Hi, Not sure if this is in the correct section but....

I bought a cheaper car insurance policy today and phoned my current insurer, Budget, to cancel.

The Budget policy was £579pa I have paid £147 so far since 15 June.

£104 initial payment plus one £43 monthly direct debit.

So that's £147 out of £579 for 2 months.

I expected to pay a cancellation fee,

however this is a ridiculous £75.

However, the new policy is far more than £75 cheaper so I was prepared for that.

However......they want to charge me a total of £217 to cancel, stating I owe £142, as 'the short term amount now applies'????

£217 to cancel their policy:-o

Of course I told them I contest that amount as I've already paid more than two months proportionately.

I also said I'd refer the issue to the financial ombudsman- which I will. £217 + £142 = £315 or 60% of the years policy!!!! - -

- They then automatically started with threats of debt recovery agencies.

I told them I as I contested the 'alleged' debt to do this would be construed as financial harrassment.

Any advice?

I'm considering writing a letter of complaint staing I contest the alleged debt,

have raised it with the financial ombudsman and if they must not employ debt collectors to recover an alleged debt that has not been decided in a court of law.

Does this sound reasonable?

Anyone got any suggested legal jargon for me to include.

PS. Also this was an online policy. They guy on the phone said that the 'smallprint' is available to read online. Now, everytime I have tried to access my documentation online they have been 'unavailable'!!!!! I have printed these pages off. So, I also have the argument that as my documents were unobtainable I could neither read or agree to their unfai charging. Does that sound reasonable/make sense?

I think the problem is before you buy on line insurance you can not proceed without ticking the box where you agree to their T & C's

Makes you wonder what would happen if you had to make a claim! my son needed to cancel his insurance early also after 4 months. they said it is not possible to cancel and get any money back! so he is still having to pay the installments, i will try and find out more info from my son,regards Ro

I am having similar problem with ecarinsurance,but I cancelled on the same day as I took out the police ,which does not come into force until 08/08/2011.This again is a totally internet company which states all sorts of things you can and cannot do in their T&C,s,but when you try to do one of the things to your benefit you are automatically blocked. For instance,I followed their procedure to Cancel the Policy only to be informed that my NCD had not been verified.Why do they need to verify something that is not affecting the outcome as the policy has not even started.I have read on other forums that they do this to let 14 day cooling off period lapse,so they then can impose their default penalties on you i.e.£75 admin fee for none proof of NCD and no refund will be given.I have been in touch with the Ombudsman and given them as much detail as I can about their business techniques and ploys and have been told they will contact this company about my refund.I would suggest that you contact the Ombudsman with details about your case...

Hi all,

Briefly, I had an ongoing dispute with an insurance company.I sent a CCA letter and they did not comply.

They have now now passed the alleged debt on to a collections agency called C.A.R.S who 'entrapped' me by sending an anonymous text stating I must contact a non existent 'Becky Fuller' urgently. At the time I was awaiting some hospital test results so I presumed the txt was concerning this as appointments etc. are confirmed by text these days....

Anyway, C.A.R.S have also not complied with the CCA request. I have had further 'urgent' texts and a letter today as the contents of my letter contained 'insufficient information" and they have 'suspended the account for 7 days to collate further information'. Again they are asking me to phone them.

I have responded simply by email stating that I will not enter into any further communication until they have complied with the legislation contained within s.78 (1) Consumer Credit Act 1974.

and

I understand that under the Consumer Credit Act creditors are unable to enforce an agreement if they fail to comply with a request for a copy of the agreement under these sections of the Act.

Basically, the 12 working days are up next Thursday.

Can they then continue to pursue this alleged debt?

If the matter goes to court, are they likely to prevail considering neither themselves or the insurance company complied with the CCA request?

1st letter.

I do not acknowledge any debt to your company or its clients.

The insurance policy was not renewed by me and therefore the supposed debt is still in dispute. The company has not yet supplied me with the information I requested regarding this matter despite them being legally obligated to do so. I have post office date stamped copies of my previous communications. The company is therefore acting illegally by passing an alleged debt on to a collection agency.

With reference to the above agreement, I require you to supply the following documentation before I will correspond with you further on this matter. 1. You must supply me with a true copy of the alleged agreement you refer to. This is my right under your obligation to supply a copy of the agreement, under the legislation contained within s.78 (1) Consumer Credit Act 1974.

2. A full statement of account.

3. A signed true copy of the deed of assignment of the above referenced agreement that you allege exists.

4. A copy of any other documents referred to in the agreement.

I understand that under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (Sections 77−79), I are entitled to receive a copy of our credit agreement on request.

I understand a copy of our credit agreement should be supplied within 12 working days.

I understand that under the Consumer Credit Act creditors are unable to enforce an agreement if they fail to comply with a request for a copy of the agreement under these sections of the Act.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Response to last letter:

As detailed in my previous communication please comply with the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (Sections 77−79) notably s.78 (1) Consumer Credit Act 1974. I will not enter into any further communication with you unless you fully comply with your obligations under UK law.

