I've had a policy from an Internet Broker, which is ultimately underwritten by Aviva. 11.5 months into my policy, I was emailled to prepare for renewal, which had to be done before the policy lapse date. The provided quotation was the same price as last year, so I had no qualms over renewing.

I ticked the price and renewed, now, a week later they have sent a print out of the policy for 'my information', in it the Cumpulsoty excess of £60 reamins, BUT there was an additional entry 'Voluntary Excess' of £50. This means should there be any claim, I have to take a hit of £110 per claim becasue of my seemingly spirited agreement to take this strain.

The trouble is, I hadn't. The price I was offered to renew was on the basus of my existing policy, which had not Voluntary Excess. Have other CAGgers noticed this, and what were the excuses used when challenged?

I suspect the online renewal facility included an automatic default option of a £50 voluntary excess.

This would have been contained in the information provided, before you clicked to renew.

Obviously what you can do if you are not happy with this, is to phone the company concerned and ask to have the vol x/s removed. This will cost you a small additional premium.

The relatively small level of excess and non change in premium should be seen as a positive. I suspect most people have an average x/s value of £200 on their policies and have seen sizeable increases in premium.

Perhaps, but their massaging of the figures (to achieve the same renewal fee) is a deception. It would be based on the SAME criteria that existed, but offer a way to discount it further by opting for the voluntary excess (which had not been taken previously). I'm just banging off a letter to ask why this was not done.

Perhaps, but their massaging of the figures (to achieve the same renewal fee) is a deception. It would be based on the SAME criteria that existed, but offer a way to discount it further by opting for the voluntary excess (which had not been taken previously). I'm just banging off a letter to ask why this was not done.

Likely response will be that there was no massaging of the figures. This was all done by computers and the default setting was a £50 voluntary excess, unless the current amount was higher.

Perhaps they will accept your point and reduce the excess to nil at no extra charge. As you say, this is a voluntary amount already decided by you, so they should not adjust it for the renewal quote.

If an insurer wishes to change the details of your cover upon renewal (which they are allowed to do) then they have to make this very very clear. Any changes in cover, or excess, or premium must be clearly communicated.

It sounds like they have not done this. You should definitely contact them and compain. It may be an honest mistake on their part, but it is still a mistake that you should get corrected. If they offered you renewal at the same premium and did not notify you of any changes then I believe they should honour that premium at your old level of cover / excess.

Let us know how you get on!