Admiral Car Insurance Demand

mysticsniper · 31 Oct 2013 at 15:56

I have received a letter today from my old car insurance company, asking for a copy of my new motor policy? Stating that failure to send them a copy is an offence under the road traffic act 1988

I have changed insurance companies all the time, and no one has ever asked for proof of new insurance?

Addicted · 31 Oct 2013 at 15:59

Needs more info?

Admiral were your OLD company, and you've moved to a new one? If so, doesn't really concern them.

If you moved TO admiral from somewhere else, then its common practice.

mattyfez · 31 Oct 2013 at 16:00

Sounds odd, why would it be any of their business if your not their customer?

It the letter legit, correct company address etc, might be a phishing scam?

They are an insurance company, surely they can run a search on your plate if they really want to know if your insured?

Very odd.

mysticsniper · 31 Oct 2013 at 16:09

Admiral was my old insurance company, they emailed me my renewal quote, and all the documents were stored online, so it's not like they need any of their documents back.

I must admit, they didn't seem to like it when I didn't renew, my cancellation email apparently never made it to the right department in time, even though it was sent a week before the renewal date :rolleyes:

NVP · 31 Oct 2013 at 16:11

I had to do something similar with Admiral when I SORN'd my M5, but I wasn't changing insurance or renewing so slightly different case. Perhaps this is just Admiral being overly cautious?

rodenal · 31 Oct 2013 at 16:12

Call them up and request that they go forth and multiply.

Follow up in writing if need be. None of their business whether the car is insured or who with.

It's a bit like the whole "must send your certificate back, bla bla" Mine just gets shredded and that's that

scratch · 31 Oct 2013 at 16:16

Are you sure you haven't mis-read the letter and they're actually asking you to return the old insurance certificate? Failure to return that when requested is definitely an offence under the Road Traffic Act, and is the only likely request I can think for an old insurance company to make on somebody who has recently changed insurers.

MooMoo444 · 31 Oct 2013 at 16:16

Is it possible you've joined a new company which is also part of the same company that Admiral is in?

Dogbreath · 31 Oct 2013 at 16:41

scratch said:
Are you sure you haven't mis-read the letter and they're actually asking you to return the old insurance certificate? Failure to return that when requested is definitely an offence under the Road Traffic Act, and is the only likely request I can think for an old insurance company to make on somebody who has recently changed insurers.

I suspect that is exactly what has happened.

Participant · 31 Oct 2013 at 16:55

scratch said:
Are you sure you haven't mis-read the letter and they're actually asking you to return the old insurance certificate? Failure to return that when requested is definitely an offence under the Road Traffic Act, and is the only likely request I can think for an old insurance company to make on somebody who has recently changed insurers.

How does this work in practice? Has anyone actually been prosecuted for not sending it back? Surely that's a legal and administrative nightmare, everyone would just say they'd sent it but it must have been lost in the post, due to the non-tracked envelope you sent me in which to return the certificate.

[TR]SweetSpotOz · 31 Oct 2013 at 16:58

Sasso · 31 Oct 2013 at 17:20

markyp23 said:
When you are set up to auto-renew, they will often send a new certificate of insurance before you've even agreed to have them for the year.

If you then chose to go elsewhere, you have a certificate for the coming year from your old insurance co even though you don't have cover from them. They ask for this back, as its obviously not on for you to use this as proof of insurance (even though a quick electronic check would reveal it to be invalid).

this seems like the most likely case to me. but if in doubt give them a call, you have the right to question these things as mentioned, could be people trying to scam these days!

rodenal · 31 Oct 2013 at 17:21

Participant said:
How does this work in practice? Has anyone actually been prosecuted for not sending it back? Surely that's a legal and administrative nightmare, everyone would just say they'd sent it but it must have been lost in the post, due to the non-tracked envelope you sent me in which to return the certificate.

They are just covering themselves - in reality they don't care if you keep it or bin it

mysticsniper · 1 Nov 2013 at 00:58

scratch said:
Are you sure you haven't mis-read the letter and they're actually asking you to return the old insurance certificate? Failure to return that when requested is definitely an offence under the Road Traffic Act, and is the only likely request I can think for an old insurance company to make on somebody who has recently changed insurers.

The renewal documents and Insurance certificate were never posted to me. I had to logon to my Admiral account to view them, which I why I thought this letter was quite odd.

I'll give them a call tmrw, when I'm in the office, not paying 8p a min on my house phone

My new insurers are Allianz

!bluetonic! · 1 Nov 2013 at 06:55

Say no to 0870 website. There's a freephone and landline alternative to call them on.