Well, it's that time of year again Car insurance renewal came through the post at £414.23. And that's with 5 years NCD (wanders off muttering about money for old rope etc) Had a look at the Meerkat and on You're So... Found a policy for exactly the same cover with the RAC (as broker) for £310. Insured by the same company that wanted over £100 a year more! My current provider had flatly refused to budge on their renewal quote. You really couldn't make it up sometimes (unless you work in insurance it seems).

Hello I have seen on the site some threads regarding the reclaiming of premiums paid to stonebridge insurance for Barclaycard Accident death cover. As some of the threads seem very similar to my own experience with these two companies I was wandering whether there was any updates available. In my case this goes back to May 2002 when I saw a payment on my credit card statement for £8.59 accident death cvr. As I had no knowledge of this I contacted the number next to the payment stonebridge insurance and asked what this was for and was told that all barclaycard holders had this applied in case of death. Recently I have phoned Stonebridge insurance and said I would like to cancel the policy, but was told that I could not do this as I was not the policy holder and that my wife was now the policy holder. I then phoned barclaycard and told them not to pay this anymore. I have now contacted Barclaycard to tell them that i want to make an official complaint and awaiting some forms to fill. Does anyone have any thoughts or experiences this. Thanks

We recently had a flood upstairs and our downstairs room was destroyed. We've had no claims insurance for more than 10 years. We put in a claim to our insurance company who were dragging their heals ( like they do) they came and asses the damage and we thought the claim was going through. Then out of the blue we were sent a letter by a different insurance company stating we had to renew our policy. My husband had insured is twice by accident for home and content insurance!!! He called the other insurance company and told them about the flood - they asked if we had any other insurance company and he said no, but he wasn't really listening to the questions properly either. Straight away they stop all claims and sent it to the investigation team.! The same underwriter looked at both cases and the second insurance company said they've rejected the claim due to fraud and the 1st insurance company who took 4-5 weeks to come to this conclusion And informed me today they also stop the claim for fraud! This was a genuine mistake - getting two policies (why didn't they tell us) and not telling each insurance company about each other. He thought they were the same company!!! We now can't get any compensation for £4000 worth of loss....my house is a mess and I've waited 8 weeks for them to come to this decision. With 4 kids running around it's quite dangerous now Can anyone help or advise on what to do? Will this effect future insurance? Have I got a leg to stand on at all?

Hi all I've just been pulled up by the police who told me, to my surprise I had no insurance on my car. Our insurance was up for renewal in January so we let it automatically renew. £200 fine and 6pts on my license I came home to see what had happened. I have been driving this car for 3 years now. The Insurance company (first Central) told us on chat (can't get hold of them by phone) the details were correct that only my husband was insured. We looked for emails regarding policy documents etc. They said that they got details from confused.com and that's how they based their/our policy. Our previous insurance company always insured the name driver and spouse. I am not sure if my husband has ticked the box which states spouse or not and there is no way to check. Could I have been driving around with my kids in the back of the car without any insurance for over 2 years??? In December last year I had to go on a speed awareness course for doing 34MPH in a 30 zone. My question is wouldn't this issue have flagged up then? I did the speed aware course in December. Our insurance for the car was automatically renewed in January. Please help.

Hi there, Does anyone know if it's worth getting house emergency insurance for a flat? On some websites the annual cost isn't really that bad but is it worth paying for that small property? Thanks.

Retailers have rights too! New small traders' returns guide 22nd February 2018 Retailers have rights too! ParcelHero introduces new small traders' returns guide. At least 200 specialist online stores don't expect to survive the massive growth in returns this year. As UK consumers learn to make the most of new return regulations, ParcelHero has introduced a new guide for sellers, spelling out what their own rights are. A recent survey by leading courier price comparison site ParcelHero revealed at least 200 e-commerce businesses don't expect to survive the massive growth in returns this year. Returns reached 47% of all ParcelHero shipments in the first days of the New Year and traders say that they were often pressured into paying the cost of returns even for unwanted items - or risk losing their all-important 5-star ratings. https://caithness-business.co.uk/article/8110 ........... is it just me or is this a wee bit iffy... buy our insurance and we'll protect you...urmm..wonder whats mor expensive for the trader..refunding returns process or their insurance....

