02 Insurance - Arrange without my knowledge

[Blackers]

Hi all

 

I wonder if anybody could give me guidance on this matter.

 

I took out a contract with 02 about 2-3 years ago and the contract included 3 months free insurance. This was not really of interest to me as I have All Risks home insurance but it was free so of no concern.

 

At the outset of my contract I was unable to view my monthly bills online, and despite querying this 02's overseas operatives could not rectify the error. As such I gave up querying the matter and decided to monitor my monthly payment for any anomolies.

 

I discovered 2 weeks ago that after the 3 months free isurance ended 02 had been charging me £4.99 per month for insurance.

 

I never wanted this insurance and I certainly never agreed to pay for it. What are my rights as far as recovering the premiums?

 

Has anybody else had a similar experience? What is the best way to go about this?

 

So far I have highlighed my concerns and asked for documentary proof of the contract of insurance. I have also asked them to explain why they never sent me any policy documentation.

 

Any assistance would be welcome in moving this matter forward.

 

Thanks

[jonni2bad]

I have certainly seen these offers before and they are primarily designed to catch you out, however I would say that you seemed to know that the insurance was in place. I would imagine that, if you read the original contract, it will state that you need to cancel this if you no longer wish to take advantage of it and most likely states you can do so anytime in the first three months.

 

Based on this, I think you might struggle to get these premiums refunded, although you might do so as a ""gesture of goodwill " etc if you complain to them.

 

My gut feeling is that your failure to cancel will cost you the premiums paid.

[androobe]

Blackers, your original post is confusing...

 

You said "decided to monitor my monthly payment for any anomolies" but your next paragraph says "I discovered 2 weeks ago that after the 3 months free isurance ended 02 had been charging me £4.99 per month for insurance" So this suggests you didn't monitor your payment? If there was a fault with viewing your account online did you pursue the matter to get it fixed - it can take a couple of weeks but they always should get fixed if you complain.

 

Also, you state you knew there was 3 months free insurance, so I'm sure you would have been aware that this would continue and be charged after the 3 months and could have cancelled.

[Blackers]

Thanks Jonni and androo

 

Blackers, your original post is confusing...

 

You said "decided to monitor my monthly payment for any anomolies" but your next paragraph says "I discovered 2 weeks ago that after the 3 months free isurance ended 02 had been charging me £4.99 per month for insurance" So this suggests you didn't monitor your payment? If there was a fault with viewing your account online did you pursue the matter to get it fixed - it can take a couple of weeks but they always should get fixed if you complain.

 

Also, you state you knew there was 3 months free insurance, so I'm sure you would have been aware that this would continue and be charged after the 3 months and could have cancelled.

 

 

Sorry. I actually emailed o2 3 times asking them to fix the problem. Each time they just reset my password but the problem still remained. I could enter my account but not view the particulars of my bill. The replies I received were all pre-drafted standard replies which did not address my actual query. Thus I lost faith and decided to monitor my monthly payment. I suppose it is relevant to mention that at the time calling o2 cost me 50p per minute as this was an online contract. And they always kept me holding.

 

My line rental is £30 p.m. and the actual direct debit taken monthly has always been around £35-£36. I presumed that I was exceeding my text allowances to be honest. In hindsight I should have hassled them further but this wasnt the only issue I had with them, and they always send emails in reply which blatantly werent in direct reply to me question.

 

I still have the emails I received back from them which is handy as o2 just emailed me to claim they never entered into correspondence with me on the matter.

 

As regards the insurance, the deal I accepted was "3 months free insurance". Not "First 3 months insurance free". I think there is major difference. I fail to see how receiving a gift of 3 months free insurance can in any way be construed as my acceptance of a contract of insurance at £4.99 per month. I have asked that o2 provide proof that I did request this.

 

I guess what I am really asking for here is for guidance from somebody who has experience in a situation such as this with insurance. As I understand it the contract of insurance must be based upon something. In most cases this would be a proposal form or a declaration of some sort. Is this the case with o2 here? Can they really take out insurance in my name without my say so?

 

And can they really dip into my account and take unauthorised payments like this? Can I persue them on this basis?

 

Thanks

 

Mark.

[jonni2bad]

I'm guessing that there would be more of a mention about this insurance on the contract that you signed for the phone, or if you 'signed' online then it would have been attached to terms and conditions.

 

This is my general experience of buying contracts on mobiles and I always make sure that I remove all reference to insurance or to "tick" or "untick" to refuse the free offer.

 

What further reference did you see? Did you get this online or in-store etc?

[androobe]

You'd be best off going down the next stage of the complaints process, you will at least get a professional individual response:

 

Putting things right

 

 

We'll look into your complaint immediately and try to sort the issue out as fully as we can. If you're unhappy with our decision, ask for one of our Customer Service Team Managers to investigate further.

 

 

An impartial view

 

 

We hope that we will have been able to sort out any problems by this stage. However, if you are still not satisfied after speaking to one of our managers and would like an impartial review, please write to:

O2 Complaint Review Service

PO Box 116

Leeds

LS11 5DS

Fax: 0113 388 1153

 

 

What we need to know

 

 

In your letter please include the following information:

• Your name and address
  
• Your mobile and account numbers
  
• A daytime phone number
  
• Details of your complaint
  
• A suggestion of what you'd like us to do to put things right

If you've had any previous correspondence relating to your complaint, please send copies of these as well as any names of supervisors and managers you've spoken to.