Andy,

Shark is right here. You must declare any and all convictions within a set period at the inception, throughout the life and at the renewal of the policy.

Elephant are well within their rights to charge you any additional premiums that they require based on the new risk you have presented to them. Nearly £500 is not ridiculous at all; if you had mentioned this to the insurer and they came back with the quote, then you would have taken the policy out elsewhere - saving yourself a few pounds in the long run!  It is just unfortunate for you that the risk you supply coupled with the SP30 amounts to such a high AP with your current insurer; as you can see, every insurer is different, and Halifax do not seem to load for the SP30.

This money is owed to the insurer and they will want it. However, another forum member had a similar enquiry and he posted back (within this week) that he managed to come to some sort of 'compromise' with his insurer. See if you can do the same.

Hmmm, not really sure what is happening here. Are you saying that Elephant is trying to charge you more for your old policy on the basis of non-material declaration or is this a new quote?

If it's a new quote then walk away, I don't see the problem here. If it is Elephant trying to charge you more for the policy that is about to expire, then you may have an issue which will take a better 'insurance' head than mine to resolve.

Legally, you MUST declare any and all convictions within a set period (usually five years) at the start of any policy. If you do not or you 'forget' then you are in breach of contract and could have insurance denied, a policy cancelled or restrictions. You must also notify an insurer DURING a policy of any conviction so really you have very little excuse. SP30 is not exactly the activity of a hardened criminal but you should have declared it and this is where they could feel that you have deliberately 'hidden' the facts from them. Tread carefully - this could cause you problems - more from fall-out than anything else.

SHARK! 

I am in the process of renewing my insurance policy and I'm currently with Elephant until 12th November 2007.

I had a significantly cheaper quote from Halifax (eSure) via moneysupermarket online which I want to go ahead with. Elephant want to renew my policy @ 893.37 but Halifax have quoted 624.00. I've phoned elephant to make sure the policy is cancelled as I'm going with Halifax and they've tried to give me a cheaper quote to keep my business saying their quote which I received today is not their  best price.

During the conversation we went over my details and it came to light that I forgot to declare an SP30 from the previous year and they are going to charge me nearly 500 for not declaring it to them. It was a complete oversight on my part but 500 seems ridiculous especially as I've put an application in via the Halifax with and without this SP30 and the quote is the same.

Please advise my legal rights or your opinion would be really helpful.

It stinks of profiting gone mad.

Andy Austen