Hi everyone. My father in law has a bumpy ride with One Call Insurance. He decided on the online quote online. Please, tell me if we being overdramamtic over the dociments request? He send them copy of driver licence which they said they can’t recognise and asked him to contac DVLA for the code. They asked for insurance No, is this common thing? He is not the young bloke and stress about all af this as this going on for over two weeks. He thought to cancel it and find easier way to insure his car but I wonder if he will be charge fines as the 14 days cancellation period is gone now. Please, advise what he should do. Thanks Agy

Hello Friends, I had bought a TV insurance from BigWarranties for protection from accidents ( cracked screen ). Unfortunately when I went to make claim, they said that their T&C excludes screen cracking from projectiles. Just wanted to find out if it is common to have this kind of exclusion in TV insurance plans which cover accidents. Thanks

I'm new - just registered. I'd be grateful for your advice. Mid last year I called to renew my car insurance with LV. At the conclusion of the call I was asked to pay the £40 deposit I was told that their payment system was 'broken' and that I would be called back for payment to be taken later. So far so good. My car insurance renewal was completed.... So I assumed. LV never did call me back As LV had all my details (I had been insured with them the previous year) I thought nothing of it. Several months later I received a DVLC letter informing me I was NOT uninsured. I immediately called LV and discovered that they had not taken the payment (not through any failure on my / my bank's part) and consequently I had NOT been insured for the previous 4+ months. LV have offered compensation of £100, considering the potential financial repercussions to me of their administrative failure (had I been involved in an accident) I am wondering if there are any informed views on precedent in such a situation. I am no lawyer while it is the driver's responsibility to ensure his vehicle is insured, one can equally argue that it is reasonable given the telephone conversation (of which I have a recording) to assume that the onus would be on LV to call me back as promised or to assume they would complete the transaction given they had all my existing details. I would be interested to hear what people think. Many thanks. Mav

Hi All, I was unlucky enough to get my first points for speeding, now luckily because I've been on the roads for a very long time and my no claims is bonus is very high. I had to contact my insurance to advise that I had been done for speeding and that my license was now endorsed. I could hear the hands of the insurance person rubbing his hands, but effectively my premium has gone up by £50. so not a huge amount. the question or view is why on earth do insurance have this power of penalising you like this? surely its unfair to do that. I have a few friends and colleagues who are from the continent and all of them said that points have no bearing on your insurance premiums. what is the catalyst is obviously if you have an accident or cause an accident. what give the right to insurance companies in England to rob us blind just because you have been given points, why is it a fairer way of attributing risk? if you are 17/18 and you get your first points, then I agree that its shows risk, but if you loyal customer who's been giving you business for the past 11 straight years.. feels wrong to me that they still blatantly, apply such a draconian approach.

Can insurers take the excess twice for the 1 claim? I have queried a settled claim and the insurers have decided to pay me a 2nd payment but deducted the excess again. I thought they could only take it once.

Hi Again I come to get great information and help. I was with PayPlan Plus for about 5 years, paying £22+ per month for payment protection. My questions are ... 1 ... Can I claim Payment Protection from a Debt Management Company even though it was a free plan 2 ... Can you advise of the address of payplan as i have since emigrated and no longer have anything from them 3 ... If successful They are not allowed to pass this on as a split to the creditors are they Many thanks for your help again. Very much appreciated especially as I no longer reside in the UK. Grumpy Old Me ... lol

