OneSure car insurance, Holding NCB certificate as leverage for money!

[Maxxi]

I attempted to cancel an insurance policy on my old vehicle 2 months before the policy was due to end, the full amount of money had already been paid, so there were no charges.

 

I contacted the insurance company and they added a cancellation note onto my account, i then sent a copy of the documents, signed, with a letter explaining the policy were to be cancelled.

 

A fortnight passes and i contact the insurance company as my no claims bonus certificate (the whole point of cancelling the insurance) had not arrived.

I contacted the company.

 

Apparently they had not received the letter and there was no cancellation note, they reissued me with more documents.

 

I repeated the process and sent the documents back, signed, with a written letter.

 

A fortnight passes and i receive a letter explaining how my policy is about to be automatically renewed.

 

I contact the company and explain, they haven't received the second letter either and the policy is already in the process of being renewed and it can't be stopped? There will be a charge for cancelling and i will have to pay a months insurance. Obviously i was not happy, i just asked for the no claims certificate to be sent.

 

Now coming up to 3 months i still don't have the certificate, the insurance company don't answer the phone (4 seperate occasions i have spent between 15-30 minutes on hold waiting to get through, please note, its a premium phone line).

 

I have been sat at work when they have rang me, my phone rang twice and then cut off? it is as if they were attempting to create a communication trail.

 

As a result my new insurance company is charging me over 300gbp a month for my new policy, a policy which should cost me a third of that.

 

The old insurance company is harassing me for money via a series of letters.

 

I have contacted the financial ombudsman and i have heard nothing back as of yet.

 

I cancelled the direct debit through my bank, i wasn't aware they could start up a direct debit without my permission, they sent me direct debit forms which clearly i never returned as i wanted the policy cancelling! Yet the money still went from my account. The bank refunded my money to me as i logged it as an unauthorised transaction.

 

Alas i still receive letters saying i owe nearly 400gbp to them. I feel like they are holding my no claims bonus certificate as leverage to get money out of me.

 

What can i possibly do?

 

I am now in a position where my new vehicle has sent me quite far into my overdraft (a position i have never been in before) so much so i am considering a personal loan to write the overdraft off.

 

The new insurance company won't reduce the monthly amount until they receive a letter off the old insurance company, who won't answer any of my correspondence/phone calls?

 

The old insurance company is One Sure Insurance (don't use them) and my new insurance company is RAC, both of which are underwritten by Aviva.

 

This isn't the first time One Sure have duped me, when i renewed my policy with them last year i got pulled by the police a month into the policy, they kindly informed me i was driving without insurance and gave me a producer, upon contacting One Sure (1 hour phone call on a premium line) it became clear that one of their staff basically hadn't pressed the enter button on my policy. I had been driving illegally for over a month. They sent me a letter of indemnity but the half day i had to take off work to go to the police station and the numerous premium phone calls i made were never refunded, and they back charged me for the month i had "for free".

 

Stay clear of them folks, ive not worked out whether they are just a second rate insurance company or elaborate premium phone line [problem].

 

Any advice will be VERY VERY much appreciated as im seriously at a loss as to what to do

[unclebulgaria67]

Get on the phone and insist upon speaking to Chris Lear who is their MD. This is what is says on their internet site.

 

I have every confidence that One-Sure Insurance Services will exceed your expectations of an insurance company and we look forward to welcoming you as a client very soon. If I or any of my colleagues can be of any further assistance, please call our customer care line 0800 377 7390 or send us an email.

Chris Lear

Managing Director

One-Sure Insurance, Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire

 

The FOS is a waste of time as they are taking atleast 6 months to start looking at complaints and some are taking over 2 years to resolve. You should threaten to take this to the small claims court by issuing a money claim against them. I hope that you have proof of the contacts you have had with them to help with this.

[Maxxi]

Thanks for the quick reply Uncle Bulgaria, my issue is that they just don't answer the phone. i work from 8am til 6pm, so i generally spend my lunch trying to contact different people regarding this situation. They know my work number, mobile number and home number and i'm seriously starting to think they are using their caller ID to just blank me (why i do not know).

 

The times i did get through, over a month ago was the last time, i just get told " you must send your documents signed with a written letter" a process which i have done twice now.

