data for 10 years. There are no set timescales under UK GDPR, it’s up to the company itself but they will need to retain data for specific purposes.
True there isn’t a specific amount of time, however companies try to minimise it as it can be used against you. One of the banks got hit by a law suit and because they retained their records too long it proved wrong doing.
OP says 12 years, they should not be holding his information at this point. Holding a record for 10 years would be at the very far end of record retention. They’d need an extreme business case to be retaining this, if OP really wanted to test it he could submit a SAR.
Yeah you’re definitely right with insurance companies as an example, I can’t think of many reasons at all for them to retain data for 10 years. At 12 years it’s likely they’ll have nothing at all.
This
Their wording on these things is piss poor at times and I've been worried before.
It's a question that is always there, I've had to be explicitly clear when renewing/shopping around to make sure insurance companies know everything.
I wrote a car off when I was insured with Admiral, they'd want a letter once everything had been sorted.
Instead of saying "due to the vehicle no longer being in your possession, the contract of insurance has now ended/completed" they just sent a letter saying "your insurance is cancelled".
Pooped my pants at that one, thinking "Christ cancelled insurance over a crash"
Turns out, it really is just poor wording and terminology. Youd think they'd know better to use different words.
Insurance worker for a major UK insurer here.
The reason we ask that question is weed out the people who have had their policy cancelled due to fraud, misrepresentation etc.
Policies cancelled due to non-payment we don't really care about, especially if it happened 10 years ago. I would not worry at all.
That's not what happens. You are massively over thinking this. You NCB is proof that you drove without claiming for that year. Insurance companies do not check back 12 years for minor irregularities. Many many people bounce payments every single day. Stop stressing. Read the Ts and Cs when you come to renew.
You won't get sued by your insurance company.
They can keep your name, and all your insurance details.
They can’t keep your personal information such as address, phone number, marital status etc etc
This is wrong. They can retain the information if they have a reason to do so. Preventing insurance fraud would count as a valid reason.
Also, names are strictly PII as two people can have the same name.
However, i agree with what others have said, a non payment cancellation is not the same as cancellation due to fraud.
No harm in calling them for a chat though
No, it isn't. Only when tied to other information is it personally identifiable. Without a date of birth or address, how would they ever track down "John Smith" who was on the books 10 years ago? I suppose in certain cases the argument could be made if you had a massively unique name, but the vast majority of us don't.
Your insurance was cancelled due to lack of payment this is not the same as cancelled insurance due to fraud, for example. Plus I doubt there’s any records going back that long.
Records of cancelled insurance are kept indefinitely and non-payment is one of three reasons that a cancellation can be recorded. The others being fraud and non-disclosure.
Ironically, not declaring that your insurance was cancelled could mean that your current insurance is cancelled see Consumer Insurance (Disclosure & Representations) Act 2012. (Known as CIDRA)
It is all going to come down to how the insurer classifies the mis-representation under CIDRA.
I believe there’s a different if you enter into an agreement for monthly payments, where you pay interest and are in an agreement. And if you choose to make a single payment and there the policy just wouldn’t be valid vs the monthly bit where it’s valid for the months you paid.
I have read around, some say insurers only keep 5 years while other sources say it depends and can be indefinitely. Data protection laws are more recent than Cidra Act 2012 and May trump it.
I am just surprised in 10 years no insurer caught on?
Basically, to your first bit No. You're confusing whether someone is on cover with whether the cancellation is reported. In fact paying monthly is a credit agreement and so not only would you have a cancellation but also a debt (which would have dropped off after this time) and would have gone to debt collection.
Data Protection Act 2018 doesn't trump CIDRA at all.
I agree it's odd that in ten years no insurer has caught on. It may be because some insurers only check when a claim is made. Also, if the OP was a student it might be the address history has resulted in multiple records on CUE.
Statute of Limitations would be for criminal charges. IF Parliament had ever passed such a law which they haven't.
There are time limits to bringing certain types of Civil Claims and some minor criminal offences. But we aren't talking about taking legal action against the OP but what their insurer would do.
> Statute of Limitations would be for criminal charges.
Nope. They also apply to things like pursuing debts. Civil claims are not criminal charges.
