Hi all,

I cancelled my vehicle insurance over the phone and was told that there was nothing more to pay, which surprised me as I thought there would be a cancellation fee, even though it was only 6 weeks until the policy ended.

I then received a letter in PDF format via e-mail stating that I had cancelled my policy with a breakdown of how much I'd paid etc and then it stated that there was a NIL BALANCE. It was signed.

I then received another letter in the same format telling me I had to pay a cancellation fee of over £150! I phoned them and they said that this was an error.

2 months later I received a letter from a "Solicitors" (DCA) saying that I owed this amount plus fees.

I phoned them and explained, and then e-mailed them with the attached PDF stating I owed nothing.

They then replied saying that because the letter stated at the bottom "this is subject to change" then the debt is enforceable but they would speak to the OC and get back to me.

They have got back to me saying that the original letter was an error and that I do owe the amount stated.

Here is a copy of my e-mails to them and the ones they have sent back.

"Dear Ms XXXX

*

Further to your recent email, we have been in contact with the client and this is the response we have received:*

*

'The letter attached to your original email was incorrect, this letter was followed by the attached letter advising of the outstanding balance'*

*

Please see attached document.*

*

You have an outstanding balance, therefore please contact us on 01707 XXXX to discuss payment methods, quoting your reference number:*XXXX

Kind Regards,

*

Insurance Collections Bureau. "

My reply to them.

"Dear sirs,

*

I have spoken to my solicitor about this and showed him the attached.

*

He has advised me that, although the original creditor states it is an error, one cannot just send out a letter stating that there is no debt, and then simply decide that there is. The letter is signed and dated.

*

I therefore consider the matter closed and any further correspondence from you will incur a*charge of £12.50*for my time. However if you would like to discuss this further with my solicitor, Mr. Andrew XXXXXXXX, would you be happy to contact him directly in writing?

*

Regards, "

Their reply:

"Thank you for your recent email.

With regards to this, I advise you or your solicitor to contact the client directly as we have advised you of their response, we will continue with our process until advised otherwise by the client.*

Additionally, we do not have a contract with you, therefore you cannot charge us anything.

Kind Regards,"

My question is, shall I ignore them for now? Or just send them an invoice straight away? I don't believe I owe them anything at all.

Also I am considering sending them a section 40 notice (administration of justice act) but I will of course be sending that by recorded post.

Suggest you send a final response but to the Insurance companies head office, that they confirmed twice that there was nil owed following cancellation and that you are extremely angry about the way you have been treated by them. Advise that you feel they have totally failed to observe requirements under Treating Customers Fairly and obligations under FCA ICOBS. Advise them that unless they cease this harassment, you will have no alternative but to make a complaint to the FOS and send a copy to the FCA for their review.

I should imagine that if you do that, they will write it off.

Thanks.

I was just about to attach a copy of the letter they sent stating NIL balance, which I believe is more than sufficient in backing me up.

This DCA claiming to be solicitors I shall cease contact with then.

I strongly doubt that they have any grounds for further action. Though I will add that my calculations would suggest I did owe more when I cancelled, so I did think that they were wrong but surely going back on saying that I owed nothing and then changing their minds is a bit ridiculous?

The point is that all Insurers have to comply with ICOBS e.g rules about clarity of communication, standards of accounting. If they are sending out letters confirming nil owed after cancellation and then sending debt collection letters, this is a failure of their processes and not up to standards required by the FCA.

Oh one sec

Cancellationedited.pdf

The only acceptable reason to a change from this document, is if you cancelled the Direct Debit payment and therefore the assumption of what had been paid is incorrect. That is why it says subject to change. Otherwise it should be correct.

Thanks, well when I cancelled she said on the phone that there was no more to pay.

Then I received this letter, and then they sent another letter saying that I did owe money.

Solicitor friend says that the letter saying I own NIL with a signature on it is enough.

make me laugh these companies how they think they can one minute say you owe nil, 0, zilch then turn around weeks later and state you owe a £150 cancellation fee, im no professional on these matters but keep all the letters they sent to you i cant see it going far for them

perfectly happy to offer you a service, usually pester you to sign up with them but when you decide its time to call it a day, they shaft you side ways, wash there hands of the whole affair and then let some other pestering harassing company do the dirty work for them