Failing to give a specimen - cancel insurance ?

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Richard K

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I need some urgent advice please from people who have been in this situation

I've been charged with failing to give a specimen
I had an accident my car is probably a write off and the other 2 cars are fixable I'm with Admiral who I understand are the worst
I will be going to court on Monday and pleading guilty so need to make a decision today

Should I cancel my insurance with them before they cancel it ?
Where do I stand on this ?
What are the positives / negatives of doing so ?

Admiral are slightly at fault the accident happened as the car had a temporary fix from them ( one of their garages ) - I heard something give way just before my wheel came off the front which then caused me to go into the cars - my speed was very slow 15mph as i'd felt vibrations in the steering wheel

I had reported to Admiral the week before that the bumper had dropped on the temporary repair - they had'nt replied to me

Even with all this aside i'm sure they'll still cancel my insurance, not cover my car and then pursue me for 3rd party losses - I didn't want to add cancelled insurance to all of that

Please advise - thank you
 
Can I ask, had you been drinking I'm not sure about the insurance side of things but my best advice to you is to be truthful to your solicitor and magistrates. It will absolutely not go in your favour to not be.
I know personally that failing to provide is a very serious offence, worse than taking the breath test. So, I'm not sure of the defence regarding issues with your car, they won't really be bothered I guess, more to do with you, your mitigating agrivating factors, like driving slow, were you far from home? How would you write your car off at 15mph? Anyway that's by the by. Have you got a solicitor or asking for duty officer? Either way write a very sincere letter to magistrates addressing them as Your Honours, putting your reason why you didn't do breathalyser.
Good luck
 
regret73 said:
Can I ask, had you been drinking I'm not sure about the insurance side of things but my best advice to you is to be truthful to your solicitor and magistrates. It will absolutely not go in your favour to not be.
I know personally that failing to provide is a very serious offence, worse than taking the breath test. So, I'm not sure of the defence regarding issues with your car, they won't really be bothered I guess, more to do with you, your mitigating agrivating factors, like driving slow, were you far from home? How would you write your car off at 15mph? Anyway that's by the by. Have you got a solicitor or asking for duty officer? Either way write a very sincere letter to magistrates addressing them as Your Honours, putting your reason why you didn't do breathalyser.
Good luck
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Apologies these questions were just from an insurance point of view if anyone has some experience in cancelling their insurance

Thank you
 
From my personal experience, I would cancel before they do. They are still obligated to deal with the claim as you had insurance in place at the time of the accident so rules of the Road Traffic Act apply.

However if they cancel your insurance you will need to declare this for life.

I will be honest in saying this is going to be a long, ugly road to walk as they will pursue you for third party costs (apologies for being the bearer of bad news but better to know the reality of what you are dealing with).

You do not need to give a reason for the cancellation, just that you want to cancel. When I had my accident, I cancelled before Hastings could. I was ultimately not found to be DD or liable but insurers will stop at nothing to withhold a claim and cancel if it benefits them. This is the best thing you can do given the circumstances.

I hope this helps and best of luck.
 
Thank you I thought as much

Are there any negatives to cancelling my insurance? Annoyingly it’s a multicar policy and wife and son are on it also

So will have to find new provider
 
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Richard K said:
Thank you I thought as much

Are there any negatives to cancelling my insurance? Annoyingly it’s a multicar policy and wife and son are on it also

So will have to find new provider
Click to expand...
As you’ve highlighted, the negatives are that you will “lose” remaining time on cover and your wife and son will need to take out a new policy which will incur costs now.

That said, given the very high risk that Admiral will cancel your policy anyways, this isn’t really a negative and more an inevitably. In the scenario where you cancel, you are at least protecting yourself (and by extension them too as you will be paying to cover them on a risk profile with someone who has cancelled insurance) from having to declare a cancellation for life which will result in increased costs over a way longer period than the 5 years you will need to declare your conviction.

It’s also worth noting that needing to declare a cancellation doesn’t just apply to car insurance - it applies to all insurance. Home, travel, etc. So while this situation is less than ideal now (and for the next 5 years) ultimately this is the best course of action to protect yourself from a lifetime of pain resulting from a permanently blemished risk profile.

For context, following my accident, my insurer was a real piece of work, resulting in a year long battle and a successful Financial Ombudsman Service claim where I ultimately showed them who is boss. I have read more than 1,000 FOS Decision References relating to car insurance and spent considerable time learning contract and insurance law to defend my case. This advice comes not only from personal experience, but more than a year of graft to learn all there is to know about how the UK car insurance industry works. I hope this helps.

PS feel free to ask any questions, happy to help where I can.
 
here now said:
As you’ve highlighted, the negatives are that you will “lose” remaining time on cover and your wife and son will need to take out a new policy which will incur costs now.

That said, given the very high risk that Admiral will cancel your policy anyways, this isn’t really a negative and more an inevitably. In the scenario where you cancel, you are at least protecting yourself (and by extension them too as you will be paying to cover them on a risk profile with someone who has cancelled insurance) from having to declare a cancellation for life which will result in increased costs over a way longer period than the 5 years you will need to declare your conviction.

It’s also worth noting that needing to declare a cancellation doesn’t just apply to car insurance - it applies to all insurance. Home, travel, etc. So while this situation is less than ideal now (and for the next 5 years) ultimately this is the best course of action to protect yourself from a lifetime of pain resulting from a permanently blemished risk profile.

