Ins co will not return car ins deposit

[ramesh046]

My Iranian(with basic Englis only) friend has a problem with ins co who will not reuturn the deposit and payments made. This is what happened. On 18th May his application for Car ins was accepted and were supplied wuth the required docs eg driver's licence and NCD certificate. He received the car insurance papers from the co. The ins was £1187. He was asked to pay £487 as a deposit. One premium was taken by d/d on 18th june and one in 18th July and 3rd one on 18th Aug
On 17th Aug my friend received a letter from the co. stating that his ins is now cancelled(reason were complex) For some reason nthe co tried to take another d/d on 19th SEPT.,But my friend lukily stopped it just in time. So far therefore £487+143+143+143 have been taken ie £916 in total. He made a few calls but they wont return the acess taken. I will be writing to the co on his befalf.. Any pointers and recourse would be welcome

thanks

[factor-fiction]

The complex reasons for cancellation may be relevant here- what were they?

[bednobs]

unless you say what the "complex reasons" are, no-one is going to be able to help probably

[ramesh046]

I think from what he said was that he had been driving for years(he is a car mechanic!) The police took away his licence. He applied again. Got it and then was driving for a uear.

Bit on the form he stated 4 years

Thats what I mean about a little complex

[ramesh046]

Sorry missed to state that he was involved in an accident and thus his licence was taken away

[dotty.]

so he misled the insurance companyhe needsloom at the terms and conditions plus if he agreed to pay the premiums over 10 or 12 months the insurance company will have paid the premium in full up front and so he still owes for the whole year even though it has been cancelled, byt he time they sort the final fee out he'll be owing them, he needs to get them to do a new policy with the correct info and see if they will strike a deal, but unlikely.

[bednobs]

if i was you i would not writw to the insurance company on his behalf. He committed insurance fraud.

[EDDIE51]

Yes, looks very much like he was banned from driving (the police took away his licence ) but he did not tell the insurance company. He will not get any money back and may even be prosecuted for fraud. He also said he had been driving for 4 years when it was only 1 another fraudulent statement.
If he wants to get insured again it is going to cost a fortune .

[ramesh046]

I have now manged to get to bottom of this. He had another letter which he forgot to open. The etter from Ins co says as he hade made false declaration, the policy was void at inception and once he returns the ins certificate , he will get refunded ALL the money he had paid ie £850.

Thanks guys

[dotty.]

wow which insurance company is he with cos i'd pay a fee to mine to swap to that one

[EDDIE51]

VERY surprised he got the money back, I think most insurers would have kept the cash. If he had been stopped or in an accident he would have been guilty of driving without insurance and fraud his very lucky.