Tesco Insurance (aka Direct Line) tried to charge me £75 cancellation fee + 1 month's premium when I moved to Northern Ireland, where they do not provide cover.
My position was that they terminated the contract by being unable to provide cover. Had this failed I intended to go down the unlawful penalty charge route. Their position was not to respond to letters, and then to start
debt collection action. After a particularly shrill and ignorant member of their staff phoned me and demanded that I call them back to pay, and we had a discussion about the OFT Guidelines on
debt collection (0870 numbers, tut tut), they immediately passed it to Moorcroft (
DCA).
They sent the usual threats, and I responded with a CCA request which they have defaulted on. Tesco sent me two different copies of their standard agreement, with the dates they were printed on them, and the wrong address (neither the one where I was originally insured or my new one). These don't meet the CCA requirements, so thanks to the incompetence of both Moorcroft and Tesco, I now need no longer worry as the alleged debt is now unenforceable.