Norwich Union

[charlie_d]

Hi everyone

Just wondering if anyone could advise me. We bought home insurance from Norwich Union in 2005 and this was renewed automatically (at a ridiculously high rate) in 2006. I cancelled the policy by phone and by letter when moving house in August last year.

Since then Norwich Union have continued to collect premiums by direct debit (I know stupid stupid stupid for not checking my statements...) and when I realised this we telephoned and complained. They then cancelled the policy over the phone and 2 days later we received a bill for £41.18 for making a mid term cancellation. I wrote to them twice to say they could deduct the mid term payment from the £400 odd they owe us in incorrectly collected payments however no reply but instead a Notice of Debt Collection for the £41.18.

We obviously paid this and finally recieved a reply from Norwich Union saying they want proof of the sale of the property and confirming that a charge is incurred following mid term cancellation.

I have written another letter (but not sent it yet) saying basically that I am very p*ssed off about the debt collection notice when they owe us so much money but was just wondering if anyone knows anymore about where we stand with this and what I should say next?

Thanks!

[mooreda]

you need to complain to Norwich Union Head Office Customer Relations in Norwich my friend - you should get somewhere then but if not complain to the Ombudsman

[benjee]

If you had cancelled by phone then they would have stopped the direct debits automatically to avoid further debits coming out. You would have incurred a cancellation fee of £30.45 and a charge for time on risk upto the cancellation date anyway. This is all stated in your policy documentation.

The renewal would also have been sent to you 3 weeks before the due date, and it only renews automatically when paying by direct debit.

[Beanie1]

Originally Posted by charlie_d

Hi everyone

Just wondering if anyone could advise me. We bought home insurance from Norwich Union in 2005 and this was renewed automatically (at a ridiculously high rate) in 2006. I cancelled the policy by phone and by letter when moving house in August last year.

Since then Norwich Union have continued to collect premiums by direct debit (I know stupid stupid stupid for not checking my statements...) and when I realised this we telephoned and complained. They then cancelled the policy over the phone and 2 days later we received a bill for £41.18 for making a mid term cancellation. I wrote to them twice to say they could deduct the mid term payment from the £400 odd they owe us in incorrectly collected payments however no reply but instead a Notice of Debt Collection for the £41.18.

We obviously paid this and finally recieved a reply from Norwich Union saying they want proof of the sale of the property and confirming that a charge is incurred following mid term cancellation.

I have written another letter (but not sent it yet) saying basically that I am very p*ssed off about the debt collection notice when they owe us so much money but was just wondering if anyone knows anymore about where we stand with this and what I should say next?

Thanks!

Was the Policy with Norwich Union or Norwich Union Direct? If you have the number you called from originally to cancel, it should be relatively easy for them to listen to the call, even without that it should still be possible to trace back to who dealt with it at the time. I probably wouldnt go straight to the chief exec as more than likely could be dealt with at advisor level if you ask them to listen to the original call.

hope this helps

[DazzaC]

Charlie,

Hi. I am the Head of Customer Experience for Norwich Union. I lead the Customer Relations complaints area. Let me get a look at your situation and see what we can do to help. I'm really sorry that you feel frustrated by us. Send me an email at : darren.cornish@norwich-union.co.uk and I'll get straight onto it after the bank holiday (tuesday).
Regards, Darren

[charlie_d]

Thanks for all the replies everyone.

I understand that the policy renews automatically and I have to pay a mid term cancellation fee however I don't think I should have to pay this when I cancelled the policy 9 months ago and they have continued to collect the premiums. The first time I rang I asked them to find the call but they said that they couldn't as I don't know the exact time and date, I am not absolutely certain I sent the cancellation letter on the same day as I rang, it could have been a couple of days later. Strangely also last August I was told I couldn't cancel by phone which is why I had to send a letter. This time they cancelled the policy and passed the debt on to a debt collection place all within 3 weeks after just a phone call!

Think I will send the next letter (to customer relations this time as suggested) and also will email Darren Cornish, will let you know how I get on!

[Nelly75]

Hmm consumer power right enough. Seems NU complaints people are reading threads about their company and offering help to show how genuine and caring they are... What a great company I think I'll buy my insurance from them ...... Yeah right.

Looks like you will get somewhere with NU but everyone else might be as well to remember there are thousands upon thousands out there who can't.

