Automatic Renewal

[Stalks]

I think I'm going through the worst part of my life.

 

The company I worked for ceased trading on 24th April and therefore I was made redundant without pay.

 

As you can imagine things are very tight, I've dipped into my overdraft for the first time and now I've been well and truly shafted...

 

The quote for my recreational motorcycle came through last month from Bennetts and I dismissed it knowing I wasn't going to renew for a while.

 

Well I didn't realise it was an auto renewal notice and have just been landed with a £600 VISA transaction.

 

I now have a grand total of ONE POUND EIGHTY NINE PENCE to the end of my overdraft.

 

I have just come back from shopping after being completely embarrassed by the checkout telling me my card was rejected.

 

I am angry, I am in tears, I don't understand what is going on. I have cancelled my cards thinking it was fraud and have been going through my recent transactions to try and figure out what was happening. It was then I re-read the insurance quote.

 

I will ring Bennetts tomorrow but reading stories on here it could take weeks for me to receive the money back. I have no where else to turn, I have about 2 days of food left in my fridge. I need every penny I can get and again, reading the stories on here I could be landed £50+ out of pocket. That would be taking the food out of 2 childrens mouths!

 

It says on the back they could charge me the 1 day the policy has been active plus £30, I can't afford even this!

 

I'm lost.

[Stalks]

Okay, this has gotten a little interesting.

 

It seems the funds were reserved, so my bank balance showed an amount mius the insurance, but because I suspected fraud and I immediately cancelled my cards, the transaction could not be completed.

 

It wasn't only this insurance payment that were declined, but another online transaction initiated on Saturday.

 

So today my bank balance is back to normal and no trace of the insurance payment.

 

I had rang the insurance complany yesterday and they said they would waive the insurance cancellation fee as long as I returned the policy documents when they arrive. However they said there was an unrefundable £20 renewal fee, although this isn't mentioned on the renewal letter.

 

Well now that they never got the money, my policy should never have started and couldn't be renewed, so I should be in the clear right?

[iwilleatyourfire]

I would advise you to talk to the CAB or FSA, because when I worked in insurance I never heard of automatic renewals. If someone forgot to renew the insurance could be backdated one week providing no accidents etc happened in that time. But I can't understand how they can automatically renew and debit money from your account without your consent. What if you renewed somewhere else and forgot to tell they, or they didn't have any record of you calling them, would you have two insurance policies for the same bike. It doesn't make sense.

All insurance companies are regulated by the FSA, if you go on their website, get their phone number and ask them, they should be able to give you an answer right away.

Hope this will give you some peace of mind.

Good lucck

[gyzmo]

It's common practice now - continuous authority and it is usually included in the T&Cs.

 

In my view there should be, in bold underlined font (about 72 should do it), the question "Do you want this policy to renew automatically" with an unambiguous yes or no, and on the renewal, an equally prominent warning that action is required.

 

So much for silence cannot lead to acceptance. To me that was good law and common sense. Who on earth decided otherwise? Oooh yeah - the insurers:rolleyes:

[cityfan]

There's no basis for a renewal fee if the policy is not renewed. Make a fuss

[60's child]

I was under the impression that there was a cooling off period and this still applies on renewal. My building and contents insurance was sold to me at a low cost as a duel insurance, and like most people I get lazy and accept auto renewal most of the time. This year at renewal time I realised that the annual premium had increased on average by £100 per annum since 2002. When I read the T&C's it turned out that I had the right to cancel within 14 days of renewal with any paid premiums returned. Just as an aside, whilst reading said T&C's I found that I could claim £25 a day for jury service which I had done in June of last year, so I made sure I claimed before cancelling...good times:)

[vusys1]

do a chargeback with the card company