 

Also they sent me a recorded delivery letter 1 month ago with policy documents and a covering letter that stated

"The documents are to be signed and sent back (to accept the unwanted policy) within 7 days or the policy will automatically be cancelled"

 

I sent them an email explaining how i received the letter, how i would not be returning the letter as cancellation is all i have wanted for 2/3 months and for them to please release my No Claims Bonus certificate.

7 days passed.....

Another recorded letter is received....

"You have 7 days to sign and return these documents otherwise your policy will be cancelled...."

 

Thanks for the information regarding the FOS, however its very disheartening my bank balance is being stretched to the limit anyway and i fear they can just use their financial backing/legal power to wipe me out of the water.

 

Thanks again for the reply and also to anyone else who can offer advice then please do,

 

Max

[raydetinu]

as far as the dd goes if you have not fiven authorisation then contact the bank and they will refund all payments, done this a few times now.

[Maxxi]

I have done that and they have refunded the money, the issue lies in the fact that they have not issued me with my ncb certificate and won't tell me why.

 

They just ignore any form of contact i attempt to make and instead aend me letters insisting on payment.

 

Thank you for the advice though ray it is appreciated!

[raydetinu]

I have used one sure, without any problems and in fact cancelled a policy half way through as sold the car, charges were reasonable and contact on phone was ok as well.

suggest you keep plugging away at them, email probably better than phone.

[Maxxi]

They don't respond to my emails, ive emailed them numerous times asking for them to contact me via email due to my working hours but no reply, thanks for your reply but as mentioned ive been plugging for nigh on 3 months!

Thanks for taking the time again

[raydetinu]

oops sorry; it was one CALL insurance I was dealing with not one sure!

good luck anyway.

[Maxxi]

No worries Ray, i did wonder why they would offer you such a good service and not me. But there is the answer!

 

I have emailed Aviva, the companies which underwrites the policy explaining One Sures business practises, i just really hope they can help me as im seriously at my wits end

[Maxxi]

Just as a quick update i have received an email off aviva acknowledging the complaint and i also received a letter from onesure this morning saying they have received a complaint from the financial ombudsman on my behalf.

 

They have up to 4 weeks to take action but apparently they will be quicker than that.

[needhamwirral]

hi just wondering how you got on with 1 sure and the ombudsman. Ive just referred this company 1 sure to them. They cancelled my insurance within 7 days of me taking it out and then kept 340 pounds out of 900 for the privelege. I reclaimed the money through debit card disputes against this company - now theyre pursuieng me for the money through a debit recovery company cobra.

Andy

Edited March 25, 2012 by MARTIN3030

[Maxxi]

hi just wondering how you got on with 1 sure and the ombudsman. Ive just referred this company 1 sure to them. They cancelled my insurance within 7 days of me taking it out and then kept 340 pounds out of 900 for the privelege. I reclaimed the money through debit card disputes against this company - now theyre pursuieng me for the money through a debit recovery company cobra.

Andy

 

Hiya mate, it all got sorted in the end... after 9 months, the ombudsman were fantastic contacted them in the same month and i used a woamn called Kelly at OneSure who works at the office however not directly for OneSure, i had to prove my claims such as.......

Asking for cancellation documents twice before they auomatically renewed etc she went through the phone records and found my calls, she is the woman to speak to!

 

Keep me informed as to how you get on please, i contacted Aviva as they underwrite OneSure but they never chased it up

Edited March 25, 2012 by MARTIN3030

[needhamwirral]

Thanks

I dont know how many other people have had trouble with these but hopefully the publicity does them no good and leads to their closure so no other unsuspecting members of the public have to suffer at their hands

Im waiting for a written response from 1 sure

regards andy

Edited March 25, 2012 by MARTIN3030

[heating-eng]

I read this with interest,They have set us up with a new policy without us even asking us or us knowing about it, they have then told us we need to pay to cancel , £623.31 ..

We do not need or want this insurance, we have never asked for it or had any letters from them, they say they have sent 2 letters but we didn't get any, ( never had problems with missing post before )

They will not cancel the insurance until we pay them,

Can somebody help us please.

We dealt with Harriet Edwards in customer services.

Edited March 25, 2012 by MARTIN3030

[unclebulgaria67]

I read this with interest,They have set us up with a new policy without us even asking us or us knowing about it, they have then told us we need to pay to cancel , £623.31 ..

We do not need or want this insurance, we have never asked for it or had any letters from them, they say they have sent 2 letters but we didn't get any, ( never had problems with missing post before )

They will not cancel the insurance until we pay them,

Can somebody help us please.

