Me V Its4me and Close Premium Finance. **WON**

[Simon7685]

Hi Everybody

 

Having read about other peoples problems with this company I decided to post my thread about them.

 

I took out car insurance with Its4me in January 2005. Despite a few hicccups with there £25 penalty charges in this time, I wasn't entirely unhappy with them.

 

In August I changed my bank account. So I rang them to change my DD details, my next premium was due to paid 3 days later. In light of this I said I would pay my premium then using a debit card. They flatly refused to accept payment. I was told I had to wait until my DD was refused by my old bank, they would then write to me charging me £25 for a defaulted payment, so I could then phone back and pay my premium and the penalty.

 

To be honest I could not believe what I was hearing, so I again said hang on I've moved banks, the DD is cancelled, I want to give you my new account details and pay my next premium 3 days early by card.

 

The advisor said again NO, you have to wait, then pay the penalty charge as well. What for??? paying my bill??? He said I had to give 5 days notice to change my bank details so they couldnt change them and implement the next premium in time for payment. I said that is why I want to pay you by debit card for that payment, so what is the problem????

 

The guy just kept saying I had to pay the penalty as well for a defaulted payment!..............Absolutely unbelieveable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I said in that case I would take my business elsewhere. He said I had to send back my certificate and pay a penalty for mid term cancellation. I advised him I would be in touch

 

I wrote to Its4me explaining my position and stated no way, no how was I paying their penalty. They had also preached default of payment to me which I said was a result of there non co operation.

 

I received a standard letter by return saying they were sorry I felt unfairly treated by them....................er, just a little.............. They refused to budge and said I had to pay. So I wrote back saying no way and I would defend my case through court, if they did not drop the penalty I would consider my insurance cancelled...............they didn't drop it, so I cancelled.

 

I then re insured online with the AA and seaved over £200 a year!!!!!

 

A few days later I received a demand for cancellation of £261.75 bacause of a fault claim on my policy.........................(I don't think so!!!) I rang them and stated there had been no claim and I had no documentation relating to it..........how could I??? I hadn't had a claim. They said it was for over £2k for an accident in May 07. This was even better because I was in hospital when I had the accident, not bad going eh???

 

I demanded copies of all documented information relating to my alleged accident. A week later after a confirming letter from me, they sent a new demand for £76.35. No letter nothing just the demand.

 

Yesterday I received a letter, they made a mistake! Too right they did! It was an error by one of their advisors and was placed on my policy in error. So now they want a cancellation of £76.35. Not even an apology, just you owe it, you have to pay it, we will take you to court if you don't!!

 

So I have written telling them to go ahead and take me to court and I will defend on them causing the breach of contract in the first place, which then resulted in my cancellation.

 

I await there next move!

 

In addition I am now preparing to take them to court for the £150 in default penalty charges they applied to my account during my time with them.

 

Any comments, advice, or anything else is welcomed from all. I am no whizz kid by any means and all this going to court thing, despite ongoing bank fights and other cases is actualy quite daunting, but I really feel they have treated me extremely poorly and think I have every right to be miffed.

 

I look forward to hearing your comments etc.

 

Simon:)

[Simon7685]

UPDATE

Its4me have refused to budge from their position, they have said this is their final answer in the letter. Included was a how to proceed leaflet stating if I still didn't agree, I could contact another branch of their company, or the onbudsman, or fsa.

 

Basically, I am now waiting for them to threaten court action against me. I am convinced that I can win any case they bring against me, so they can go for it...............

 

Also a prelim letter was issued 4 October requesting repayment of the £150 in penalty charges they levied against me. I suppose I will have to give them additional time to respond due to the postal strike before issuing lba.

 

If anyone has any thoughts on this please let me know.

 

Simon:)

[Simon7685]

Received a letter yesterday advising me that I have 7 days to pay the £76 or thay will commence court action. Funny thing is it from a solicitor acting for them but says any contact regarding the matter should be made to Its4me and not to contact them. I thought thst a bit odd if they are handling the matter!

