BFP reporter's car wrongly seized

7:30am Thursday 4th September 2008

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STUNNED Bucks Free Press reporter Hannah Williams was left stranded at the roadside after her car was seized when she was wrongly accused of driving with no insurance.

A mistake by insurers Norwich Union led to Hannah being left at the side of the road by police when they took away her Ford Fiesta because she could not prove she was insured.

The national insurance database, used by police in their crackdown on uninsured drivers, had not been updated and without her certificate Hannah was unable to show she was insured.

When police called Norwich Union, the company claimed her insurance policy had lapsed.

Norwich Union has since apologised, and admitted Hannah’s details had not been passed to the database.

She said she was “made to feel like a criminal” after being fined £200 and given six penalty points, although this was later cancelled.

Hannah, 22, said: “It makes me feel very angry that such a mistake can leave you stranded on the side of the road.

“When the police said I wasn’t insured and said they would have to seize my car, my eyes almost popped out of my head.

“They asked me to sit in the back of a police car. It made me feel like a criminal.”

The police officers declined to give her a lift to the nearest town, and although left in a residential area Hannah missed the court case she was on her way to cover in Aylesbury.

She said: “When I asked how would I get back, they said ‘You have to make your own way back’.”

Hannah drove past an Automatic Number Plate Recognition camera on August 26, and a database check wrongly said she was uninsured despite Norwich Union writing to her on July 1 explaining her insurance would be automatically renewed.

After the car was seized, Hannah had a 20-minute walk from Wendover Road to Aylesbury railway station, where she had to wait 40 minutes to catch a train back to High Wycombe.

She then took a taxi home to collect her certificate, before walking to High Wycombe police station.

While there she again contacted Norwich Union and the firm admitted she was covered.

Hannah said: “I understand it’s a serious offence not to have insurance but I can’t understand someone at a call centre making a mistake resulting in the loss of my car for a day and compromising my position at work.

“I was just shocked they could get it so wrong and I wonder how many more people have had their car seized wrongly.”

Eric Nelson, spokesman for Norwich Union, said Hannah’s details had not been passed on to the national insurance database and insurance bureau.

The reason for this is being investigated, he said.

He added: “We are very sorry this happened and for any inconvenience this caused and of course we will pick up any expenses incurred.”

No comment was available from Thames Valley Police.