You need to take up a complaint with the Insurers. Question as to whether they should have voided the policy. The FOS might not be happy with this and you may have a complaint upheld by them. If that is the case, the Insurers would have to accept the claim, after reinstating the policy and taking you off the void tag.
These are the FSA ICOBS rules, the Insurers should be following.
ICOBS 8.1.1 06/01/2008 1An
insurer must:
(1) handle claims promptly and fairly;
(2) provide reasonable guidance to help a policyholder make a claim and appropriate information on its progress;
(3) not unreasonably reject a claim (including by terminating or avoiding a policy); and
(4) settle claims promptly once settlement terms are agreed.
ICOBS 8.1.2
06/01/2008A rejection of a
consumer policyholder's claim is unreasonable, except where there is evidence of fraud, if it is for:
(1) non-disclosure of a fact material to the risk which the policyholder could not reasonably be expected to have disclosed; or
(2) non-negligent misrepresentation of a fact material to the risk; or
(3) breach of warranty or condition unless the circumstances of the claim are connected to the breach and unless (for a pure protection contract):
(a) under a 'life of another' contract, the warranty relates to a statement of fact concerning the life to be assured and, if the statement had been made by the life to be assured under an 'own life' contract, the insurer could have rejected the claim under this rule; or
(b) the warranty is material to the risk and was drawn to the customer's attention before the conclusion of the contract.
Some info links from the FOS to read. Give them a phone call about this and they may be able to help, you get an urgent complaint registered. Normally the FOS would want you to have given the Insurers 8 weeks to deal with a complaint, before they will get involved. But if you have complained and are not happy, the FOS might be willing to write to your Insurers now.
http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/ombudsman-news/46/46_non_disclosure_insurance.htm
My questions are:
- What should I do in this situation as I did not hear any thing from both insurance company about the claim? Don't do anything at this stage. If you hear anything from the third parties Insurers, advise them that a complaint with your Insurers is ongoing.
- Insurance is voided from since first date and they have refund the whole amount. Yes they will refund the whole premium, on the basis that they would not have Insured you, had they known you did not own the car. The strange thing, is that if this had been husband/wife or two partners sharing a car, the ownership on the V5 registration document may not have caused a problem enough to lead to the policy being made void. They are treating you differently, as you are brothers sharing the car. You should question this.
- Do you think I should contact to the third party insurance company to discuss this issue and status of the third party complain? No. Get your complaint in and if you hear from the third party, just tell them that a complaint is ongoing with your Insurers.
- How much it will cost me for minor scratches on the car? A few scratches would not cost much on your own car to repair, as you would probably just pay for a cheap smart repair. But if the third party Insurers are using a main dealers or expensive garage, it could be as much as £1000. Depends on the car brand and what repair is needed.
