cooling off period and charge

[winny14]

hi
i took out car insurance with swinton on friday and do not want to go ahead with it, can they charge me £42.41 for cancelling even though it is within the 14 day cooling off period.?

[yourbank]

The answer to that should be 100% NO but when did you agree to the policy? Have you received any paperwork for the insurance?

[winny14]

thanks for replying yourbank.
i applied for the policy onlne on friday and received the documnets monday i the post, in the terms and conditions it says the following

Your right to cancel your insurance.
You have a right to cancel any insurance you buy through us and to recover any payment made (except as stated below). You can do this by giving notice to your branch (whose address is shown on the covering letter) within 14 days of your receipt of the policy document.
If you do exercise this right to cancel your insurance, you will be charged by the insurer for the service provided up to the point of cancellation. We will also make a cancellation charge of £45 except as shown in the service charges table overleaf. You will not be entitled to a refund of the service charge or credit card handling charge made by us for arranging your insurance.
Further, if you exercise this right to cancel your motor insurance, any Drivers Legal Protection you hold will also be cancelled. Similarly, if you exercise this right to cancel your home insurance, any Household Legal Protection you hold will also be cancelled. In both these cases, you will recover any payment made in respect of these products provided the cancellation right is exercised within the 14 day period mentioned above.
If you do not exercise this right to cancel, any remaining cancellation rights will be as set out in the policy document. If your insurance is a travel insurance lasting less than one month, you do not have a right to cancel it except in accordance with any terms shown in the policy document.
Cancellations£45.00Not charged on the cancellation of the following policies: any travel policy, Driver's Legal Protection, Household Legal Protection, Home Emergency, Breakdown, Accidental Death Benefit

i'm confused and i did truly beleive you had a 14 day cooling off period where no charge would be levied if you cancelled within this time.
i paid a deposit on line of £34.00.
i rand them to cancel yesterday and they then informed me of the charge.
i told them i was looking into my rights and would get back to them.
how is the best way for me to cancel this policy and what should i be saying to them?

[yourbank]

That is my understanding as well. It may be worth asking consumer direct for a response because the contract is unfair. I hope someone else more knowledgeable than me will confirm this.

[winny14]

who is consumer direct? are they like trading standards?
i hope someone does come along and help i want to get this policy cancelled quick so they dont find a way of upping the charges

[yourbank]

Consumer Direct

[winny14]

just an update on the above
i rang FOS to complain to complain and the the young man said he would raise the complaint but he didnt sound very knowledgable, he said that if cancellation fee is in the terms & conditions then i might have to pay.
i asked him about unfair trading practices pointing out that consumer protection is in place to stop people making up there own contracts
"erm" was his reply.
at this point the telephone converasation was intercepted by someone 'more experienced' who informed me the young man was in training.
i asked him the same questions and he said they where not there to give that kind of advice and when i asked him who would enforce consumer trading practice.law etc he gave the same answer.
all rather odd and evasive i thought, not helpful at all.
anyway my complaint was raised and this morning i have received a letter from swinton saying they believe the charges are correct "however they have refunded me the fee and please find enclosed cheque"

so i'm happy with the result and overall it was worth reporting to FOS thanks yourbank for your input

[yourbank]

Glad it all worked out.