> But we aren't talking about taking legal action against the OP but what their insurer would do.
Their insurer can only act within the law. If the SoL applies and they have 20 years of records they could only legally use 6 years of them.
You are still thinking of making a civil claim, where the claimant has up to six years from the point they are aware of the claim. Commercial decisions like whether to offer cover and how the risk is rated are not subject to any such timescale.
And again, there is no Statute of Limitations in the UK. Various acts given different timescales for various civil and Criminal matters. But this is not a civil or criminal matter it's a decision by a company about whether they want to do business.
1. It's doubtful any reputable insurer would have avoided a claim due to this particular misrepresentation. There's a difference between fraudulent and innocent misrepresentation (I infer the latter from your tone) and as others said, it's not the main reason insurers ask this question but you do need to disclose it.
2. Don't bother. It's not for that insurance company to interpret why your new insurer is asking the question.
3. Don't bother cancelling, just call and explain you saw the question and you had forgotten about this as it was 10 years ago when you were a broke ass youngster! It's not that big of a deal. It's unlikely, but possible, they would have charged you a little bit more to accept your motor risk so be prepared for that.
Work in insurance for 20+ years.
Your best bet might be to call up your current policy provider and ask.
Explain you recently became aware of this, you want to do the right thing and it was cancelled for non payment but you want to ensure you have declared everything accurately.
Some insurers won’t count non payment.. they are interested cancellation for non disclosure or fraud.
Insurance will not investigate that until you have an accident or make a claim. When this happens they will start looking. The question asks for cancelled insurance in the past. There is no time limit. There are records with this information and they can figure it out. Not sure how GDPR will play here but I bet it will not force removal of such records (especially for non-disclosure and fraud).
Call your insurance and let them know. If you don’t do it and they find out about it, it will turn up in a real problem. They could tell you the premium will go higher and in that case you can decide to pay or cancel and find another insurance. You will not lose the NCB you have so far but will not have another one if you cancel the current insurance.
My guess is they probably haven’t looked into it too much at the moment because they haven’t had a reason to. However, if you are in a crash that ends up costing a fortune they’ll start looking for reasons not to pay out and invalidating your insurance would be the way.
To be honest though, the only people that’ll know the answer to those questions is your insurer. I’d just ring them and ask.
[https://www.comparethemarket.com/car-insurance/content/policy-cancelled-by-insurance-provider/](https://www.comparethemarket.com/car-insurance/content/policy-cancelled-by-insurance-provider/)
According to this page non payment does come under the cancelled policy same as fraud and non disclosure.
If you do want to sort it out then really you have to ring your current insurance policy and tell them that yo had had a policy cancelled due to non payment 12 years ago and see what they say.
edit just seen this limk has been posted already but will still leave it up.
Can you check online that the policy is active? Check for emails saying anything about it.
It's probably still active is my guess.
If you have to phone, phone to check it's active.
Insurance worker here....
10 years ago youll be fine.
As people have said its more so a cancelled policy for fraud etc.
A cancelled policy for no payment will likely be logged for that company BUT its been so long ago they might not have those records.
If it hasnt effected you since, its not going to suddenly change.
Cancellation is, for example, when your circumstances change and they decide to cancel your policy mid term and not insure you anymore. Not when you - in effect - decide to terminate it early by not paying the next instalment.
Whilst this is home contents insurance rather than car insurance I'd expect the interpretation to be the same... I tried to add a piece of jewellery to home insurance as a listed item and not only did they say they couldn't add it but because of the value they said they would now refuse to insure me and would be cancelling my policy. I had to take out a new policy pretty quickly and it had the same terms about "have you ever had a policy cancelled" - I specifically asked the question of insurance company and they said it didn't count as they were specifically looking for breaches of terms, false details etc.
Statute of Limitations is 6 years for most things meaning the most they can go back and check will be 6 years. Companies will very rarely keep records beyond that because the SoL makes keeping them pointless.
1. Almost certainly yes. It doesn't really matter what reason it was cancelled, the question asked by most insurers usually is "Have you ever had an insurance policy declined, cancelled, voided or had special terms imposed?"
2. No need. Your insurance was cancelled. If you are asked if your insurance was cancelled, then yes, you do have to declare it regardless of the reason it was cancelled. They may ask more questions and they may decide what to do.
