What would you do?????

[thebaglady]

Hello

Hoping someone can give me some advice on how to approach this, i am so mad and feel like ringing up Virgin Insurance and exploding.

 

11 months ago i took out a comprehensive car insurance policy with Virgin, sourced via comparason web site. I had 5 years NCD, which after some discussion with Virgin i accepted that my previous year didnt count as it was not a full year. My previous insurer refused to confirm 5 years NCD but did confirm 4 years in a conversation with the person from Virgin that was dealing with the issue.

I heard nothing more and was shocked when i checked my bank statement - i only get 3 monthly ones and it seems from the last 8 months Virgin have been taking £118 per month as opposed to £36 that i paid for the first few months.

I am presuming they have ignored the verbal confirmation from prevoius insurer, i had also provided them with the proposals stating each year NCD as it had built up from 2,3,4 etc years - though not official NCD certificate it was obvious i had taken up each policy as it was continued each year.

They have now sent out my renewal with 1 year NCD on and are trying to charge me double the price i have found elsewhere.

 

How do i handle this, i would not have stayed with them had i known they were increasing my monthly payment, (cant believe i missed the increase either until now). Can i get the money back and get a year insurance free do you think?

 

Sorry for the long rant (apologies for any spelling mistakes) - hope to get some help/advice.

[Wulfyn]

If you can prove that Virgin had been told that you had 4 years NCD then you can complain that they are in breach of the data protection act by holding an inaccurate record of you.

 

Get your previous insurer to send you written confirmation of your 4 years NCD (they are obliged to do this), make a copy, and then send the original on to Virgin as proof.

 

Demand that all money taken be returned to you with interest.

 

And as ever make sure that you clearly state that you are making a complaint, as this puts you in a much stronger position legally (like they have to respond within a certain time frame).

 

 

You're in the right here, just may take a bit of perseverance.

[thebaglady]

Thank you so much for the advice - i will do exactly as you suggest.

 

Will keep updating....

[Jargonbuster]

Further to Wulfyn's reply, any insurance company is obliged, by law, to notify you in advance of a change in premium charges. If you have not received any notification from Virgin (who are the Broker/binding authority holder) then they are in breach of the trading standards requirements. The whole point of the advance notification is to allow the payee to decline to continue with the policy should they not want to pay the new amount. If you cannot find any notification from them, send them a letter stating as much and asking for a refund of the excess amounts charged, cc to your local trading standards office and to the OFT (and make sure that your letter to them has those cc's printed/written on it). That should get you some rapid response.

 

Best of luck.

 

jb

[Mossycat]

Further to Wulfyn's reply, any insurance company is obliged, by law, to notify you in advance of a change in premium charges. If you have not received any notification from Virgin (who are the Broker/binding authority holder) then they are in breach of the trading standards requirements. The whole point of the advance notification is to allow the payee to decline to continue with the policy should they not want to pay the new amount. If you cannot find any notification from them, send them a letter stating as much and asking for a refund of the excess amounts charged, cc to your local trading standards office and to the OFT (and make sure that your letter to them has those cc's printed/written on it). That should get you some rapid response.

 

Best of luck.

 

jb

 

That doesn't apply here, Virgin are NOT increasing the premiums.

 

Virgin are reducing the discount given off of a premium because the OP cannot provide proof that they are entitled to the discount claimed.

 

Mossy

[sailor sam]

Under direct debit rules, arn't they supposed to notify you at least 10 days in advance of any change in the payment amount?

[Mossycat]

Under direct debit rules, arn't they supposed to notify you at least 10 days in advance of any change in the payment amount?

 

Usually yes, but this is a different situation because they are NOT increasing an agreed amount.

 

When they quoted the premium it was based on information given, in the terms and conditions it will explain what will happen if proof of NCD is not forthcoming, since the OP accepted their terms and conditions in accepting the insurance they alos accepted that if proof of NCD wasn't provided then the premium would be adjusted accordingly, hence why no further notification was required.

 

Mossy

[vusys1]

as they have changed the amounts they have to issue a new credit agreement outling the new payments and charges.