We dealt with Harriet Edwards in customer services.

 

In these circumstances you really have to put in a complaint in writing, sending by recorded delivery.

 

If you never asked for the policy and have never received correspondence, it could be a mistake if you had just asked for a quote only. Or if you have never contacted them, it could be a case of someone trying to do something dodgy. There have been cases of bogus Insurance companies buying policies so that the car is registered on MID and then issuing their own certificates to young drivers who have been conned. i.e they buy a policy through one company and don't pay, using a wrong address. They then issue a bogus Insurance certificate to a young driver, who thinks they have a bargain £1200 policy, when they have been quoted £3k elsewhere.

Edited March 25, 2012 by MARTIN3030

[heating-eng]

In these circumstances you really have to put in a complaint in writing, sending by recorded delivery.

 

If you never asked for the policy and have never received correspondence, it could be a mistake if you had just asked for a quote only. Or if you have never contacted them, it could be a case of someone trying to do something dodgy. There have been cases of bogus Insurance companies buying policies so that the car is registered on MID and then issuing their own certificates to young drivers who have been conned. i.e they buy a policy through one company and don't pay, using a wrong address. They then issue a bogus Insurance certificate to a young driver, who thinks they have a bargain £1200 policy, when they have been quoted £3k elsewhere.

We had insurance with them last year but we had lots of problems with them, we phoned up and cancelled our old policy as we were no longer trading, we then got this information from them today.

And as I have already said we phoned them and they told us we cannot cancel, we need to send docs back first ? But we have never had any, seems like a big con to me.

I will send all items recorded on Monday . See how we go.

[raydetinu]

You can ask for a SAR ( subject access request ) on yourself and they have to send you all the information, letters, emails, recorded telephone calls etc.

it costs £10 but that should clear it up.

[heating-eng]

You can ask for a SAR ( subject access request ) on yourself and they have to send you all the information, letters, emails, recorded telephone calls etc.

it costs £10 but that should clear it up.

 

Got both letters today , after the date to cancel, one letter dated 4 weeks ago and one dated 2 weeks ago, bit strange how they were both lost in post but arrive on same day ?

I will wait to see what happens now.

[raydetinu]

Yep very strange, did they have a date stamp on the envelope?

[unclebulgaria67]

Got both letters today , after the date to cancel, one letter dated 4 weeks ago and one dated 2 weeks ago, bit strange how they were both lost in post but arrive on same day ?

I will wait to see what happens now.

 

Not that strange. Letters and other documents are printed in their thousands every day. Some companies have outsourced their printing and they have no control over when letters are sent out. Even if the printing is done in-house, they are printed in such volume, that they cannot say that the letters were printed and put in an envelope. All they can see is a computer record, stating that the letter was requested, sent for printing and at the print end some confirmation that it may have been printed.

 

Having worked in Insurance for years, I can tell you, that as time has gone on, more people say that they have not received letters, than 20 years ago, when they were printed and put in an envelope manually.

[raydetinu]

Not a good way to do business woth that sort of time lag, especially with important documents that reqquire action on the part of the recipient!!

I always deal with these by Email now, to keep records and and quick response.

Having just said that I need to chase a refund, from when I changed car last month! thanks for prompt!

[heating-eng]

Yep very strange, did they have a date stamp on the envelope?

No date on letters

[heating-eng]

Not a good way to do business woth that sort of time lag, especially with important documents that reqquire action on the part of the recipient!!

I always deal with these by Email now, to keep records and and quick response.

Having just said that I need to chase a refund, from when I changed car last month! thanks for prompt!

The problem was we were not expecting any letters as we didn't request the insurance.

[heating-eng]

Not that strange. Letters and other documents are printed in their thousands every day. Some companies have outsourced their printing and they have no control over when letters are sent out. Even if the printing is done in-house, they are printed in such volume, that they cannot say that the letters were printed and put in an envelope. All they can see is a computer record, stating that the letter was requested, sent for printing and at the print end some confirmation that it may have been printed.

 

Having worked in Insurance for years, I can tell you, that as time has gone on, more people say that they have not received letters, than 20 years ago, when they were printed and put in an envelope manually.

My guess is the letters were sent out after we phoned to complain

[thompsonrio]

Hi I am new to this forum and I have problems with Onesure, I would like advice on how to request for SAR by Raydetinu.