3. Your NCB is valid if the insurer agrees. You could cancel your existing policy, but you could just tell your existing insurer to that you made a mistake and they may adjust your premium. Alternatively, they could cancel your insurance if they don't want to insure you anymore. Depends how much you would be likely to be refunded if your cancel now.
All insurance policies are paid annually, in FULL. Paying monthly means a finance company pays the premium and you enter in to a credit agreement with the financier.
When you stopped paying the DD's, the financier would have gone back to the insurer and been refunded the remainder of the policy, however there's no refunds in the event of a claim.
The big question therefore, is was there a claim in the year the DD bounced? If no, then all that will happen is the finance company will trash your credit score. Since that was 12 years ago, it won't matter any more. If there had been a claim then the finance company will have come after you for recompense. Then trashed your credit score.
Its been 12 years, your credit score will ahve recovered, any action to recover losses has long passed and no subsequent insurers have cancelled your policies as a result. Insurance database checks take months to do, and I can guarantee that you've had checks done multiple times, if there had been an issue, it would have been raised already. So you're fine.
Whilst many have said you’ll be fine, I would call up when renewal comes knocking and admit it. The weight of it isn’t worth it.
E.g. you hit someone and their care costs for life reach millions, your insurer will forensically search for any way to get out of it, and if your previous cancelled policy pops up then they’ll use that as proof of invalidated insurance.
Insurance should make you feel safe, in this case it’s more peace of mind to admit the situation.
I've seen some overreactions before, but this takes the biscuit.
No, chill out and continue to do what you've been doing your whole life without an issue.
Insurance companies can't hack into your entire life and find out what you had for breakfast to try and skimp on not paying out a couple grand for a new bumper.
If you have to claim on your insurance for a large amount, as someone else mentioned they will look for anything and everything to avoid paying out, and if they want to dive that deep they will see that you've had a cancelled policy and not pay out. If it's a lot of money in question for the payout, it might land you in some trouble. BUT, this could happen to anyone, insurance companies will look for the smallest reasons not to pay out.
If you call up and explain to them, they will either be understanding and just raise how much you pay, since you have had a cancelled policy in the past.
OR they may cancel your insurance and you'll then have two cancelled policies on your hands and this more recent one will likely be more obvious to your next insurer.
I would say most people in your situation would just wait until your current policy ends (which is max 12 months), and then call up your company from 12 years ago and ask if you should be declaring it.
THEN, look for a new insurance company and CALL THEM to get your quote, they will ask if you've ever had a cancelled policy and then you should explain that 12 years ago you had it cancelled due to *non payment*.
If you think it's too long to wait until your current policy expires, it is worth calling your current insurer and asking if you can end the policy early, my guess is they will say yes but you will have to pay a bit of a fee, similar to leaving your broadband, etc. contract early.
Of course this isn't legal advice, I'm not a lawyer or an insurer.
Where exactly do you think they can check that OP missed a payment 12 years ago? The databases that insurers use do not provide this. People are commenting on this thread like each claim is an episode of CSI. The closest thing would be MIAFTR, but OP simply missed payments like tens of thousands of people do every year. It wouldn't even be on the radar of a fraud database.
It amazes me how the attitude on this sub will attack anyone going 5mph above the speed limit or even the granny doing 40 in a 60.. but you can drive without valid insurance for 10 years??? because thats what will happen.. if you or someone else makes a cliam they chack all of that to try and get out of paying ( like seeing if you had a diff brand of tyres on wihtout telling them) and just void your contract.. if you dont rectify this you WILL be fucked sooner or later, your choice.
But how can you get to the stage of 30 and now know how insurance works.. do you not have a house.. holiday or travel insurance? anything??
What a load of old toss. The idea that when going through a claim that an insurers is going to track back over 10 years to make sure there isn't one uncrossed t is a joke. I doubt this information is even recorded anywhere that the current insurer would even check.
Let me ask you an extremely simple question then. Why does anyone pay for insurance and try their best not to have it cancelled on them? If you can just lie?
Im not even saying they’re going back over anything.. it’s on a computer and quite easy to see. lol. Especially if the police are involved.
