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NEWHOPE
- Insurance information for those with a Criminal Conviction or families of those
with criminal convictions Insurance
for reformed offenders - Ex Offenders insurance _________________________________
See
also Ex
Offenders / reformed offenders Insurance Public
liability insurance found for ex-offender - May 2010 October
14th 2009: Seven million warned of insurance
trap - Millions of people could be paying for worthless home insurance because
of a loophole over past convictions, it was claimed yesterday - jml Insurance
Blog _________________________________ If
you have a criminal conviction or a member of your family has you might find it
is difficult to get insurance cover The
following are some examples of cases that a specialist UK Insurance broker has
been involved with. How
a simple re-mortgage can lead to homelessness In
late December 2005, just before Christmas, a call was received from a lady who
was very distraught & tearful. The client informed the insurance broker that,
in arranging a re-mortgage, she had disclosed her husband's conviction as required.
Due to this fact, she was now unable to secure the required buildings insurance
from the mortgage provider or any other insurance provider she could find. Without
the insurance they faced being thrown out onto the street. The
client said that she was "at her wits end" and doubted anyone could help. After
contacting a broker who specialised in dealing with ex-offenders and their families,
the client was asked to complete and return a proposal form. The form arrived
with the broker the next morning. The broker spent a ‘frantic hour' trying track
down their underwriter who was enjoying the festivities. The broker rang the client
back and as soon as she was informed of a positive result she ‘burst in to tears
of joy'. The lady passed the broker on to her husband, who had to assure him five
times that cover was ready and waiting for them. The cover was ultimately arranged
and Christmas on the streets was avoided. See
also Ex
Offenders / reformed offenders Insurance __________________________________________ Reformed
offenders not the guilty ones An
older gentleman who had been very senior in the financial services industry called
as he urgently needed to arrange household insurance. On release he had raised
this issue with his probation officer. At each meeting he raised the question,
"Can you recommend any one who will offer insurance to an ex-offender", expecting
the Probation Officer to know.
Finally, after several weeks of being uninsured, the client's Probation Officer
brushed him off saying, "Well why tell them at all?" Explaining that this would
constitute fraud, and focused on doing his best to rehabilitate, the client did
not take this advice but kept trying until he found a charity for reformed offenders
who recommended a broker who specialized in dealing with ex-offenders and their
families Denied this basic information, an ex-offender with lower skills and less
knowledge could have been forgiven for simply taking the ‘professional' advice
not to disclose. See
also Ex
Offenders / reformed offenders Insurance __________________________________________ Keeping
business on track A
businessman who ran a go-karting company contacted a charity for reformed offenders
via the internet. He had previously not been aware of the need to disclose his
conviction, which had occurred some 14 years ago when he was a young man. Now
a different person, and keen to do the right thing, he searched for quotes for
the necessary insurances. He received quotes which ranged hugely, up to £5000,
before securing cover through a broker who specialised in dealing with ex-offenders
and their families agency for just over £700. See
also Ex
Offenders / reformed offenders Insurance __________________________________________ Public
protection Faced
with discrimination in the employment market, a former offender turned to self-employment
in order to pay the bills. He quickly discovered that his small window-cleaning
business needed Public Liability Insurance, since something as simple as someone
tripping over a bucket could result in litigation. (Typical claims might be around
£5000 but as the UK becomes more litigious claims of £50,000-£500,000 are becoming
more common). He also found that holding appropriate Public Liability cover is
a requirement for even tendering for most contracts. He also found that it helps
to assure potential customers of the professionalism of his company. He was able
to arrange the appropriate cover through a broker who specialised in dealing with
ex-offenders and their families. See
also Ex
Offenders / reformed offenders Insurance __________________________________________ Innocent
employees can be punished When
the Owner/Director of a multi million pound company was sent to prison, the jobs
of all his employees were put at risk. The apparent impossibility of securing
the insurances required to continue trading took the business to the precipice
of collapse. In these situations, insurance has to be secured quickly in order
to prevent a cash flow disaster. It also has to available at a reasonable rate,
in order for the business to be sustainable. Through working with a broker who
specialised in dealing with ex-offenders and their families, the Director was
able to save the jobs of his entire workforce. He went on to begin offering work
to other former offenders, creating a virtuous circle where a vicious one would
have otherwise quickly developed. See
also Ex
Offenders / reformed offenders Insurance __________________________________________ Mother
rejected by insurer after 22 years, forsupporting her son after prison My
son served 2 years in prison following a sentence of 4 years and since March 2007
has been living with me. The company which manages my buildings insurance contacted
me to ask if I wanted a quote for contents insurance and as I was interested they
asked me some questions regarding my existing building insurance, one of which
was 'has anyone living in your household been convicted of a criminal offence' I
answered honestly and they then asked for details. I refused as I did not see
the relevance but they insisted and said that they would report the conversation
to their superiors. Two
days later I received a letter asking me for details of my son's conviction as
it was a condition of my insurance policy. I complied and received a letter this
week cancelling my insurance from 1st January 2008. I
have been paying insurance for my house with the same company since I took out
my mortgage 22 years ago and have only made two small claims in all that time.
