Jackson explained he was unhappy that his insurer had sought to increase his premium by 70% during the term of his motor insurance policy.
What happened
Jackson notified his insurer when his wife’s car was stolen. His wife is a named driver on his motor insurance policy but the car was insured separately, so the actual loss wasn’t covered by Jackson’s policy.
But Jackson was obliged to keep his insurer updated about any loss by any named driver, whether the loss was covered by the policy or not. Even though the loss wasn’t covered, the insurer sought to substantially increase the premium due to the change.
Unhappy with the response he received after complaining to his insurer, Jackson decided to get in touch with us to make a complaint.
What we said
In this situation, we didn’t think it was fair for the insurer to increase the premium.
When the policy was taken out, the information provided by Jackson, including that of his wife as the named driver was accurate and the insurer agreed to cover that risk at a certain price over the policy term.
The change in risk now wasn’t a fundamental change in risk and we explained to the insurer that Jackson’s policy was already in place and the event happened within that policy term, and any increase shouldn’t take effect until its renewal.
We agreed to upheld Jackson’s complaint and told his insurer it shouldn’t charge the additional premium it said was due.