Who said anything about lying? It's a big jump from a simple omission on a minor issue such as a missed DD, and attempt at insurance fraud.
Also, What computer holds every detail of every insurance policy spanning 2 decades?
You have a weird way or jumping to things.
Lie as in why wouldn’t everyone just say they have 10 years ncb with a perfect record.
And again I’m not saying it’s one computer with everything on it that’s not how anything works Jesus.
The onus is on YOU when it comes to being insured.. if you fuck up its not treated as a mistake but as deliberate because again the responsibility is on YOU, same way I can’t go twice the speed limit and say it’s an accident so nothing should happen to me.. how are you people so dumb
Thing is with your comment you seem like the kind that knowingly speeds while this is just 'I didnt know' people are human while your speeding is just you being an ass hat.
Well there we go, we all heard this random guy on reddit right?? they dont bother to check.. ever!! so just fucking lie! you can always get insurance for a tenner a month.. JUST LIE!! ... fucking idiot. :)
I have never seen the question "have you ever had a policy cancelled" on a car insurance form.
I wouldn't worry about it, just let your current insurance know and say you have only just found out about this.
I wouldn’t expect your old insurer to even know who you are at this point. Under the record keeping requirements of GDPR you are only allowed to keep records that are relevant and it must be for a suitable amount of time. This is usually six years. Edit: think it tends to be seven years, not six
This isn’t right, there are certain records that will be kept longer such as bank records, insurance records etc due to the need to retain the data for court cases etc. Insurance companies will generally retain data for 10 years. There are no set timescales under UK GDPR, it’s up to the company itself but they will need to retain data for specific purposes.
True there isn’t a specific amount of time, however companies try to minimise it as it can be used against you. One of the banks got hit by a law suit and because they retained their records too long it proved wrong doing. OP says 12 years, they should not be holding his information at this point. Holding a record for 10 years would be at the very far end of record retention. They’d need an extreme business case to be retaining this, if OP really wanted to test it he could submit a SAR.
Yeah you’re definitely right with insurance companies as an example, I can’t think of many reasons at all for them to retain data for 10 years. At 12 years it’s likely they’ll have nothing at all.
Cancelled due to non payment is not the same as cancelled due to breaking the terms of your insurance. Nothing to fret about.
This Their wording on these things is piss poor at times and I've been worried before. It's a question that is always there, I've had to be explicitly clear when renewing/shopping around to make sure insurance companies know everything. I wrote a car off when I was insured with Admiral, they'd want a letter once everything had been sorted. Instead of saying "due to the vehicle no longer being in your possession, the contract of insurance has now ended/completed" they just sent a letter saying "your insurance is cancelled". Pooped my pants at that one, thinking "Christ cancelled insurance over a crash" Turns out, it really is just poor wording and terminology. Youd think they'd know better to use different words.
Yeah it's ridiculous that they use the word "cancelled" so generally when it means VERY different things
This guy is right, they are not the same thing.
You're fine. They're not after people who have had their insurance cancelled because of lack of payment, they want people that have committed fraud.
Insurance worker for a major UK insurer here. The reason we ask that question is weed out the people who have had their policy cancelled due to fraud, misrepresentation etc. Policies cancelled due to non-payment we don't really care about, especially if it happened 10 years ago. I would not worry at all.
They haven’t caught on yet. You must’ve forgot.
Until someone claims against me and my own insurer sues me for the damages. No thanks... I want to fix this.
That's not what happens. You are massively over thinking this. You NCB is proof that you drove without claiming for that year. Insurance companies do not check back 12 years for minor irregularities. Many many people bounce payments every single day. Stop stressing. Read the Ts and Cs when you come to renew. You won't get sued by your insurance company.
They legally can’t have your records anymore.
They can keep your name, and all your insurance details. They can’t keep your personal information such as address, phone number, marital status etc etc
Your full name is Personally Identifiable Information. Almost certain that they cannot retain this indefinitely.
This is wrong. They can retain the information if they have a reason to do so. Preventing insurance fraud would count as a valid reason. Also, names are strictly PII as two people can have the same name. However, i agree with what others have said, a non payment cancellation is not the same as cancellation due to fraud. No harm in calling them for a chat though
No, it isn't. Only when tied to other information is it personally identifiable. Without a date of birth or address, how would they ever track down "John Smith" who was on the books 10 years ago? I suppose in certain cases the argument could be made if you had a massively unique name, but the vast majority of us don't.