[DazzaC]

Nelly,

Hi. Just wanted to say that anyone who has a problem with Norwich Union General Insurance can whizz across an email to either me or our main mailbox at : Existing customer by Norwich Union: Making a complaint

(we are improving this website page as it isn't as we would want it yet)

The way it works (for the benefit of customers and to tie in with FSA compliance) is that if you haven't already made a formal complaint to the standard office then my team passes your complaint back to them to give an initial decision. If any customer is then unhappy with that they can 'escalate' it to us. Again, if still not happy with our decision you can go to the totally independent Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). The FOS will make a decision and we will support that decision. So, customers should be quite well protected.

We (Norwich Union) know we screw up sometimes (a bit too often for my liking). We are working really hard on improving but have some way to go. I and my team hate to feel that customers are getting a raw deal. To be fair we do have lots of really happy customers, and if something does go wrong we will do our best to listen, and if we can, act.

All the best.

Darren
Head of Customer Experience

[Nelly75]

have to give you 10 out of 10 for effort Dazza C. And not on company time either by the looks of things...

Looks like your dedicated and I'm sure you'll do ok for anyone on here who complains. Also hope NU pay you a bit more than they paid me - and I do hope they don't outsource your department next

[DazzaC]

Nelly,

I am pretty embarrassed about putting my name down as 'DazzaC' - not greatly professional huh

Thanks for your comments. Most complaints just need a bit of 'common' and the ability to have a decent conversation. Being a 'big corporate' we sometimes retreat behind our ivory towers.

Regards,

Darren (Delhi) - only kidding and don't drag me into that debate - it's too complicated for this time of night

Got to go, wife is getting a bit irritated......

[demon_x_slash]

lol You're a n00b, Dazza, wait until you're still on here at 3am 'cos there's just a few more threads you have to read...

Glad to have you on board.

[DazzaC]

thanks. lets see if we can get a few things sorted. Rome wasn't built in a day and all that but might just make a difference for a few.

[charlie_d]

An update, as predicted looks like this will now be sorted!

Thought it was worth posting again though as it would be worth anyone having problems with the normal complaints route contacting Darren Cornish.

Got a phone call yesterday from someone in the CEOs office apologising for what has happened and saying they would refund the 7 payments of £23.48, the £41.18 paid to the debt collection agency and compensation of ~£45. More importantly they will hopefully find a way of preventing unpaid sums of money being passed to debt collection agencies when people have written querying them.

It's difficult not to be cynical about the difference in the way I have been treated since posting on here but hey if it makes my husband forgive me for the letter he recieved from Wescott debt collection since I started disputing this whole thing it will be well worth it!

[Nelly75]

Fair play to Dazza in sorting it out for you.

[Aphrodite18]

This is good to read as it shows that PEOPLE care about getting things right - as they should. Fair play to Darren for holding his hands up re Norwich Union and his connections.. don't know if this was on his own time but either way great to read. As for BUDGET we had some horrendous experiences with them and their premiums are frighteningly high when you shop around. Added to which I never checked their ownership links but I would not be surprised to find that HIGHWAY insurance is owned by them as well as well as sold by them. On a lighter note is there a good story out there about an insurance company that is fair reasonable and helpful - long term!!

[Aphrodite18]

I have just been relaying all this to my partner who was sold insurance with Norwich Union by his bank (Nationwide) and it was honoured once so he took it again and waddya Know they turned him down and left him with a huge mess as a result. He had medical notes etc but still no good.. have taken the liberty of emailing our new found friend Darren directly and will update as to how this goes forward - or not!

[DazzaC]

Hi. Am taking a look at it. Have good weekends all. Darren

[BADGER 69]

I have had good experience with Norwich Union and bad with them. The very good was when I lost my two false front teeth. I claimed on my contents insurance and the payed out no problem.

I'm having problems with subsidece and that is a different story, but I'm not so sure that it is Norwich Union that is at fault or the so called "Project Managers". I'm still fighting to get the job done properly. I'm recruiting the help of Loss Assessors over this one.

[beccus]

Badger - Hi
Have we looked into your policy? Feel free to email me (rebecca.sibley@norwich-union.co.uk) and we can investigate... We also have the Norwich Union sub forum for all NU issues.

Becca