Good morning
My 18 year old son has held a policy with Acorn Insurance since February. As there is no online access to his driving data he has phoned the company every week and has been told that he is scoring 100%. Now they have said they will cancel the policy due to his having driven at 120mph in a 40mph zone. We believe this is impossible because it apparently took place at 3pm on Sunday afternoon, on the main Birmingham road into Warwick. The road has roundabouts and traffic lights, as well as a steady stream of traffic. My son drives a 1.2L Fiesta. We have asked for the data to be checked but Acorn are refusing to budge. Is there anything more we can do?
Kind regards
Honest John has forwarded your query to myself as i specialise in motor insurance issues.
Contact Acorn Insurance and advise them that you wish to raise a chief executive complaint, and that they must log it on their system.Ask for email address for the chief executive.
Ask they provide a copy of their complaints process in writing, and advice them that you will be raising a complaint with the Financial Ombudsman Service(FOS).
Advise that you wish for them to provide all data relating to your son driving, as that “Data” is your son’s personal property,and you wish for them to comply with a subject access data request. (SAR).They may make a charge for this, at most it should be £25, it is usually £10.
They cannot not comply with this.Ask them to provide the name of the supplier of the black box. Many work in different ways, either via satellite or via an app on your phone.
Both types are dependent on phone technology using 3g to operate, if the phone signal drops off, all or some travel data can be lost.This IS a common fault…do not let them tell you otherwise.
This can also happen if the black box looses power, or gps signals, they need 3 satellite signals to triangulate, sometime’s if they loose one for some time, it can make it appear as if your car has surpassed the speed of light, and jumped from one location to another.
Bring this to their attention, but do all of this in writing to ensure they address the points raised.They also cannot repudiate your policy with out providing proof.
I can by all means assist you in drafting the letter.
Following further developments in this case, I would really appreciate your help in drafting a letter please.
Acorn called us today, in response to the email complaint we registered with them yesterday. They say that the data has been sent to their engineers for a manual investigation and they have said that the 120 mph was inaccurate, due to ‘a data transfer issue’. However, they are standing by the cancellation of the policy as they say there were 17 other instances when Matthew apparently drove above the speed limit. The point I want to raise is ” if it can be wrong once, then how do we know any other data is correct?”
When I asked, repeatedly, for the Chief Executive’s email address, I was given only the Operations Manager’s address. I have now emailed again, stating that I wish to make a Chief Executive complaint, asking again for the Chief Executive’s email address…
I hope you can help and look forward to hearing from you.
Kind regards
Mary
Hi Mary,
In a nutshell you have provided your own answer, they have by their own very comments discredited any evidence they wish to rely on to cancel the policy.
You can either request re-imbursement of the policy in full(anything else is a breach of contract) or that they continue the policy.(they cannot request any payment for voiding a policy).
Request from your insurer for them to provide the express terms and conditions in the contract that breaching any part of the road traffic act through breaches or speeding will invalidate the insurance policy, and that you wish for them to identify where in the terms and conditions of the contract you have entered into are identified?
Also ask does their contract comply with the 2015 insurance act?
Unless they can, the contract should remain in place.
Kind regards
Tim
Despite repeated requests, I never was given the Chief Executive’s email address, but I sent my chief executive complaint to be ‘forwarded’. Today we had a call to say that Matthew’s slate would be wiped clean.
We could not have done this without your help – if you would like to use this quote, please do:
” My son was being unfairly treated by his insurance company. Tim instantly provided us with the ammunition we needed to fight back with confidence – and win! We are hugely grateful for his help.”
Many thanks again. Matthew smiled today for the first time in a week!
Kind regards
Mary