Think I might be fighting a losing battle with this one but I'm coming to the end of my contract and checked my phone bill just to see what I pay out. Dont normally check the details I just pay it as I trusted that it was correct Really shocked to see throughout my contract i've been paying insurance which I never agreed to. Contacted Vodafone who said tough as I should have checked the phone bill. They also said I took the insurance out in store. I know I didnt take out this insurance and my query is can anything be done to get a refund? Surely they must have a signed copy of the agreement. Then secondly didnt like the attitude of saying if you dont check your bill then tough. What they're saying they can charge what they want and if you dont notice it then tough Any advice would be appreciated Thanks

Morning, on friday night my wife was waiting at the traffic lights on red with another car behind her also waiting. With any notice a car driven by gentleman aged 85 hit the car behind my wife and that car hit our car. it has minor damaged to the drivers rear bumper and rear light as well. The police attended and confirmed nobody was drunk and the old chap had a medical issue when driving so no action will be taken. I have contacted my car insurance have have appointed Kinderson to mange the claim. They have confirmed the other party in fully insured and i do not have to pay anything even the excess. They have arrange a hire car and collection of my car for repairs. However today a company called Copart salvage have called saying they are collecting the car ? but according to the Kinderton portal they repairs will be completed by KC auto in Winsford. The amount of damaged is very little and very concerned my car is going to salvage firm. I have taken lots of photos confirm the condition inside and outside but sill worried when the car is taken as i still have outstanding finance on the car. Can they sell the car without my consent

Hello, I’m desperately seeking help regard a claim with my travel insurance. Here is my situation: - Policy: Economy Light (attached) - Insure and Go is the insurance company - Incident while abroad: Money and travel documents stolen from inside our hotel room in Lyon, France, on the 1st night of the trip (22nd December 2017). Unfortunately they were not in the hotel safe. - Travel plans: The trip was originally organized in 2 parts: o 1 week in France: starting in Lyon (where the theft happened) and going to the south of France (Nice, Marseille and Perpignan) o 1 week in Morocco: Departure from Perpignan to Marrakesh and flying from Marrakesh back to London Luton. - Consequences of the incident: Cancellation of hotels in south of France (as we had to go to Paris instead in order to sort new passports) and complete cancellation of the Morocco trip as we couldn’t get passports in time. Extra accommodation and tickets to get home to the UK from Paris (1 week earlier as we missed the holidays in Morocco). - Claims I made: o Section I3: Passport and Travel documents: Seeking for payment to replace the documents (£100 each) o Section I2 - Personal money: Seeking for payment of the U$450 stolen o Section J - Cancelling and cutting short your holiday: Seeking for compensation of having cut my trip short because of the passports being stolen - Response from the Insurance: o Section I3: Passport and Travel documents: They agreed to pay but under this section it’s saying it includes all the extra expenses incurred in order to replace the passports (£100 doesn’t even cover the costs of the new passports, let alone all the extra expenses!!) o Section I2 - Personal money: They are saying there is an exclusion for this: (4. Cash or passports that you do not carry with you on your person (unless they are held in a locked safety deposit box).)"- so I guess I won’t be able to get this money back. o Section J - Cancelling and cutting short your holiday: They are saying that passports being stolen is not in policy as a reason to cut the trip short (which for me is more than absurd as without a passport you cannot travel!). But I don’t see it in the exclusions. They are saying that only these reasons are covered: "Travel and accommodation expenses that you have paid or have agreed to pay under a contract and which you cannot get back, including any local prepaid excursions, tours or activities, if it is necessary and you cannot avoid cancelling or cutting short your trip; and reasonable extra travel costs if it is necessary and you cannot avoid cutting short your trip." I really feel that passports being stolen affect the trip and in my case made me miss flights and my trip and accommodation in Morocco. - Costs incurred: Amongst hotels we missed, extra accommodation in Paris, flights missed and extra ticket to get back to the UK we spent over 2,000 euros! Is there anything I can do to get any compensation under Section J (or any other section that apply better to my situation)??? I’m considering to raise this with the Travel Ombudsman, but not sure how to approach. Please help.. this has ruined my Christmas and my 2 weeks holidays and I’m trying to get a sensible response from the Insurance, but so far I only got “rejections” of my claims. I would greatly appreciate any help or suggestions you can give me! Travel Insurance Policy.pdf