My son lived with me until he was 20, he is now 24 and his conviction was his
first offence but the insurance company are not concerned with the details. They
have a policy and are just implementing it. See
also Ex
Offenders / reformed offenders Insurance __________________________________________ Couple
lose their insurance after declaring son's community service Thank
you so much for your support and friendly conversation yesterday. Just to give
you the latest developments today, 25th October 2007. The
insurance company called us to say that the underwriters have considered the information
given to them about our case and even though it was recommended that they re insure
us because of our 10 years custom with only 1 claim on the buildings insurance
and 1 claim on the contents (both very small claims) the underwriters say that
they will not insure us because of our declaration of my step son's conviction.
This is even though the nature of the conviction is no threat to the building
or contents. They also realise their refusal to insure us will be noted by other
companies who will follow suit. This for the next 5 years and beyond. As
I told you yesterday over the phone our mortgage provider has sent us a letter
stating that it is a condition of the mortgage that we insure our house. There
is a possibility if we cannot find an insurer that we will lose our home. We have
had a quote but it is incredibly expensive and that company will not take us on
until the outstanding work involved in our claim is completed. The
insurance company has told us to contact the Insurance Ombudsman again stating
that we feel the decision of the underwriters is unfair as we have been good customers.
As I explained before the Ombudsman's office told me that they cannot do anything
as the insurance companies are businesses and can pick and choose who they take
on as customers. I will of course contact the ombudsman again...but don't expect
him to act. I
contacted Jim Dobbin's office (MP) again to update them. They are writing to Jack
Straw, Justice Dept. with our case. They are taking the tack of the effect of
the insurance company's action on the family of the convicted person and the possibility
of losing our home. All
parties involved in this case including the insurance companies have stated and
agree that had we not disclosed they would probably have never found out that
our son had a conviction. They all agree we are being punished because we were
honest!! I
have spoken to my husband and he agrees with me that we have nothing now to lose
by taking this case as far as we can to get the decision of the present insurance
company's underwriters overturned...or in some way to change the insurance company
rules on convictions. I
feel we have been discriminated against because we were honest and disclosed my
step son's conviction. We
would appreciate any guidance you can give as to what steps we should take to
try and get some sort of result. Even if we take up the really expensive insurance
to save our home this is still a great hardship for us both. My husband being
a [deleted for privacy] with a £250 p.w. income and myself as an OAP with some
disabilities. The extra outlay is devastating to our finely balanced budget. Thanks
again for your support, we greatly appreciate it. See
also Ex
Offenders / reformed offenders Insurance __________________________________________ Quote
from satisfied client I've
been in contact with the insurance brokers suggested and their person's quoted
me a fair price without any conviction details, other than general information.
Thank you for the help.
Information supplied by a broker who specialises in dealing with ex-offenders
and their families See
also Ex
Offenders / reformed offenders Insurance __________________________________________ Liability
Insurance - March 2009 With
the recession biting the larger building firms are laying off workers. To continue
earning members of the building trade need to go self employed The vital issue
is liability insurance. If you have a clean record this is no problem. BUT
for the 30% of the UK population with a criminal record or poor claims record
rather than hope your cover is ok YOU DO HAVE TO DISCLOSE YOUR CONVICTION WHETHER
ASKED OR NOT !!! Most insurers will not quote. At
last there is a solution the NEWHOPE range of insurance for ex offenders now includes
cover for all tradesmen including less than usual occupations we will not load
for conviction The
BESPOKE range of less than usual cover all caters for less than usual occupations. See
also Ex
Offenders / reformed offenders Insurance __________________________________________ 
See
Also: Ex
Offenders / reformed offenders Insurance and... August
2010: Employing
ex offenders -Whilst some larger organisations gladly give reformed ex offenders
employment it does tend to the lower grade positions. June
2010: Insurance cover affects the socially excluded
-There are still major insurance issues faced by an estimated, eight million UK,
and Northern Ireland residents who have a current unspent criminal conviction
that may stop them starting either a business or going about their every lives
thus contributing to society May
2010: Scope
for ex offenders There are still major insurance issues faced by an estimated,
eight million UK, and Northern Ireland residents who have a current unspent criminal
conviction that may stop them starting either a business or going about their
every lives thus contributing to society May
20th 2010: Public liability
insurance found for ex-offender - Story of an ex-offender who had difficulty obtaining
insurance - jml insurance Blog October
14th 2009: Seven million warned of insurance
trap - Millions of people could be paying for worthless home insurance because
of a loophole over past convictions, it was claimed yesterday - jml Insurance
Blog December
2008: Concerns about insurance for ex-offenders-In
Mid November UNLOCK The National Association of Reformed Offenders issued a press
statement about the problems of ex-offenders obtaining insurance. jml Insurance
have been acting as an introducer for Delite Insurance for several months and
have concerns about restrictions insurance companies appear to impose November
2008: Call to unlock access to insurance for reformed
offenders- The insurance industry is failing reformed offenders who are seeking
entry to basic financial security, according to Chris Bath of the offender charity
UNLOCK. June
2008: Ex-offenders
charity speaks out over industry policy of exclusion The aggregator market has
been criticised for failing to make it clear to ex-offenders that they must declare
convictions. The criticism followed the launch of a campaign by charity Unlock
- the National Association of Reformed Offenders - to remove the blanket exclusion
by most insurers for people with convictions, and to introduce risk assessments
to create more suitable policies for ex-offenders.
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