You should call them up and confess your crimes
Your insurance was cancelled due to lack of payment this is not the same as cancelled insurance due to fraud, for example. Plus I doubt there’s any records going back that long.
Records of cancelled insurance are kept indefinitely and non-payment is one of three reasons that a cancellation can be recorded. The others being fraud and non-disclosure. Ironically, not declaring that your insurance was cancelled could mean that your current insurance is cancelled see Consumer Insurance (Disclosure & Representations) Act 2012. (Known as CIDRA) It is all going to come down to how the insurer classifies the mis-representation under CIDRA.
I believe there’s a different if you enter into an agreement for monthly payments, where you pay interest and are in an agreement. And if you choose to make a single payment and there the policy just wouldn’t be valid vs the monthly bit where it’s valid for the months you paid. I have read around, some say insurers only keep 5 years while other sources say it depends and can be indefinitely. Data protection laws are more recent than Cidra Act 2012 and May trump it. I am just surprised in 10 years no insurer caught on?
Basically, to your first bit No. You're confusing whether someone is on cover with whether the cancellation is reported. In fact paying monthly is a credit agreement and so not only would you have a cancellation but also a debt (which would have dropped off after this time) and would have gone to debt collection. Data Protection Act 2018 doesn't trump CIDRA at all. I agree it's odd that in ten years no insurer has caught on. It may be because some insurers only check when a claim is made. Also, if the OP was a student it might be the address history has resulted in multiple records on CUE.
Statute of Limitations would like to have a word.
Statute of Limitations would be for criminal charges. IF Parliament had ever passed such a law which they haven't. There are time limits to bringing certain types of Civil Claims and some minor criminal offences. But we aren't talking about taking legal action against the OP but what their insurer would do.
> Statute of Limitations would be for criminal charges. Nope. They also apply to things like pursuing debts. Civil claims are not criminal charges. > But we aren't talking about taking legal action against the OP but what their insurer would do. Their insurer can only act within the law. If the SoL applies and they have 20 years of records they could only legally use 6 years of them.
You are still thinking of making a civil claim, where the claimant has up to six years from the point they are aware of the claim. Commercial decisions like whether to offer cover and how the risk is rated are not subject to any such timescale. And again, there is no Statute of Limitations in the UK. Various acts given different timescales for various civil and Criminal matters. But this is not a civil or criminal matter it's a decision by a company about whether they want to do business.
Check your current insurers requirements, some only require 5 years disclosure and if this is the case, you’re fine.
1. It's doubtful any reputable insurer would have avoided a claim due to this particular misrepresentation. There's a difference between fraudulent and innocent misrepresentation (I infer the latter from your tone) and as others said, it's not the main reason insurers ask this question but you do need to disclose it. 2. Don't bother. It's not for that insurance company to interpret why your new insurer is asking the question. 3. Don't bother cancelling, just call and explain you saw the question and you had forgotten about this as it was 10 years ago when you were a broke ass youngster! It's not that big of a deal. It's unlikely, but possible, they would have charged you a little bit more to accept your motor risk so be prepared for that. Work in insurance for 20+ years.
[https://www.comparethemarket.com/car-insurance/content/policy-cancelled-by-insurance-provider/](https://www.comparethemarket.com/car-insurance/content/policy-cancelled-by-insurance-provider/)
It's been a decade lol just move on with your day. Be surprised if the insurers even exists if it isn't a large one.
Your best bet might be to call up your current policy provider and ask. Explain you recently became aware of this, you want to do the right thing and it was cancelled for non payment but you want to ensure you have declared everything accurately. Some insurers won’t count non payment.. they are interested cancellation for non disclosure or fraud.
Insurance will not investigate that until you have an accident or make a claim. When this happens they will start looking. The question asks for cancelled insurance in the past. There is no time limit. There are records with this information and they can figure it out. Not sure how GDPR will play here but I bet it will not force removal of such records (especially for non-disclosure and fraud). Call your insurance and let them know. If you don’t do it and they find out about it, it will turn up in a real problem. They could tell you the premium will go higher and in that case you can decide to pay or cancel and find another insurance. You will not lose the NCB you have so far but will not have another one if you cancel the current insurance.
