I was written off by John Lewis for car insurance because I’m an author

I received a brief letter from my car insurer stating that “having reviewed your current details, we won’t be able to renew your car insurance policy arranged by John Lewis Finance and underwritten by Covea Insurance plc”. It transpired this is because my occupation is recorded as “author”, which is deemed an “unacceptable risk”. This, in itself, seems bizarre and has never been a problem before. My main occupation is university lecturer (which is also recorded on its system) and I, like many academics, merely do occasional writing connected with my area of expertise.

I was advised not to remove the reference to author if I earn any money from writing. John Lewis told me the reasons for considering authors an “unacceptable risk” are commercially sensitive and refused to disclose them, but indicated they were in line with industry practice.
MJ, Cardiff

Your occasional books are on tax and accounting, which require perilous forays into financial archives with or without your Vauxhall Corsa. You have not made a claim in 16 years. I was alerted to your predicament on the same day comparison site Quotezone published the professions considered riskiest by car insurers – warehouse workers, healthcare assistants and chefs, in case you’re wondering.

I asked it if it realised the dangers of authors on the loose on the nation’s highways. It didn’t, but had a theory. “Insurance providers base their pricing on statistical data that shows higher claim rates and payouts amongst certain professions – quite often in jobs that involve long hours, high stress, or physical labour,” says Quotezone boss Greg Wilson. “These complex data models also review historical performance versus claims frequency, and claims severity per occupation – so it may be that people who describe themselves as authors are typically shown to be involved in a higher frequency, or severity, of incidents.” He suggests tweaking a job title to a wording that still reflects what you do, but might pacify the algorithms. “Writer” for instance may attract lower premiums.

I asked John Lewis and Covea what they had against authors. Neither was willing to answer the question, but you were contacted the very next day to be told the details had been reviewed and offering to renew your policy. Too late – you’d found a cheaper deal with a friendlier firm.

If you want the best deal, become a teacher, civil servant or HGV driver. Quotezone has found they pay up to 41% less than the national average.

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