For context, following my accident, my insurer was a real piece of work, resulting in a year long battle and a successful Financial Ombudsman Service claim where I ultimately showed them who is boss. I have read more than 1,000 FOS Decision References relating to car insurance and spent considerable time learning contract and insurance law to defend my case. This advice comes not only from personal experience, but more than a year of graft to learn all there is to know about how the UK car insurance industry works. I hope this helps.

PS feel free to ask any questions, happy to help where I can.
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Thank you so much that’s been incredibly helpful

It’s a no brainer then I’ll contact them today and end the policy

Fortunately the policy was due to end in January

Is there a reason I need to give to cancel?
 
Richard K said:
Thank you so much that’s been incredibly helpful

It’s a no brainer then I’ll contact them today and end the policy

Fortunately the policy was due to end in January

Is there a reason I need to give to cancel?
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No you do not need to provide a reason. They will push you for a reason (mine did) and I just kept repeating I’d like to cancel please. They cannot use your decision to cancel as an admission of guilt so be sure not to offer any information which may inadvertently negatively affect you down the line (ie. Admitting to a breach of your policy terms).

Best of luck!
 
I was with the same insurance company.

I cancelled my policy the day before I appeared in court.

The Admiral policy terms state they can cancel your policy if the breach the drugs and alcohol clauses, one of which covers failing to provide a specimen.

If your insurer cancels your policy, you'll have to declare that to any insurance company who asks when you get a quote if you've ever had a policy cancelled. It's all held on a central database so they'll be able to verify. It'll make your premiums go up or quotes to be refused if you do declare it, and if you don't declare it they may void your policy in the event of a claim making the whole policy pointless. Unlike the criminal conviction which gets spent after 5 years, insurers can ask whether you've ever had a policy cancelled.

If you cancel the policy yourself, there's no need to declare it.

It is way better to get ahead of the game on this.

This doesn't apply to you but if anyone else is reading this wondering the same - with Admiral do be aware that if you have Multicover and another person is named on the policy/policies, when you go to cancel they will write to the other policy holders and give them 7 days to object, so you may want to cancel a week before, and set the cancelling date to be the day of or say before court.

The other thing to worry about after that is what to do with the car. If you have a driveway you can SORN it. If it's parked in a public place then it must have insurance. If you have other people wanting to use it then they just need to take out a new policy under their names.

There is no real negative to cancelling the policy if you know your insurer is going to cancel it instead.

Hope court goes ok on Monday. Let us know how you get on.
 
sighingforlife said:
I was with the same insurance company.

I cancelled my policy the day before I appeared in court.

The Admiral policy terms state they can cancel your policy if the breach the drugs and alcohol clauses, one of which covers failing to provide a specimen.

If your insurer cancels your policy, you'll have to declare that to any insurance company who asks when you get a quote if you've ever had a policy cancelled. It's all held on a central database so they'll be able to verify. It'll make your premiums go up or quotes to be refused if you do declare it, and if you don't declare it they may void your policy in the event of a claim making the whole policy pointless. Unlike the criminal conviction which gets spent after 5 years, insurers can ask whether you've ever had a policy cancelled.

If you cancel the policy yourself, there's no need to declare it.

It is way better to get ahead of the game on this.

This doesn't apply to you but if anyone else is reading this wondering the same - with Admiral do be aware that if you have Multicover and another person is named on the policy/policies, when you go to cancel they will write to the other policy holders and give them 7 days to object, so you may want to cancel a week before, and set the cancelling date to be the day of or say before court.

The other thing to worry about after that is what to do with the car. If you have a driveway you can SORN it. If it's parked in a public place then it must have insurance. If you have other people wanting to use it then they just need to take out a new policy under their names.

There is no real negative to cancelling the policy if you know your insurer is going to cancel it instead.

Hope court goes ok on Monday. Let us know how you get on.
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Thats annoying I have got a multiyear policy my kids and wife are on it, Im the main policy holder

My hearing is Monday and I was going to cancel tomorrow and start them with another company

Will the whole writing to the others on the policy void my cancellation ? Annoyingly would've done this last week had I known
 
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Richard K said:
Thats annoying I have got a multiyear policy my kids and wife are on it, Im the main policy holder

My hearing is Monday and I was going to cancel tomorrow and start them with another company

Will the whole writing to the others on the policy void my cancellation ? Annoyingly would've done this last week had I known
Click to expand...
I'm not really sure as I didn't have Multicover or whatever they call it. I just remember reading about the 7 days thing in the policy booklet. You can check that for specific wording as it may not apply to all situations.

I wouldn't worry. You've initiated the cancellation before them.
 
So I got a ban for 18 months with the course will be reduced to 13.5 months
Fine of £1000
No community service

For me this is a really good result, 13.5 months will fly by. Prosecution were pushing for a cat 1 and a 3 year ban


Thanks for all your help all it's been invaluable. I'll stay online and try to give back when I can
 
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Richard K said:
So I got a ban for 18 months with the course will be reduced to 13.5 months
Fine of £1000
No community service

For me this is a really good result, 13.5 months will fly by. Prosecution were pushing for a cat 1 and a 3 year ban


Thanks for all your help all it's been invaluable. I'll stay online and try to give back when I can
Click to expand...
Sounds like a good result to be given the circumstances.

Time to put it behind you now and move on. You're right that the 13.5 months will fly by. I'm nearly 7 months into a 9 months ban and while there's been some times it's made life difficult, for the most important things I've made it work. It'll be over before you know it :)
 
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