Himself was stopped by the local police this morning whilst taking a car full of garden rubbish to the local tip. The local police were waiting on the road just before the tip. Unfortunately.... himself did not have any of the information that he is required by law to carry around with the car and this was because.... herself had appropriated the document folder which was languishing on the pc desk as she was about to buy insurance for the following year, the existing insurance not due to expire until September 23.
Existing Insurance? Much later.......According to the police data base we are not insured. According to the police, our policy was taken out on 24th September 2010 and cancelled the same day.
What? How can this be? The money was taken from our account, we have emails from the insurers, we have a copy of the policy which states that the end date is 23 September 2011, we have a copy of the cover note.....
What we do not have are original documents!
Meanwhile, our car will be languishing in the police compound for the weekend. We have not paid the fine so they will not release the car. Paying the fine would be an admission of guilt and we certainly are not guilty.
Guilty of negligence though we might very well be.
'Spanish Insurance Solutions' who issued the policy seem remarkably unwilling to get back in touch despite having initially offered to find out what went on.
Monday 1300. Have just made an appointment with a lawyer for tomorrow at 9 am.
Received this email yesterday late afternoon from the Insurance Company:
Existing Insurance? Much later.......According to the police data base we are not insured. According to the police, our policy was taken out on 24th September 2010 and cancelled the same day.
What? How can this be? The money was taken from our account, we have emails from the insurers, we have a copy of the policy which states that the end date is 23 September 2011, we have a copy of the cover note.....
What we do not have are original documents!
Meanwhile, our car will be languishing in the police compound for the weekend. We have not paid the fine so they will not release the car. Paying the fine would be an admission of guilt and we certainly are not guilty.
Guilty of negligence though we might very well be.
UPDATE
'Spanish Insurance Solutions' who issued the policy seem remarkably unwilling to get back in touch despite having initially offered to find out what went on.
Monday 1300. Have just made an appointment with a lawyer for tomorrow at 9 am.
UPDATE
Tuesday 20th September Received this email yesterday late afternoon from the Insurance Company:
" Thank you for your emails.
I am writing to let you know
that your policy has been reinstated, we have updated FIVA today and tomorrow
morning your vehicle will be live on the central database.
Please go to the impound tomorrow
morning to collect your car. They will be able to look up your vehicle on
the FIVA database and see that it is live, and then the 1500€ fine will be
waived. You will need to pay the impound & grua fees for the period
that your vehicle has been there, but if you would please send us the original
receipt we will reimburse you in full (it would be helpful if you could please
email us a copy of the receipt in the meantime). Please do not hesitate
to contact us should you incur any difficulties at the impound.
Please accept our sincerest
apologies for all the inconvenience caused.
Regards. "
We met with the lawyer this morning who was sympathetic but noncommittal. He wished us luck, he knows only too well the red tape that surrounds everything here, but we did recover our vehicle without problems although it took a while.
Looking back I can only shake my head in disbelief.
FACTS
We paid for our new policy on 17th September 2010.
FACTS
We paid for our new policy on 17th September 2010.
On 24th September, after some chasing up, the Policy was issued
That same day, 24th, the Policy was cancelled.
On 25th September, a copy of the Issued Policy was faxed to us.
.....Very soon after this, this Insurance Company was taken over by another Broker.
On 27th October after more chasing, we received an email from the new Broker's
office saying our Documents would be sent to our new address, it having been
assumed by everyone that the original Documents had been sent to our old address
and lost in the post.
The matter was then forgotten by everyone!
The Insurance Company who issued the Policy, the middleman between the local Broker and LLoyds, is saying nothing.
Make of this story what you will, we know what we believe happened.
That same day, 24th, the Policy was cancelled.
On 25th September, a copy of the Issued Policy was faxed to us.
.....Very soon after this, this Insurance Company was taken over by another Broker.
On 27th October after more chasing, we received an email from the new Broker's
office saying our Documents would be sent to our new address, it having been
assumed by everyone that the original Documents had been sent to our old address
and lost in the post.
The matter was then forgotten by everyone!
The Insurance Company who issued the Policy, the middleman between the local Broker and LLoyds, is saying nothing.
Make of this story what you will, we know what we believe happened.
