Victims of automotive insurance coverage scams may discover themselves moving into authorized hassle
A malicious and generally hard-to-spot insurance coverage rip-off couldn’t solely go away you with out cash, but in addition find yourself with six factors in your licence.
‘Ghost’ insurance coverage scams, in any other case generally known as ghost broking, is a rip-off which primarily methods customers into paying for a automotive insurance coverage coverage that doesn’t truly exist. It’s understood that adverts on social media usually selling these scams goal youthful drivers who usually tend to pay greater insurance coverage premiums on reputable insurance policies.
Due to this, ghost insurance coverage scams will usually rope in victims by promising exceptionally low cost insurance coverage. In lots of circumstances those that buy a ghost insurance coverage will even present an insurance coverage coverage quantity and paperwork – nevertheless these are often forgeries.
Some ghost insurance coverage scams might signal victims as much as a reputable insurance coverage coverage, however lie extensively concerning the sufferer’s particulars to the insurance coverage supplier with out telling them. Because of this the whereas the sufferer technically has an insurance coverage coverage, they don’t seem to be actually coated by it as the main points aren’t correct.
Whereas victims of those scams might lose out on some huge cash via these scams, they might additionally land themselves in hassle with the police.
What occurs should you fall for a ghost insurance coverage rip-off
Within the UK, it’s unlawful to drive a automobile with out having no less than third-party insurance coverage from a reputable insurance coverage supplier. If somebody takes out a ghost insurance coverage coverage, they are going to nonetheless face the identical punishment of not driving with out insurance coverage, even when they have been unaware of this truth.
Driving with out insurance coverage can result in a set penalty of £300 and 6 penalty factors. Nonetheless, if the case goes to court docket, the driving force may obtain a limiteless advantageous and even be disqualified from driving.
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When buying a brand new insurance coverage coverage, you must examine to see whether or not the insurance coverage supplier is reputable. One simple method to do that is to see if the supplier is registered with the FInancial Conduct Authority (FCA).
The FCA register accommodates a listing of all reputable monetary companies within the UK, together with insurance coverage suppliers. Usually, the insurance coverage supplier may have their very own distinctive register quantity with the FCA.
For instance, Admiral Insurance coverage’s quantity is 219824 whereas Hastings Direct’s quantity is 969197. The Motor Insurance coverage Database (MID) additionally permits drivers to examine whether or not their automobile has an insurance coverage coverage in place..
