Swinton bike insurance problems....

[iamintrouble]

Hi,

 

I was wondering if anyone can help. I have just sold my moped which was insured by Swinton bikes.

 

Unfortunately I cannot get through to them on the phone to cancel my insurance and I cannot keep waiting for in excess of 15 minutes on an 0845 number when I get home from work! I have cancelled the direct debit that was due the day after tomorrow but I still don't know how I can cancel my actual insurance with them.

 

A little while ago when I asked about cancelling the insurance they said they would charge me a cancellation fee which means I practically have to pay the whole year's insurance even though I knew in advance that I was buying a car in April. I thought the whole point in paying monthly was so you could cancel by month if you needed to! Bloody greedy if you ask me!

[Mossycat]

An insurance policy usually lasts for a whole year and payment is due at the inception of the policy, however, some insurers allow policyholders to pay the annual premium on a monthly basis, that is what you are confusing.

 

You did not buy your insurance on a month by month basis, you bought a full years cover and were spreading the cost on a monthly basis.

 

If you knew you were buying a car in April and only needed short term cover you could have sought out a policy from an insurer that offers them, but they tend to work out quite expensive in comparison.

 

If you don't want to wait on the phone then write to Swinton, enclose your certificate of insurance and advise them you are cancelling, send the letter recorded delivery and keep a copy of it.

 

Mossy

[rogerowen]

I wrote to Swinton bikes to advise them that I had changed banks, and gave them the new bank details for the direct debit. But they still tried to take the next DD from my old bank account (which was now cancelled). I didn't find out until they had tried 4 times! When I called them they said it could take up to 30 days for a letter to go through their system - and for this reason they wanted to charge me an extra £48 for not being able to collect from my old bank. I have complained to them several times and the best they can offer is to reduce the extra charge to me by £22. And, now they have raised the cost of my DD automatically so they can grab this extra money. I was so annoyed that I asked if I could cancel my policy - and they said 'yes - but we will charge you an extra £50 to do so' (it's in the small print apparently).

 

It seems the everything goes only in Swinton's favour, and there is nothing you can do about it but run with the policy until it runs out and then change to a reputable insurance company.

 

If you find you have to write to them because you cannot get through on the phone - make certain you send your letter by recorded delivery (which in hind-sight is exactly what I should have done).

[Wulfyn]

I'm not an expert, but I'm pretty sure that they cannot raise the cost of your DD automatically as it is something that you have to authorise. If they do not have proof of you authorising it then that is pretty serious. Hopefully someone that knows more about the DD laws can help you (might be worth asking that specific question outside of this forum), i.e. :

 

Can a company change the amount of a DD payment without my authorisation?

 

 

Don't accept any charge if the fault is due to their processing time. If you gave them the details of the new DD before payment was due it's not your problem as you have provided them with the opportunity to collect, it is not your fault if they are unable to do this.

[rogerowen]

Thank you, that's very encouraging - especially as I have discussed this problem with Swinton Insurance on several occasions. I get the feeling that the 'executives' on the end of the line are well trained in the art of 'Bamboozle' - and extracting as much extra money from their clients to compensate for their initially low insurance premiums.

 

I will check on whether they can automatically increase my DD at my bank.

 

Thanks again for your input.

[iamintrouble]

I will not use Swinton insurance again, they were quite expensive compared to other companies anyway, at least for me. The problem is is that if they already have your bank details, they will try and deduct money by dd whenever they feel like it. I am not sure whether they are legally allowed to do it though. I always found them crap at customer service too so good luck and stop insuring with them when you can!