Insurance company want to send me correspondence via email can I refuse?

Hi There,
I am one of these awkward people who prefer to receive correspondence from utility companies and government departments by post. There are several reasons for this but the main one is security.

1. Email is not secure at all anyone in the world can intercept it.
2. If someone hacks your computer, any utility bill in your email will assist them taking out a loan in your name. Even if you delete a file the files are still available on the hard disc for retrieval if you get the right software.
3. I don't have a home email address. The last one I used was constantly spammed with 100's of emails a day so I stopped using it.

All this may seem a little paranoid but my friends pc was hacked.

The company said they will only send me receipts and policy documents. Nothing with personal identifiable information. but I know once I give them my email address they'll start sending me all correspondence by email. I don't really like corresponding with them or any other utility company via email.

Does anyone know have they any right to insist that I send them my email address. Has anyone any other experience of this.

I was thinking I may send them a polite letter explaining the situation. I have been with them over 10 years and this was never a problem before.

Refuse and say you don't have an email address. If they are still insistent, ask them for the section in their terms and conditions that states that an email address and access to internet connection is a condition of their offering insurance. Put the onus on them.

Personally I would be happy enough with an email as I can print it off and I see no difference between it and a letter.

I would be more concerned with voice contracts such as the telecom companies use.

I actively discourage correspondence by post. I get all of my bills (except my credit card as they don't offer the facility) by pdf which I am able to file, only taking up virtual space. Other important documentation that is posted to me such as insurance confirmation/policy documents, I scan in and store electronically.

Suffice to say I also have everything backed up and backed up and backed up!!!

It's quite possible for your post to be stolen as well, it does happen. As for security and hacking, if I broke into your house and took a document with your bank account details on it the chances are you wouldn't even notice it was gone. An example, how many people on AAM actually know where their cheque book is right now and would know if I took a cheque from the middle of the book?. Probably very few yet that would give me enough to carry out a fraud. The focus on IT security is necessary but I think people have forgotten that there is a significant risk with physical records as well.

If you do want things in paper and are happy to accept the risk of storing all of your paper records at home with little or no back up (if your house burned down, would you even have the reference number for the house insurance or any proof you paid it?) and the companies in question are not playing ball then you might raise it with the Ombudsman office. I recall they raised issues in the past where they considered the insistence on the use of electronic correspondence was discriminatory against the elderly.

For those of you that like to receive correspondence by email, great, I'm delighted for you. However I don't wait this thread to turn into a debate on whether it is better to receive letters via emails or post. Nor do I wish this thread to turn into a debate on whether it is more secure to send mails via post or emails. In each case everyone has their own view. I have mine.

The point I was making is that I personally don't like to receive my correspondence by email and prefer to receive them by post. I also don't have an email address because the old one I use to use got so much spam I stopped using it and it is disabled now.

My question was: can the insurance company insist I receive my correspondence via emails from them.

The general consensus is that no they can't .

Bachelor Boy said:

For those of you that like to receive correspondence by email, great, I'm delighted for you. However I don't wait this thread to turn into a debate on whether it is better to receive letters via emails or post. Nor do I wish this thread to turn into a debate on whether it is more secure to send mails via post or emails. In each case everyone has their own view. I have mine.

The point I was making is that I personally don't like to receive my correspondence by email and prefer to receive them by post. I also don't have an email address because the old one I use to use got so much spam I stopped using it and it is disabled now.

My question was: can the insurance company insist I receive my correspondence via emails from them.

The general consensus is that no they can't .

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Probably ,as per general consensus, Insurance Company cannot insist on e-mail correspondence , but can they can possibly stop dealing with you? Just wondering.

Gerry Canning said:

..........
Probably ,as per general consensus, Insurance Company cannot insist on e-mail correspondence , but can they can possibly stop dealing with you? Just wondering.

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I wonder if they could also charge an administration fee to cover print and postal costs?

Gerry Canning said:

..........
Probably ,as per general consensus, Insurance Company cannot insist on e-mail correspondence , but can they can possibly stop dealing with you? Just wondering.

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Is that not the same as insisting?

roker said:

Is that not the same as insisting?

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Roker. #

Of course it is the same but maybe using (insisting) gives no get out for insurer.
As Richard Nixon said, he did not lie, it was {plausible deniability}!

Gerry Canning said:

..........
Probably ,as per general consensus, Insurance Company cannot insist on e-mail correspondence , but can they can possibly stop dealing with you? Just wondering.

Click to expand...

I don't know the answer to your question. However, I think it's interesting to see how some of the utilities co's are dealing with it. They give you a discount for going paperless. Therefore, they are not refusing to post stuff out. However, the customer is nonetheless being disadvantaged if they stick with paper.

Had home insurance with Allianz which was totally paperless - the only insurer I've experienced that went that way.

In general the requirement is that they provide you documents on 'durable medium'.

Emailed or downloadable PDF is considered to meet that requirement, so you can't insist on paper.