deposit and minimum insurance

[ABismalBEY]

hello.
about 6 months ago i got public liability insurance for a ltd company.

i closed the business as a really good job offer came up but when it came to cancelling the insurance i was told that it was a deposit and minimum policy and that this could not be cancelled.

fair enough if this is the case but i always thought that if there was no surrender or cash in values of insurance premiums, that this had to be clearly stated when buying the policy, which it wasn't , just a small "this is a deposit and minimum policy" hidden somewhere between 6 pages of policy details.

i and probably 95 % of others are unlikely to know what such a ploicy is and feel that this should have been clearly stated by the broker at the time of the quote and wondered if there was a case for claiming against a missold policy.

However my main gripe is the fact that the premium was paid to the broker via a premium finance company who since i cancelled the direct debit, have charged me 95.00 cancellation fee and costs for their collectors are 100.oo on top of 520.00 for a policy used for only 3 months for a business which no longer exists.

i would be grateful for any advice on both the selling of the policy and the charges from the finance company.

Also although i signed the finance agreement , am i liable for business insurance bedts as a director now the company has been closed.

thankyou.

[Loula]

Hi,

I can only answer the insurance part of your query.

I am afriad that most commercial policies do carry a minimum premium and this is payable for the first year regardless of whether the intention is for the policy to run for 12 months or less.

The broker is at fault to not telling you this. The code of practice clearly states that you have to tell people/companies what is NOT covered, terms and conditions of cover and penalties. They do not have to tell you everything which is covered.

I know this probably doesn't help, but you may have some recourse against the brokers if you still have the paper work and they failed to notify you of this clause/restriction.

Good luck..any more queries just shout!

LOULA

[ABismalBEY]

loula

after looking through the code of practice you mentioned i sent a strongley worded letter to the brokers with regards to the code of practice and today received a response stating that the insurance company had now returned all premiums to the finance company and i owe nothing and court proceeding will no longer commence.

i can stop stressing now, thankyou for your help, and on another note. abbey repaid me over 300 in fees no questions asked , been a pretty good month all in all.

[Loula]

I am really pleased for you.

Glad I could be of assistance to you.

Keep smiling

LOULA