Hi all I hope you all had a good xmas and wish you all a happy new year. I had my claim for motor insurance voided because the insurers said I hadn't told them I had a driving conviction (sp30), I know for a fact that on my initial online application and in subsequent phone calls, I did declare my speeding conviction. I need to be able to get copies of all and any audio or recorded conversation between myself and the insurers, what us the best process to achieve this, and are there fees to pay? Many thanks Moonlandings

I have not placed this thread in Insurance, because it is more about experience of using online sites to buy Insurance. Have woken up early and not got back to sleep (annoying) i decided to sort out some Home Insurance. After going through various different sites, Axa, Aviva, Allianz, L&G, Tesco, Halifax, I decided to visit Barclays. Although Barclays use Aviva, the experience of using their site was so much better than all of the companies mentioned including Aviva. The information was so much clearer and the functionality of the site was light years ahead. And Barclays don't rip you off with a high interest for monthly payments and don't have the admin fees that others charge. I saved over £100 a year compared to the other companies and for much better cover. And i can now access my Barclays Insurance details online and if I want to, I can amend the cover, to include extras that I opted out of at the start. I have no connection to Barclays ( don't Bank or work for them) but I am impressed by their online sites. I have always Banked with one of their competitors, but if their Internet provision is as good as the Insurance, I might look at swapping. Ps. I don't use comparison sites, as they are not a very good way of buying Insurances and by using them, you are selling all of your data to them. They will sell your data to any company that has a contract with the comparison site, even if they never offered a quote for your Insurance details.

I live in an area of NE London where the theft of new Mercs and BMWs is an every day occurrence. The police now quite literally decide not to give a toss. They do not even show up to view CCTV imagery. Father in law had his stolen, sister-in-law's father-in-law also had his attempted to be stolen twice in 2 weeks and today I learned the owner of a small lettings business had his stolen and stripped down whilst the thieves attempted to find a tracker (causing £12,000 worth of damage). The police have now stated they don't have the time or resources to come down, perform forensics or investigate. For this last one, a crime reference number was given on the phone and the victim was asked not to bother coming in and just deal with the insurance company.. It's a f***ing pandemic and the s**tty security behind £50k vehicles has got to be one of the biggest scandals today. Yet, idiots refuse to accept the reality and continue to buy this garbage. I drive a 10 year old car but am paying a premium for living in a "high risk area". Last year, my insurance was £950, this year £1,200 despite no changes on my part. 1.5 miles down the road I can get insurance for £800. Out of all the thefts over the last year, I seriously doubt 10 year old cars were targeted. I seriously doubt Ford Focus' and Vauxhall Corsas' were on the thieves' list. Yet we all suffer... My question is WHY? Why do I have to suffer for the expensive choices about 1% of the local population make? Why not increase the insurance premiums for those who decide to buy £50k cars with mediocre levels of security? The answer is of course that no one would then buy those vehicles, and the insurance companies wouldn't have any premium customers and the motor trade itself would suffer because the ****ty cars they sell would not be insurable. So what can someone like me do about this short of moving out of the area? Where can we start in order to have this car insurance company practice of spreading the burden on to the entire local population looked at? Any ideas? Thanks

Hi I have had 3 x late payment fees of £25 each on my car insurance with RAC which i pay monthly and credit is provided by BISL. I would like to reclaim these can someone point me to a template letter suitable to start the ball rolling ?

I bought a house 10 months ago and also the relevant buildings/ contents insurance. On the back of the house is a conservatory which I assume to be about 8 years old. At first the conservatory was fine no problems at all. However with the recent bad weather the roof has leaked quite severely. I paid to get this repaired and now it seems fine. I have now noticed really bad damp on one of the external walls and also noticed that the floor around by it seems to be wet. Can I claim on house insurance for this type of issue? The insurance company are aware there is a conservatory attached to the house. I do not know who built the conservatory as we were given no details about it when we moved in.

