car insurance cancellation

[renegade1972]

hi,my car insurance was due for renewal on the 12th of december,i received a letter from the insurance company stating that if i didnt cancel then the policy would continue,i shopped around found a cheaper policy,so i then wrote a letter to the old insurance company asking them to cancel my policy,i set up my new policy and all was well until today when i received a text msg from the old company thanking me for staying with them,i was a bit confused so i called them up explained the situation,they called me back and explained that they could not find my letter anywhere in the office and as a gesture of goodwill the normal cancellation charge of £45 would be halfed to £22.50 and would i make a payment to them

obviously i am not intending paying them a bean as i cancelled my policy

could some kind soul please advise me on my rights with regards to this matter

thankyou

[raydetinu]

Stick to your guns, dont pay, but I would always phone insurance co if thinking of changing you would be surprisd how quickly they knock a few quid off to keep you.

[flyingdoc]

Do you have copy of your original letter?

[renegade1972]

hi,firstly i did get a renewal quote from them but found a better value quote fully comp so opted for that instead

secondly i do have a copy of my original letter ,maybe i should send that recorded delivery to them,anyway i am definetly not taking up there goodwill offer of £22.50 cancellation(half),,also when i called there office the guy on the phone told me that from time to time mail does go missing,

[ROBOKOP]

Do you pay on direct debit? Some brokers and insurers continue cover if they fail to hear from you. I appreciate you sent a letter, did you also call them before the renewal date and get them to leave a note on the file saying that you verbally called and asked them not to renew?

 

If the cover with the new company started (and I mean without even a minutes gap) before or at the same time as the cover with the old company expired then the old company cannot charge any fee as their has been no cover in force.

 

The likelyhood is that they wont chase you for £22.50 anyway.

 

Good luck

 

ROBOKOP

[renegade1972]

hi,well the new cover started immediately the old one finished,so theres been no cover in force from the previous insurance company,also i just a received a letter yesterday from the old company demanding the sum of £37.44 owed for the period of cover i have already had,its ludricous,gone was the original goodwill gesture of £22.50,anyway i wont be paying them a bean,i will send them a copy of my original letter and a copy of my new insurance certificate and leave it at that

have a great crimbo:-D

[Planner]

I thought you where entitled to a '14 day cooling off' period for, amongst others, insurance products? If your insurance wasnt renewed until the 12th December, your cooling off period wouldnt run out to the 25th December at the earliest. This should mean that its immaterial whether they recieved your letter or not as the phone call within the cooling off period should have sufficed to cancel the product.

[ROBOKOP]

I thought you where entitled to a '14 day cooling off' period for, amongst others, insurance products? If your insurance wasnt renewed until the 12th December, your cooling off period wouldnt run out to the 25th December at the earliest. This should mean that its immaterial whether they recieved your letter or not as the phone call within the cooling off period should have sufficed to cancel the product.

 

 

The 14 day cooling off period applies when a policy has been misold. (For example you get your policy through and realise the excess is different from what you are told). In this instance it has not been misold and therfore if the old company had been on cover for even a minute they could charge. As they have not they legally cannot charge. Many companies adhere to the 14 day rule even if they haven't misold as they cant be bothered to worry about £30.00, Which unfortunatly give the impression to the general public that they MUST give a full refund within 14 days, which is not correct.

[Planner]

The 14 day cooling off period applies when a policy has been misold. (For example you get your policy through and realise the excess is different from what you are told). In this instance it has not been misold and therfore if the old company had been on cover for even a minute they could charge. As they have not they legally cannot charge. Many companies adhere to the 14 day rule even if they haven't misold as they cant be bothered to worry about £30.00, Which unfortunatly give the impression to the general public that they MUST give a full refund within 14 days, which is not correct.

 

Unfortunatley I think you have gotten the wrong end of the stick here. The 14 day 'cooling off' period applies to the majority of financial products, including motor insurance. There is no requirement for miss selling (like the example you quote) in order for a consumer to cancel the product in that 14 day period without financial penalty. The consumer has a statutory right to cancel a motor insurance product within 14 days without giving a reason.

 

Indeed, your example woluld give the consumer very limited rights if a financial product was miss-sold (with any comeback only available in first 14 days!).

[buzby]

Technically, you cannot have two insurance policies covering the same risk - if you do, the benefit is halved (the risk being 'shared' by both companies carrying the risk).

 

That said, it is not uncommon for certain firms and brokers to try this trick, especially if they have a DD or CC/DD number from you. In your situation I would send them a copy of your NEW policy, proving you have switched insurers, and remind them you did not provide them with the authority to continue any policy pas its stated expiry date.

 

There should be no requirement to send it by Recorded Delivery, just refer to your earlier letter of cancellation when sending the new policy cover note or schedule.

[renegade1972]

i have spoken to the old insurance company today and explained to them that i had a new policy from the minute thie old one expired and that technically i have had no cover from them

basically they do not agree with me,they said that because i did not ring them or personally walk into there office and verbally cancel the old policy they automatically renewed it on the 12th and when i called them on the 15th after receiving the text msg from them i had already had 3 days cover hence the sum they now want me to pay them,i told them this is ludricous and that i will not be paying them a penny as i sent them a letter to cancel the policy

they said fine we will send you a couple of letters asking for the money,if you fail to pay then we will pass it over to a collection agency

what to do ????????????????

[buzby]

Ask your insurance compan y to explain why - in the absence of your express agreement - they renewed the policy which had a stipulated termination date. My insurers want my renewal fee paid 2 days in advance of termination, otherwise the policy will laps - so they are bullying you.

 

Say that as your policy terminated on xx/xx/08, and you did not request any extension. If they believe you did ask them to provide evidence of this. Also add that any referral to a DCA whilst this matter is in dispute will be referred to the FSA.

[renegade1972]

hi,just a quick reply to let people know that after sending a copy of my new certificate and a copy of the original letter and a forwarding letter to swinton i today 15th jan received the following letter

 

were writing to you to inform you that your policy has now been cancelled.however the sum of £37.44 owed for the period of cover you have already received remains outstnding.

consequently your file of papers has now been passed to debt collection agents who will pursue you for the outstanding amount together with any costs incurred subject to a minium £25 administration charge.

 

if you prefer to settle the above amount with us to avoid the additional charge you must do so immediately

yours sincerely

e**a h**e

branch manager

 

 

after reading this i was fuming to say the least so i called the branch but couldnt speak to the person who signed the letter but did speak to another chap,he went on and on about the cover i had received etc etc,,,i then started to ask him for evidence that i asked for the policy to be renewed,i also told them what other people on this thread had told me to say/do and to my amazement they have now backed down completely and have written off the supposed money i owe them

this site is an amazing information portal for joe public,long may it continue

so a big thankyou to all the people who have taken time out to give me all the necessary information to take on a big corporation who basically were trying to bully me into paying them money that was not owed in the first place

happy new year to you all

[buzby]

Glad it worked out. They were only bullying, and it was great you didn;t roll over, because the more they get away with it, the more they'll continue to try it on!