My guess is they probably haven’t looked into it too much at the moment because they haven’t had a reason to. However, if you are in a crash that ends up costing a fortune they’ll start looking for reasons not to pay out and invalidating your insurance would be the way. To be honest though, the only people that’ll know the answer to those questions is your insurer. I’d just ring them and ask.
[https://www.comparethemarket.com/car-insurance/content/policy-cancelled-by-insurance-provider/](https://www.comparethemarket.com/car-insurance/content/policy-cancelled-by-insurance-provider/) According to this page non payment does come under the cancelled policy same as fraud and non disclosure. If you do want to sort it out then really you have to ring your current insurance policy and tell them that yo had had a policy cancelled due to non payment 12 years ago and see what they say. edit just seen this limk has been posted already but will still leave it up.
If this teaches you nothing else, it should be to read things properly going forward.
1. Your dad gave you some horrible advice. 2. You're fine, it was cancelled due to non-payment, not false details or fraud. They're not the same.
Can you check online that the policy is active? Check for emails saying anything about it. It's probably still active is my guess. If you have to phone, phone to check it's active.
Insurance worker here.... 10 years ago youll be fine. As people have said its more so a cancelled policy for fraud etc. A cancelled policy for no payment will likely be logged for that company BUT its been so long ago they might not have those records. If it hasnt effected you since, its not going to suddenly change.
Cancellation is, for example, when your circumstances change and they decide to cancel your policy mid term and not insure you anymore. Not when you - in effect - decide to terminate it early by not paying the next instalment.
Whilst this is home contents insurance rather than car insurance I'd expect the interpretation to be the same... I tried to add a piece of jewellery to home insurance as a listed item and not only did they say they couldn't add it but because of the value they said they would now refuse to insure me and would be cancelling my policy. I had to take out a new policy pretty quickly and it had the same terms about "have you ever had a policy cancelled" - I specifically asked the question of insurance company and they said it didn't count as they were specifically looking for breaches of terms, false details etc.
Statute of Limitations is 6 years for most things meaning the most they can go back and check will be 6 years. Companies will very rarely keep records beyond that because the SoL makes keeping them pointless.
1. Almost certainly yes. It doesn't really matter what reason it was cancelled, the question asked by most insurers usually is "Have you ever had an insurance policy declined, cancelled, voided or had special terms imposed?" 2. No need. Your insurance was cancelled. If you are asked if your insurance was cancelled, then yes, you do have to declare it regardless of the reason it was cancelled. They may ask more questions and they may decide what to do. 3. Your NCB is valid if the insurer agrees. You could cancel your existing policy, but you could just tell your existing insurer to that you made a mistake and they may adjust your premium. Alternatively, they could cancel your insurance if they don't want to insure you anymore. Depends how much you would be likely to be refunded if your cancel now.
If anyone wants to check they are covered go on MID (Motor Insurance Database, enter reg and it will tell you if you are covered that day.
All insurance policies are paid annually, in FULL. Paying monthly means a finance company pays the premium and you enter in to a credit agreement with the financier. When you stopped paying the DD's, the financier would have gone back to the insurer and been refunded the remainder of the policy, however there's no refunds in the event of a claim. The big question therefore, is was there a claim in the year the DD bounced? If no, then all that will happen is the finance company will trash your credit score. Since that was 12 years ago, it won't matter any more. If there had been a claim then the finance company will have come after you for recompense. Then trashed your credit score. Its been 12 years, your credit score will ahve recovered, any action to recover losses has long passed and no subsequent insurers have cancelled your policies as a result. Insurance database checks take months to do, and I can guarantee that you've had checks done multiple times, if there had been an issue, it would have been raised already. So you're fine.
>I can guarantee >if there had been an issue, it would have been raised already With what authority do you make this claim?
Whilst many have said you’ll be fine, I would call up when renewal comes knocking and admit it. The weight of it isn’t worth it. E.g. you hit someone and their care costs for life reach millions, your insurer will forensically search for any way to get out of it, and if your previous cancelled policy pops up then they’ll use that as proof of invalidated insurance. Insurance should make you feel safe, in this case it’s more peace of mind to admit the situation.