I understand that under the Consumer Credit Act creditors are unable to enforce an agreement if they fail to comply with a request for a copy of the agreement under these sections of the Act.

If you have not complied within the legally binding timescale I will consider the matter closed.

Regards

unless you were given advanced credit or 1nts to pay etc

then there will be no CCA.

tell us the story

dx

moved to the ins forum

and these muppets are NOT bailiffs and have no legal powers to demand squat!!

dx

two threads merged

please keep to one thread per issue

for history and past advise records

dx

Basically I had a car insurance policy done online. The certificate was emailed to me but the policy details were available online...except they never were available online. I printed off a few screenshots of the documents unavailable message as I was a bit annoyed by this.

I eventually cancelled the policy which had been automatically renewed. They attempted to charge me 'short term fees' detailed in the documentation 'available online' which it never was!!!

I had a lot of communication with them regarding this asking them to provide me with details of my online log-ins and to prove that the online terms and conditions were available to me. They failed to supply any details. My arguement was basically that I couldn't have agreed to terms and conditions that were not available. As far as I'm concerned I haven't had an adequate response from the insurance company.

Now many months later I'm getting calls, texts and letters from CARS. To be honest it seems a lot of trouble to go to for a relatively small amount of cash.

Ah yes that's the one, I posted earlier about the insurance.

It also seems that others have not been able to access the terms and conditions online too!

ignore them

they have no legal poweres anyhow

just a muppet DCA

dx

So here we go again with CARs.

I amended my letter to CARs slightly asking for copies of the online 'transactionst etc. and gave them 14 days to respond. They did not. They tried phoning loads of times so I formally requested they stopped phoning me and coresponded by letter or email.

Anyway, I have an email today, a month later stating they have asked the insurance company to send me a copy of the policy.

This is clearly not what I asked for.

I originally asked my insurance company for copies of the online transaction and proof the T&Cs stating the short term rates were available online- which they weren't....which is why they could not provide them and passed the alledged debt onto CARs while it was still in dispute. I believe passing on a disputed debt to a collections agency is not legal- is this correct?

Anyway, as CARs did not respond with the information I requested within the timescale are they still allowed to attempt to recover this alleged debt?

its unlawful, however quite common

TBH its time to ignore them now

dx

Hi,

Just got home and guess what. A letter stating...

HOME AGENT VISIT

BECAUSE OF YOUR RELUCTANCE TO DEAL WITH THE OUTSTANDING ACCOUNT YOU HAVE LEFT US NO ALTERNATIVE BUT TO INSTRUCT A DOORSTEP AGENT TO ATTEND YOUR PREMISES.

....TO ASCERTAIN YOUR ABILITY TO PAY OR CONDUCT A PRE-LITIGATION REPORT WITH A VIEW FOR LEGAL ACTION TO COMMENCE.

they have no legal powers to do anything

they are NOT bailiffs

any doorstepper from a DCA is the same

no more powers than the milkman.

99% they never show

if they do

tell them to leave your property

and not return

then call the police

never ever converse at the door/ or phone about your debt

writing only

dx

The latest

"Thank you for your email. I can confirm that an agreement has been posted to you which include the terms and conditions you have agreed to.

Our client Budget, as the Insurer, is bound to the contract by sending out the policy documents including the terms and conditions. As the customer you are bound to the contract by paying the deposit, first instalment or by promising to pay.

If you have signed up to the policy on the internet you have the option to download the contract in addition to the copy which was posted to you.

If you would like to make a subject access request we will require a payment of £10 in line with the Information Commissioner Office.

Your account is on hold for 7 days to allow for your agreement to arrive. "

So, they did not supply any documentation within the 12 working days allocated. Also, prior to this Budget also did not supply me with any documentation whatsoever and I informed them I coinsidered the accounbt was in dispute.

So Budget passed on a disputed debt and failed to supply me with any documentation. CARs have failed to provide any documentation within the time limit and a pursuing a disputed debt.

In the highly unlikely event that either takes me to court for £142, I think they will most likely fail.

As stated earlier, the online documentation re. T&Cs was never available and I have screen printouts of the 'documentation unavailable' messages too.

Hi,

I'm afraid I'm going to resurrect this thread.

Basically , after the FOS investigation the insurance company have admitted fault and offered me a rather paltry amount as a 'goodwill gesture'.

So, this brings me back to CARS. They have attempted to bully me into paying a disputed, illegal and now it seems non existent dept.

I'm thinking of taking them to court for the stress caused by their constant harassment.

What do you guys think?

You would have to send CARS a letter before action, with a copy of the FOS decision, asking CARS to pay compensation for the distress they caused.

I know that you have to warn them first of all of any legal action you want to take, but don't know the legal basis for making such a claim. You will have to quote case law that applies, if this ever went to court. You could end up paying their costs, even if you won.

Hi,

I have sent a letter before action to test the water! So I'll see what the response will be.

Regardless, I'll also be sending a detailed report to the FOS, as now I'm going to issue a complain against CARS.

Will see what happens.

Thanks