 

Anyway I will not be paying so we will see what happens next.

 

Regarding my claim for the penalty charges, no responce to my prelim letter, so unless anything arrives Monday, lba will be on the way.

 

If anyone can offer any input on this I would be grateful, has anyone else had any dealings along the same lines???

 

Simon:)

[cazzaswfc]

Have you complained to the FSA? always better to follow the complaints process all the way

[Simon7685]

Update

 

No I have'nt reported to FSA as yet but will in due course.

 

No reply to the prelim letter of 01 October.

 

LBA posted Wednesday 17 Oct, giving them 7 days to pay. Went to court today and got necessary paperwork to start action, unless of course they roll over.

 

Simon:)

[Conniff]

I think you are totally correct in what you are doing. That is just a rip-off and can't be legal. I believe you certainly have a good defence if they should go all the way, but I doubt they will,so make sure you do.

[Simon7685]

Hi Everyone

 

Thanks very much for the support Conniff.....!

 

Update

 

Received a letter from Its4me, same old thing. Sorry to hear I am unhappy and have found it nessessary to complain.....to bloody right I have.........they take all complaints seriously...............etc, etc, etc. They have answered all my letters quickly and explained everything to me, so can not understand why I am still not happy........err, I must be missing something somewhere, they are right, end of story and I should just pay up.........me thinketh not!!! They have made their position clear to me, there charges are legal and appropriate so any action I wish to persue is at my discretion.

 

Fair enough, off we go to court then...........Bottom line......Going to court will cost them time and money to defend well in excess of the amount I am claiming. Due to my circumstances it will not cost me a penny, so what can I lose.................not a lot.

 

Will try and get the papers done this week and post again then. Any thoughts, or advice or even if you dissagree with me, please put your thoughts in.

 

Simon:)

[Lukep]

Talk about giving it to the man. Simon I applaud you.

[Simon7685]

Hi Everyone

 

Quick Update

 

I haven't got the paperwork ready to submit to the court yet, hopefully will be done in the next couple of days, it starts to get difficult when you have 3 or 4 cases for different things all going at the same time.....

 

Anyway, a further twist. I received a letter from a debt colloection company acting for Its4me, stating they would go through the court to recover the cancellation charges on the account. I replied straight away telling them I was not paying as the cancellation was due to their breach of contract in the first place. 4 days later another letter condemning me for not replying to the first letter?????!!!!!!???? They reckon they will make an appointment for a field representative to visit me, which they will charge me for.....................I immediately replied via e-mail advising I had replied, wasn't paying and included a copy of the letter sent.

 

If they want to go to court for their money, bring it on, I am sure they can't win and I will fight it all the way.

Simon:)

[Simon7685]

UPDATE

 

The claim papers for return of the £150 in penalty charges has been lodged with the County Court today, so let's see if they take me a little more seriously now.

 

I will post when I get written confirmation from the court of service.

 

Simon:)

[Simon7685]

UPDATE

 

Letter received from the court 19/11/07. Papers served defendant has until 03 December to respond.

 

Simon:)

[Conniff]

Morning Simon

 

When this is finished, make sure you put an entry in the 'Insurance Review' forum so other will learn of the way the company earns it's beer money.

 

All companies that are paid with a DD seem to have jumped on this penalty charges bandwagon. They obviously see what the banks have done and thought it a good way to earn extra profit.

[Simon7685]

Evening Coniff

 

I will do that, no problem, I am just counting down the days now, I do think they will defend though.

 

Simon:)

[bootie3367]

Mmmm, just wondering if I should start a new thread.

We have recently moved to Spain, but kept the wife's insurance going as we were returning and had not sold the insured car. We did the change of address after we moved (to son's address in Scotland) no problem there.