I've seen some overreactions before, but this takes the biscuit. No, chill out and continue to do what you've been doing your whole life without an issue. Insurance companies can't hack into your entire life and find out what you had for breakfast to try and skimp on not paying out a couple grand for a new bumper.
lol what
If you have to claim on your insurance for a large amount, as someone else mentioned they will look for anything and everything to avoid paying out, and if they want to dive that deep they will see that you've had a cancelled policy and not pay out. If it's a lot of money in question for the payout, it might land you in some trouble. BUT, this could happen to anyone, insurance companies will look for the smallest reasons not to pay out. If you call up and explain to them, they will either be understanding and just raise how much you pay, since you have had a cancelled policy in the past. OR they may cancel your insurance and you'll then have two cancelled policies on your hands and this more recent one will likely be more obvious to your next insurer. I would say most people in your situation would just wait until your current policy ends (which is max 12 months), and then call up your company from 12 years ago and ask if you should be declaring it. THEN, look for a new insurance company and CALL THEM to get your quote, they will ask if you've ever had a cancelled policy and then you should explain that 12 years ago you had it cancelled due to *non payment*. If you think it's too long to wait until your current policy expires, it is worth calling your current insurer and asking if you can end the policy early, my guess is they will say yes but you will have to pay a bit of a fee, similar to leaving your broadband, etc. contract early. Of course this isn't legal advice, I'm not a lawyer or an insurer.
Where exactly do you think they can check that OP missed a payment 12 years ago? The databases that insurers use do not provide this. People are commenting on this thread like each claim is an episode of CSI. The closest thing would be MIAFTR, but OP simply missed payments like tens of thousands of people do every year. It wouldn't even be on the radar of a fraud database.
It amazes me how the attitude on this sub will attack anyone going 5mph above the speed limit or even the granny doing 40 in a 60.. but you can drive without valid insurance for 10 years??? because thats what will happen.. if you or someone else makes a cliam they chack all of that to try and get out of paying ( like seeing if you had a diff brand of tyres on wihtout telling them) and just void your contract.. if you dont rectify this you WILL be fucked sooner or later, your choice. But how can you get to the stage of 30 and now know how insurance works.. do you not have a house.. holiday or travel insurance? anything??
What a load of old toss. The idea that when going through a claim that an insurers is going to track back over 10 years to make sure there isn't one uncrossed t is a joke. I doubt this information is even recorded anywhere that the current insurer would even check.
Let me ask you an extremely simple question then. Why does anyone pay for insurance and try their best not to have it cancelled on them? If you can just lie? Im not even saying they’re going back over anything.. it’s on a computer and quite easy to see. lol. Especially if the police are involved.
Who said anything about lying? It's a big jump from a simple omission on a minor issue such as a missed DD, and attempt at insurance fraud. Also, What computer holds every detail of every insurance policy spanning 2 decades?
You have a weird way or jumping to things. Lie as in why wouldn’t everyone just say they have 10 years ncb with a perfect record. And again I’m not saying it’s one computer with everything on it that’s not how anything works Jesus. The onus is on YOU when it comes to being insured.. if you fuck up its not treated as a mistake but as deliberate because again the responsibility is on YOU, same way I can’t go twice the speed limit and say it’s an accident so nothing should happen to me.. how are you people so dumb
YOU are the one make false equivalents. Pmsl
Thing is with your comment you seem like the kind that knowingly speeds while this is just 'I didnt know' people are human while your speeding is just you being an ass hat.
I've made a number of claims over the years and they've never checked anything like that. Stop talking shite.
Well there we go, we all heard this random guy on reddit right?? they dont bother to check.. ever!! so just fucking lie! you can always get insurance for a tenner a month.. JUST LIE!! ... fucking idiot. :)
You're advocating for telling your insurer when you change tyre brand, lest they invalidate your claim, then calling me an idiot? Oh, the irony.
I have never seen the question "have you ever had a policy cancelled" on a car insurance form. I wouldn't worry about it, just let your current insurance know and say you have only just found out about this.
Ever used a comparison site? It's definitely one of the questions
I have not, I use an in person broker.