High cancellation fees

I contacted Adrian Flux to insure my motorhome. Its quote was very acceptable so I paid £173.73 in June this year.

I made the error of not reporting an accident in November 2016, which was five months within the five-year period it asked for.

I then received an email asking me to phone the company. I am deaf and do not use the telephone, and asked if it could email me the query.

It eventually emailed me to go to its website and use the message system.

I did and discovered my error with reporting the accident, which I thought was in 2015; I was completely open. Nine days after paying the £173,73, a new premium was issued, which I accepted and paid the additional amount.

I was then told that, as my vehicle is imported from Latvia, I could not use it until the DVLA sent me the new UK registration number.

This meant I would be paying a premium for some of the risk that the insurer was not exposed to for some indeterminate period of time whilst I was unable to use the motorhome on the road.

It said it was still covering fire and theft risks, both I felt were virtually non-existent.

I therefore cancelled the policy, and obtained cover from another provider.

Adrian Flux then refunded me £67.49. This means I was charged £106.22 for nine days of vanishingly small risk.

I raised this with Adrian

Flux and received a reply, defining its charges.

Malcolm Lewis-Jones

ED There are some rules when you buy insurance. The first is you must be accurate when buying a policy.

If you are asked if you have had a claim within five years, and you have, then of course you must declare this. Likewise, if your motorhome has been imported then you often have to declare this, too.

I do not think the risk of fire and theft was reduced because the ’van was unregistered.

Insurance companies will charge for the period you have insurance, as well as charging an administration fee for any policy changes and these charges should be in your policy documents.