A ghost broker is someone who sets up as an illegal insurance broker selling fraudulent insurance policies. These policies appear genuine and it isn’t until you are pulled over by the police in your campervan because you don’t actually have insurance or you are involved in a road traffic accident and come to claim on your policy only to discover that you are not actually insured. The dishonest broker has pocketed your premium and disappeared.
The insurance documents you are provided with tend to be either fake or are altered genuine documents so it can be difficult to realize that you have been defrauded.
If you are suspicious in any way you can always check to see if the insurance broker is listed on the Financial Services Register produced by the Financial Conduct Authority.
You can go on the Motor Insurance Database produced by the Motor Insurers’ Bureau to see if the motor insurance policy you have been sold is listed if you are suspicious that the policy you have been sold is not genuine. You can also contact the insurance company to do some checks.
Unfortunately if you discover that the policy you have been sold is false then you may find that you have for instance lost your premium, you have no insurance and need to sort out another policy at additional cost, if you are involved in a road traffic accident that you are responsible for you may have to meet the costs, you could get 6 points on your driving license and be fined.
So, do be careful who you obtain quotes from for the likes of campervan cover so that you hopefully do not find yourself in the unpleasant situation of having purchased a fraudulent insurance policy from a ghost broker. It really does not take long to make a few checks to give you the peace of mind that you are dealing with a legitimate insurance broker.