Sold the car last month and after a period of about 2 weeks informed them we no longer needed the insurance and wanted to cancel so we could get the no claim bonus certificate for our new insurers in Spain.

No problem they said, send back your old cert, we will charge you £30 admin fee plus one months premium then we will send the required cert to your last know UK address. Obviously this will create problems for us with the time scale involved with post to Spain etc.

My wife asked if they could fax the cert to the bank in Spain that is dealing with our insurance. They have turned round and said no they can't because of the Data Protection Act! Can anyone help. I just want to cancel the direct debit and make them whistle for the money, the problem is we really need the no claim bonus cert and I'm sure they will deduct money before sending cert on.

 

Jon

[Trojan1401]

Bootie,

 

One of the mods will move this to a new thread however, in answer to your question, there is no reason why they should not confirm your NCD entitlement to your bank in Spain either by post or fax. In this day & age they could scan & e-mail.

They are hiding behind the DPA as you are the policyholder & YOU (your wife)are giving instruction as to where you want it sent.

Is the bank your broker ? Even if not, they should still supply as you are giving the instruction.

You do need to return the certificate of insurance however give instruction as to where the NCD proof should be sent.

Whoever they are, they are talking B*****ks.

[bootie3367]

Bootie,

 

One of the mods will move this to a new thread however, in answer to your question, there is no reason why they should not confirm your NCD entitlement to your bank in Spain either by post or fax. In this day & age they could scan & e-mail.

They are hiding behind the Data Protection Act as you are the policyholder & YOU (your wife)are giving instruction as to where you want it sent.

Is the bank your broker ? Even if not, they should still supply as you are giving the instruction.

You do need to return the certificate of insurance however give instruction as to where the NCD proof should be sent.

Whoever they are, they are talking B*****ks.

 

 

I thought they were, problem right now is, I am offshore and wife is in Spain dealing with them by phone. I tried to speak with them during a conversation they were having with my wife, but they would not entertain speaking with me at all as I was not the policy holder:evil:

 

Mods, can you move this for me please:)

 

Trojan, I would have clicked the scales to the right but I cannot see them

 

Jon

[Simon7685]

Hi Everyone

 

Well here's a shock!

 

Letter received yesterday from Swintons - Its4me's parent company;

 

We have taken a commersial decision based on expensive legal costs etc, etc, etc. Please find enclosed a cheque for full payment of £231.92.

So after picking myself up off the floor I read it again and detached a lovely sparkling cheque, which included;

£150 penalty charges

£15 Administration Costs

£45 Self Litigation

£21.32 Interest

 

I am absolutely over the moon to see that common sense has prevailed in this case. I appreciate that they are trying to say the benefits of continuing are outweighed by the costs incurred. However, surely if they were 100% sure their case was solid then surely they would have defended????

 

Either way I am taking this as another victory for the common man against big corporate company's who like to bully us out of our money in the belief we will not stand up and be counted.

 

I hope this acts as a spur for anyone thinking about a claim and for those in the process, keep going you CAN win!

Thanks to all those who have supported me, given me advice and encouragement to carry on, it can be daunting at times but is worth it in the end.

 

Simon:)

 

PS. Can any Mod watching ammend my title to say ***WON***

[Conniff]

This should be a congratulatory post, but I am a bit disappointed they took the cop out as I was looking forward to reading about how they defended their stupid rip-off stance on here and probably in the newspapers when you won.

Have a nice Christmas Simon and well done.

[ukaviator]

Well done Simon. . . great result.

[bootie3367]

Spurring me on to defend my wife and the need to pay the charge and 1 months premium to cancel. Starting my own thread.

 

Well done Simon and thanks for the PM

 

Jon

[analyst]

Simon

I may not show a presence, because I have nothing to contribute, but I love reading about your, erm . . shall we say, "antics"

 

Well done, go bash 'em.

 

 

 

 

 

Now, let me see, what DD's have I got running at the mo . . . .