Hi

Had contents insurance through quoteline last year which expired 06/02/09.

Received following email from them on 05/02/09

Your policy is due to expire on 6/2/09. I have posted your renewal

letter to you and it will be with you shortly. I am pleased to be

offering you an incredibly competitive premium again this year. The

offer I have posted will be with either your present insurer or possibly

an alternative insurer (details will be enclosed).

If you currently pay your premium by direct debit (arranged by Finsure

Finance) and you are happy with your present insurers renewal offer then

you do not need to do anything! Unless we hear from you at least 3 days

prior to the renewal date we will renew your policy and the direct debit

will continue. In this event, Finsure Finance will write to you directly

with a new schedule of payments. If you currently pay your premium by

direct debit and we have found you an alternative renewal quotation and

you wish to accept this offer then you need to call us to arrange.

Don’t worry we wont ask you for a deposit.

If you didn’t pay by direct debit last year but wish to take us up on

our offer of NO deposit and 12 monthly payments then please give us a

call for full details.

However if you wish to opt for any of our alternative payment methods

then please read the payment options slip enclosed in the forthcoming

letter.

If you do renew your policy with us you will receive the unique

Quoteline Direct Discount Book with our compliments. Giving you

discounts such as half price MOT, 15% off holidays and exclusive

discounts at Dixons, Currys and Virgin to name just a few.

If you wish to discuss your renewal please don’t hesitate in giving

me a call I may also be able to reduce your renewal premium still

further.

Yours Sincerely

Thing is, when we did get the quote, it was too high so we cancelled it within 14 days.

Now today we get a letter from Elite collections threatening court proceedings if we don't pay £62.14!

Any advice?

Did you give the cancellation in writing and do you have proof it was received?

If so simply write to Elite statin that there is no contract to collect anything from, and copy the insurer in as a complaint. If it is not resolved, go to the FOS.

Did you cancel the policy at least 3 days before the renewal date? If not, then you might have inadvertantly used part of the new year's cover and they would charge you for that.

Did you cancel the policy at least 3 days before the renewal date? If not, then you might have inadvertantly used part of the new year's cover and they would charge you for that.

No because I didn't have my renewal price until the same day the insurance was due for renewal so we rang them to say we weren't happy with the price so cancelled by phone and also by their cancellation notice from within the renewal pack.

I don't have proof that it was received but, even if I did have at the time, I would have discarded it by now

I will write again today & make sure it goes recorded!

I really think this is an underhand way of getting more money out of customers so would advise caution when dealing with Quoteline.

Quoteline direct? Hmmph.

You could do a DPA request for recordings of their telephone conversations, but I think the best thing is to put a complaint in writing. If they mess about, you cn go to the FOS.

Quoteline is another insurer that has targets galore, bonuses and commission (one even for turning up to work) and a very high staff turnover. Should show how you will be treated by them.

Copy of email sent to DCA & Quoteline today:

Hi

I have received notice that you are preparing a claim via some county court for the sum of £62.14 which you allege is owed to Quoteline Direct.

The policy which it is claimed this is for was cancelled both verbally & in writing within the 14 day cancellation period after we had received our renewal price.

The policy was due for renewal on 07/02/09 but, as we had not received our renewal documents as confirmed by email received from Quoteline on 05/02/09, we could not possibly have cancelled any sooner.

If you continue to issue court proceedings, we will defend them in full & would anticipate that any judge, upon being furnished with the full information, would agree that there is no case to answer.

If we have to defend such a case, we will also ask the judge to order that the claimant meet our costs & be reprimanded for bringing such a spurious case to court in the first place. A complaint regarding the behaviour of Quoteline Direct would then be made to the FSA.

I trust that you will confirm in writing that you have re-considered such action & admit that it had been brought in error.

Regards

Looking forward to hearing from them

mkb - your problem is simple to solve in theory, although you will need a bit of a fight because well you always do with insurance companies.

The laws that control Full Cycle insurance products (ones that auto-renew) is VERY strict about giving you ample time to cancel:

:DThe renewal notice has to arrive 21 days before the renewal date.

:DOnce received you have the normal 14-day cooling off period in which if you cancelled you would only have to pay the pro-rata insurance fee.

Now the second point is just there for information, because you are undeniably in the first point.

Contact your insurer by telephone, and read them the following word for word after they have done their security checks etc (jump through loopholes for them at this stage so they cannot later claim you did not identify yourself properly etc). If you can record the conversation then do so, but IMMEDIATELY AS THE FIRST THING YOU SAY notify them that you are recording the conversation.

Once you have done this read out the following word for word:

"Good morning/afternoon/evening.

I am contacting you to make an official complaint. Your company has auto-renewed my insurance policy [state policy number of last year] that expired on 6/2/2009, without giving me the required 21-day notice period. By renewing this insurance you have acted against the law.

Please ensure that any renewal policy is not in force, and that I am not going to be penalised in any way for your illegal action. Please also ensure that any current action being taken against me is cancelled. I refer specifically to a claim for £62.14 being made against me.

Please contact me in writing within 14 days stating that you have understood the nature of my complaint, and detailing what actions you are taking to resolve this complaint.

Do you understand this?"

Once you have gotten confirmation then thank them and hang up. If they do not confirm then read out the statement again in full.

You do not need to speak to a manager because you have made a complaint it has to go directly to the complaint commissioner. A complaint can be received verbally by telephone, and by law the company has to respond within 14 days of receipt of the complaint.

The law is 100% on your side here. I personally would not deal with the debt collection agency at all - they are uncaring muppets, and you do not need to waste your life on them. The further the debt collection agency take this the more your insurer has to clear up.

Sound advice, except I would put it in writing. Phone calls are not always recorded. A letter sent recorded delivery however is good proof for the FOS.

And staff probably either do not understand, don't care or are disinclined to help if doing so will affect their targets.

Well, I got this response today!

http://i1010.photobucket.com/albums/af230/mandkb/QuotelineDirectAug4th.jpg

My response:

Dear Sir/Madam

I am in receipt of your letter dated 03/08/09 and have noted its contents.

There would however appear to be some confusion on your part regarding this entire situation.

Firstly, you say that you only got the email from Elite on 31/07/09 but the email you refer to was also emailed to [email protected]

Secondly, you would appear to have not read my letter correctly since I complained that I had only had the renewal price posted to me on 05/02/09, therefore could not have taken any action any sooner. This was in despite of the fact that the policy was due to re-commence on 07/02/09.

According to the FSA regulations to which you apparently adhere, I should have been sent this information at least 21 days prior to the expiry of my previous policy but you clearly failed to do this therefore I will not be paying the £xxxx you ask for in your letter.

I will not be supplying proof of the purchase of an alternative policy since it is my right to choose whether to be insured or not.

I trust you will now close this dispute with no further action. Should this not be the case and you continue to request money, I will have no hesitation in submitting a complaint to the FSA.

I look forward to the response from your company within 14 days.

Yours faithfully

What do you think?

I'd just go straight to the FOS anyway, You've had a response off them and they are not shifting.

Sent complaint off to FOS & their reply:

http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/5393/fosrecarinsurance.jpg

Letter from MMA today:

http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/7457/mmarecarinsurance.jpg

It feels like we're just being passed from pillar to post & that nobody will simply admit that they were wrong & that they hadn't followed the correct procedure for renewal.

Any further advise would be helpful.

Thanks