Hi there I have a question relating to a loan that I took in 2004 through Zenith Windows to install double glazing. But Zenith windows went into administration in 2010 I believe. Loan amount 5K. It is now paid off. How do I go about getting the PPI back from them and the unfair charges. Can anyone help please? Many thanks and much appreciated.

Hi All, Back in January 2015 my wife bought a car from CARSHOP, she took out their finance with Santander Consumer. While in the office with the Finance manager of Carshop she filled in all the forms and handed them to him. He entered them onto his system to get approval. After a little while he said that the finance company had come back and that it would only be approved if GAP and a Warranty was taken out, in his words 'to protect them'. Now this warranty and GAP insurance totals £1100 and went onto the finance. After reading about 'Forced Warranty' it seems that it is a problem in the USA but I can only find one incident, with Carshop, on the internet. A few questions, is this legal, can we reclaim for miss-selling and how. Many Thanks

The background: My son, in his first years insurance, had an accident (his fault) in May this year. His car was a write off and he was paid out. The broker (My Policy) called him (before the actual payout) and told him that he needed to get a new car within 21 days or the policy will be cancelled. I have checked this with the actual insurers T&C's - no mention of 21 days but does say it will be cancelled if not transferred to another vehicle. He said that was not in a position to get a new vehicle so they advised to cancel the policy. Fast forward to yesterday. He receives a 'demand' from the Insurance Collection Bureau for £90. He emailed My Policy to find out what this was about and they replied £40 cancellation fee + the ICB admin fee. The thing is they replied to his email within the hour and said they had listened to the recording of the call and he was made aware of the £40 charge - we have asked for a copy of this recording. Aside from this My Policy have never made any request for the funds, the last communication he had with them was the the above phone call. We have also asked for copies of all the requests for payment they have made. Anyone come across this scenario before.

has anyone - who is a part time car trader (sales only) had the car policy cancelled by any insurance company because they didn't buy or sell a car in a 3 month window?

I had very bad experience with FOS at the adjudicator level AND ombudsman level: the adjudicator appeared to have limited legal knowledge related to my complaint and sometimes even came across short of common sense. The ombudsman made her decision on her obviously incorrect assumption which was absolutely false. When I pointed it out a senior level for review, FOS wrote to me saying her mistake was unimportant and thus upheld her decision. I am now thinking to escalate my complaint to the highest level. However, FOS services seemed unacceptable given that they should work for facts and justice. . Now I start to understand why banks these days are so keen to ask you to approach FOS once disputes arisen. The services I have received from FOS was simply an insult to its name. I will tell you how one of the biggest home insurance providers have dealt with me. My lease-hold flat has been insured with it for many years. In the policy renewal documents I received in 2012, 2011, and 2010, the covering letter states 'Please note, any changes to the policy wording are detailed overleaf'. You turn the page around and It is a nearly blank page overleaf without any DETAILED changes, except the wording quoted as below: The above quoted identical wording was certainly from the same template, appearing in all the renewal documents in 2010,2011,and 2012. It is a common sense and an industrial practice that banks would have to highlight the important product information in their correspondence. Plus, the covering letter itself clearly states that any changes will be detailed overleaf, where no detailed information was given. As no document entitled 'Your Home policy document changes' was enclosed with other renewal documents or received separately in 2010,2011, and 2012, I was made genuinely to believe that my policy terms remain unchanged in 2010, 2011, and 2012. In 2015, I had a claim for lease related dispute, which the insurer refused. The insurer said that the cover to lease disputes had been removed since may 2010 according to the renewal documents it sent to me in May 2010. Its allegation was totally untrue. Given that my renewal documents was made under the same template in three years, I believe the template was very likely used to produce some of your renewal documents too. Now, can you please check if the quoted wording appears in your insurance renewal document for year 2010, 2011, and 2012? If so, can you please let me know whether you have received the document ' Your Home policy document changes' attached to your renewal documents? Please help me fight for consumer rights!