Last year I renewed car insurance and paid SAGA using my CC. At no time did I give them permission to automatically renew each year.

[Surfer01]

Last year I renewed car insurance and paid SAGA using my CC.

 

 

At no time did I give them permission to automatically renew each year.

 

 

I will not have any such authority on any of my cards as that can lead to issues if insufficient funds.

 

This year we got the standard renewal letter stating that they will automatically renew

using a continous auhority which I never gave them.

Can they do this if you pay by card without your permission?

 

I told them that I will pay but not by the continous method which I feel is very underhand

especially when you cannot remember which card you used to pay the previous year.

 

 

I made them remove it while I was on the phone to them so that part has been resolved.

 

Very annoyed even though it has been resolved but let it be a warning to other people.

[unclebulgaria67]

They have to tell you about any continuous payment authority. With any debit or credit card, they have to explicitly tell you, because otherwise it is for a one off payment only.

 

You could complain to Saga head office about the standards of this company and threaten to involve the FCA, because the call scripts in use regarding card payments are defective, because they do not mention the card being used for a continuous payment authority.

[Surfer01]

They have to tell you about any continuous payment authority. With any debit or credit card, they have to explicitly tell you, because otherwise it is for a one off payment only.

 

You could complain to Saga head office about the standards of this company and threaten to involve the FCA, because the call scripts in use regarding card payments are defective, because they do not mention the card being used for a continuous payment authority.

 

Goes to show how they catch out the unwary. If it did go through there would have not been an issue, but I never gave them the authority. I have contacted my CC and informed them that at no time did I give permission for any company to place a CDA on any of my cards and if have done so to inform me and also to cancel any such authoriies.

[MaxxPower]

This sort of continuous authority/automatic renewal is completely standard in the Insurance industry these days. You typically have to explicitly opt out of it, or you get automatically opted in.

[Surfer01]

CC company sent me this;

We do not keep a separate track or record of the subscription merchants however if you are aware of any merchant's who renew the charges automatically, please let us know the following details to add a cancellation request for future payments:

 

1. Name of the merchant as appears on your Barclaycard statement.

2. Last transaction date or when the next payment is due.

3. Amount they charged or will charge on the account.

 

I trust this information will be of assistance to you.

 

If a merchant sets up a subscription on your account without your knowledge and the bank cannot advise, what can you do? As said I had no idea that SAGA would debit my account automatically every year or do they just keep my card details until it is time to renew and then use them? I don't think that it is rihgt that any company should keep your card details without your express permission.

[unclebulgaria67]

Agree. They should not do it, without telling you, so you can insist on one off use only.

 

Some Insurers have been known to process cancellation charges to people cards without permission or prior notification, when there has been a dispute. I have seen this reported on CAG numerous times. The policyholder provides a debit card for one off deposit payment, they pay the remainder by DD, an issue arises leading to DD being cancelled and there is a cancellation sum calculated as being due on the policy. The policyholder refuses to pay and the Insurers use the debit card without permission. This shoukd not be allowed.

 

The advice must be for anyone paying a one off payment using a debit or credit card, that they insist on the card details being removed once the payment has cleared, so it cannot be used again. To insist that there is no continuous payment authority.

[Surfer01]

Agree. They should not do it, without telling you, so you can insist on one off use only.

 

Some Insurers have been known to process cancellation charges to people cards without permission or prior notification, when there has been a dispute. I have seen this reported on CAG numerous times. The policyholder provides a debit card for one off deposit payment, they pay the remainder by DD, an issue arises leading to DD being cancelled and there is a cancellation sum calculated as being due on the policy. The policyholder refuses to pay and the Insurers use the debit card without permission. This shoukd not be allowed.

 

The advice must be for anyone paying a one off payment using a debit or credit card, that they insist on the card details being removed once the payment has cleared, so it cannot be used again. To insist that there is no continuous payment authority.

 

I agree with the above but the issue is remembering to tell them as between them answering the phone and you making the payment, you have had to answer dozens of questions resulting in you forgetting to tell them not to keep you card details. If think that after making a payment using a card, there should be a specific question asking if they can keep your card details on their system.

[mikeymack2002]

A very simple solution to this is to do a chargeback on the card, write to the bank demanding that they provide you with any and all CPA's then make sure they are cancelled. In future remember to record your calls and save them, most smart phones can do this from the app store....

[Surfer01]

A very simple solution to this is to do a chargeback on the card, write to the bank demanding that they provide you with any and all CPA's then make sure they are cancelled. In future remember to record your calls and save them, most smart phones can do this from the app store....

To do a charge back is a lot of hassle especially if you did nto give permission in the first place. As per my post #7 I did make a request for CPAs' and that was the reply. Consume rloses out again. How many people save a call for a year?

[mikeymack2002]

I do, When it comes to letting a random company access to take money at will is a big no-no surely this is best for the consumer, you have protection too use, then use it, read up on BCOBS...