AIG looking for penalty points within 5 years?

toby2111

Car insurance renewal time.I'm with 25plus.ie,got their renewal quote,not happy with it. Checked its4women.ie and they look for penalty points within 5 years. my are older than 3 years but less than 5 years but cant remember exact date. So I rang the NDLS to find out the dates and guy says he doesnt have them as they get wiped from the system as soon as 3 years is reached.He said ,in his opinion, insurance companies have no right to ask for penalty points over 3 years old. I got onto its4women livechat and they said its standard policy for AIG,who underwrite their policies to ask for points up to 5 years.They got the dates of my points as it is on the 25plus system,their sister site.I checked on AIG site and they do look for that.......Is that not completely unfair and possibly illegal?? I got 2 quotes from its4women,1 with points and 1 without.....the difference is €80!! So they are charging extra for points that are not effective on my license.......Should I just proceed with quote and leave the points out???

Eggs For Dinner

They are entitled to ask, if you want to make a deliberate misrepresentation that's your own business but I wouldn't recommend it

toby2111

Eggs For Dinner wrote: »

They are entitled to ask, if you want to make a deliberate misrepresentation that's your own business but I wouldn't recommend it

But why are they "entitled" to ask? To the best of my knowledge, other insurance companies look for penalty points within 3 years,which is perfectly fair. Why are they allowed to charge me an extra €80 for points that are not actually on my license?? Even the guy in the NDLS said the same...

seamus

Make a complaint to the insurance ombudsman and the data protection commissioner.

Insurance companies do and are entitled to share relevant data between themselves for the purposes of underwriting. But holding onto the details of penalty points beyond the 3 years, may be a data protection breach. They are holding information on you which is no longer relevant.

emeldc

If the NDLS don't keep records beyond 3 years, how would an insurance co know if you were lying. I've had points in the past but in all honesty I can't remember when. I'd be saying NO or be honest and say you can't remember. Check with NDLS.

ArthurG

seamus wrote: »

... They are holding information on you which is no longer relevant.

How can penalty point information not be relevant to an insurance company?.

kennethsmyth

ArthurG wrote: »

How can penalty point information not be relevant to an insurance company?.

Because it is outside of the penalty time, they are only relevant to the time that the points are on your licence, as said its a data protection issue along with an abuse of their power (ie to give not give insurance) pure greed.

Let AIG know you are complaining to Ombudsman and also the data protection office.

toby2111

ArthurG wrote: »

How can penalty point information not be relevant to an insurance company?.

Just rang Data Protection office,guy said if its beyond 3 years and its wiped from the license,its not relevant to them and I should not be penalised. Gonna ring AIG now and see what waffle they make up....

seamus

ArthurG wrote: »

How can penalty point information not be relevant to an insurance company?.

Because the points have expired, and if NDLS don't even have a record of them anymore, you may have a right for that data to be deleted.

The spent convictions act is a good barometer on this - where you have a single criminal traffic conviction more than 7 years ago, you do not have to disclose this to an insurer, even if they ask, and insurers are not entitled to retain this information for their own purposes.

Penalty points being a non-criminal offence and automatically expiring after 3 years, it would seem unreasonable and immaterial for an insurance company to retain this data beyond that point.

Since the driver does not have any current penalty points, and there is no way to verify the accuracy of any record of historical penalty points, then it seems like that is information is being stored in contravention of data protection guidelines.

At the very least the individual has the right to demand this information is deleted on the basis that it is inaccurate: If you ask the NDLS, there is no record of these points.

seamus

toby2111 wrote: »

Just rang Data Protection office,guy said if its beyond 3 years and its wiped from the license,its not relevant to them and I should not be penalised. Gonna ring AIG now and see what waffle they make up....

If they do change their tune, I would still make a formal complaint to the Ombudsman about this practice so that the Ombudsman and other insurers know about it.

toby2111

Spoke with AIG,they said they dont look for penalty points beyond 3 years,but convictions and claims up to 5 years. So its4women,who informed me via livechat this morning that its standard practice for AIG to look for points up to 5 years,are clearly trying to hoodwink people.

EDIT-Actually,just checked my quote with AIG direct and it says this "Have you had any claims and/or convictions (including penalty points) in the last 5 years"......so looks like they're also bluffing!

AlanG

toby2111 wrote: »

They got the dates of my points as it is on the 25plus system,their sister site.

This is almost definitely a breach of GDPR - they have an obligation to delete this data, or at least ensure it is not accessible to general / sales staff . If you really wanted you could look for damages as GDPR allows for damages without any material loss.

toby2111

AlanG wrote: »

. If you really wanted you could look for damages as GDPR allows for damages without any material loss.

How would I go about doing that? Make a formal complaint to data protection officer?