Hi

I took out a new car policy and paid in full. I was asked to send proof of my no claims bonus which I did. Imagine my shock when I went to pay for items in the supermarket to be told I was overdrawn. I couldn't understand it as there was more than enough in my account.

When looking at my account I find the the insurance company have taken approx £5000 making me overdrawn. Apparently the no claims proof I sent was not accepted. I was not told that is was not accepted and I was not told money was going to be taken. As you can imagine that is a large amount of money to take without my knowledge. Is this legal? I now also have overdrawn fees. I have never been overdrawn in my life and find this all very upsetting.

Any advice would be appreciated

Speak to your bank and ask them to reject the payment, as you never authorised this. The bank should be able to reverse the entry on the account. If you run into a problem with the bank staff, ask to speak to a manager. Explain the situation to them, that you were not given notice of the debit by the Insurance company concerned and had they done so, you would have stopped it.

Taken from the FSA site.

What should I do about a payment from my account that I didn’t authorise?

Your bank must refund an unauthorised transaction. Money can only be taken from your account if you have authorised the transaction or your bank can prove you were at fault.

Contact your bank immediately if you notice a payment out of your account that you did not authorise. If you are sure that you did not authorise the payment you can claim a refund.

However, your bank does not have to refund you if you do not tell it about the payment until 13 months or more after the date it left your account.

Once arranged, speak to the Insurer and make a formal complaint. Follow this up in writing to them.