Quinn direct ripoff merchants cancelled insurance...!

[dan.b]

I signed up for Quinn about 3-4 months ago, paid £150 up front deposit and about £80/month for my insurance.
About a month and a half ago one of my payments did not go through (direct debit) as there was insufficient money in the account so I received a call and explained that there should be money in and please retake from the direct debit.

The guy on the phone said that this was fine and I thought nothing more of it until yesterday when I received a letter saying that I am legally obliged to return my insurance certificate as my insurance is cancelled and that they have informed a government department which will then in turn inform my local police station!!!

Obviously confused I called up and enquired and was told that they are legally not allowed to retry taking money from a direct debit that was not paid (try telling this to numerous other companies that seem to be able to do it!!!) and as the insurance was cancelled I couldn't just make a payment yesterday to reinstate it, I would have to get a brand new quote at a 33% higher rate!!!! To add insult to injury they would not refund the £150 down payment or part of it. The girl was very snotty/arrogant and not at all interested in helping. I asked for her name and she wouldn't give it so I asked to speak to the supervisor who gave me fake names for himself and the agent I origionally spoke to.

So I'm now in the situation of possibly having been driving around now for a month without insurance and without any notification of this rather sereous fact. As of today I've had to take public transport as I cannot afford to take out another policy until next monday (payday!)

Any ideas what I can do? (apart from nothing - I have a feeling they have the power to act like this without any sort of comeback Ill bet.)

/Distressed

[cazzaswfc]

Basically, it's sounds like you can't do much, insurance companys can cancel your policy ( and backdate this) for non payment.

A couple of points do interest me though and it may be worth your while following these up.

Direct debit - this seems to have gone 2 ways, your payment rejected, you then recieved a call and told them to take it again, but on another occasion they said they couldn't do this? Was your direct debit instruction cancelled with the bank at any time? if so this may be why they couldn't action again.

The co I work for has a standard procedure, if a payment rejects we inform the customer of this and basically apply for the payment again ( we inform in writing and advise which date we will take the 2nd attempted payment) if this rejects for a second time, n we inform in writing ( but we do not apply a 3rd time - this is really due to timescales - it would normally be near the next months payment by this time) we give a certain period for payment ( by chq or cc) and advise if payment not recieved we will canx on x date.

Now if the dd intruction is cancelled by the pholder ( at any point) we will often again write to advise, we include details of how much is outstanding and give a possible cancellation date.( if payment is still not recived or we have had no contact)

if you were told that your payment would be attempted to be taken again, AND your dd was in place and they haven't attempted to take it then you have grounds for a complaint.

The goverment department they are talking about sounds like the MID ( motor insurance database) which most companys do inform when you buy insurance or the company/you cancel the policy. Police do have access to this though they won't come knocking on your door, it's a tool for them to use to check if you have insurance if you are pulled over etc when driving.( it gives details of every car that does/doesn't have insurance)

33% for a new policy, again this could be correct, when an insurance co cancels your policy you don't normally incur a cancellation fee ( you would need to read t+c's in policy booklet etc to see quinns stance on this) therefore the £150 you have "lost" has actually paid for the cover you have had up until they cancelled it.

I'ts frustrating I know however if you take a policy out in say May at £200, it's unlikely you'd get the same rate in October ( insurance rates go up and down all the time) plus some companys give you introductory rates, if you cancel they may take these away hence much more if this situation happens. Obviously you can shop around.

The final point ( which is really in line with the original point)

No notification? this again is something you have grounds for a complaint however, I would check any correspondance you have had, often letters regarding out standing payment will incur warnings about cancellation. If you have not had any warning in writing ( which would include the road traffic act warning) then again like your missed payment you have grounds to complain, if they are at fault for this then they could offer to reinstate your policy.

A lot of companys will advise you it's illegal to backdate insurance whilst technically this is true there are rules around this - if the Insurance company has made an error then they can backdate.

[Darkangelsdelite]

Nothing really to add to that, most companies follow the same process as cazza has explained so quinn should be no different.
Good sound advice there cazza.

[ScarletPimpernel]

Although Quinn Direct have a generally good reputation here in NI (they are based here), from the experience of friends and acquaintances they do appear to subscribe to a policy of 'the customer is always wrong' when it comes to their own errors or poor admin.

[dan.b]

Thanks for your very informative reply...
I will follow up these issues in writing with their head office and look to see if there is any overall regulatory body for insurance companies and CC them on the complaint.

Although I have now taken out insurance from another company with the downpayment going on my credit card, I still would like to try and get some kind of satisfaction that they cannot get away with this shoddy service.

QUINN!
do you even have a policy or is yours just a fax or photo copy of the insurance cover becuase thats all we had and complian to BI and that worked, the agent then stopped useing them as they had prom as well

[Darkangelsdelite]

Originally Posted by dan.b

Thanks for your very informative reply...
I will follow up these issues in writing with their head office and look to see if there is any overall regulatory body for insurance companies and CC them on the complaint.

Although I have now taken out insurance from another company with the downpayment going on my credit card, I still would like to try and get some kind of satisfaction that they cannot get away with this shoddy service.

First you need to write in the their customer relations dept and give them a chance to deal with your complaint. If you're still not happy the you can go to the F.O.S (which deal with un-resolved complaints with insurance companies) Their address is:

Financial Ombudsman Service Ltd. South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London E14 9SR,

The good thing about them is that their decision is legally binding to the insurer but not to you, so if they find in favour of the insurer and you're still not happy, you can take it to court but if its found in your favour, the insurer cant do a thing about it, they have to abide by the decision.


Hope this helps



DA