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

The fact that ‘author’ was given as an occupation was an ‘unacceptable risk’ when it came to John Lewis car insurance. Photograph: Tero Vesalainen/Alamy

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