help Cornhill

[lenny100]

Cornhill have cancled my car insurance after they said they sent to me a letter saying my d/d had not been payed and i had 14 days to make a payment.

I never recived such a letter but since they say they sent it ( They dont send out important letters such as this by any form of registed post although they demand all letter sent to them sould be!) and now i must pay £240 in the next 14 days as cancellation fees.

As i am unemployed this sum is way outside my means to pay

 

Want can i do .........

[Nelly75]

Cornhill have cancled my car insurance after they said they sent to me a ltter saying my d/d had not been payed and i had 14 days to make a payment.

I never recived such a letter but since they say they sent it ( THey dont send them by registed post although they demand all letter sent to them sould be) and now i must pay £240 in the next 14 days.

As i am unemployed this sum is way outside my means to pay

 

Want can i do .........

 

arrange insurance with the next cheapest company and get a direct debit set up. Phone Cornhill, cancel your policy with them and request proof of your no claims bonus. Leave it behind and start again.

 

Whether the letter was sent or not you they are not going to let you pay via this method again so if you can't afford it then you have no choice.

[xrchris]

I very much doubt that the £240 is a cancellation fee and suspect that this is either the amount due following your direct debit default or is the amount required to pay up until the renewal of your policy.

 

Could you clarify this?

[lenny100]

as its states in the cancellation letter which states that the car insurance was canceled on 1ST Feb 2007

"As explained in the cancellation scale under the general terms and conditions of your policy, we respectfully request this payment by cheque or credit/debit card within the next fourteen days."

the terms and conditions states i must pay in full for the full term of insurance if i cancel the policy and they have the right to charge any and all premiums i have not yet paid.

this is tucked away on page 14 (the back inside cover) of the pack they send to you and is not on any of the documents you normally read as it full of information like their meaning of words, how to make a claim, tips for keeping your car safe, and how to get extra insurance for travel outside the EU

the full amount is £215.37

 

I have also to send in my certificate of motor insurance in order to comply with the road traffic act 1988

[xrchris]

Assuming you are insured via Cornhill Direct then it would appear that any cancellation refund is calculated pro-rata less £50 fee (if in 1st year) or less £25 (if you have been with them greater than 12 months).

 

Details are in this policy book http://www.cornhilldirect.co.uk/assets/car/carpolicy.pdf on page 14.

 

I suspect that the amount owing is one of these charges plus whatever unpaid premium there is following the default.

 

 

arrange insurance with the next cheapest company and get a direct debit set up. Phone Cornhill, cancel your policy with them and request proof of your no claims bonus. Leave it behind and start again.

 

Cornhill will not release evidence of no claims bonus if there are monies owed to them. Details are on page 14, the last bullet point in General Condition 12.

 

Of course all of this is probably different if it wasnt through their direct arm.

[Trojan1401]

Following on from comments made above, if an insurer is advising that they intend to cancel a motor policy, they MUST give written notice of this by Recorded Delivery to the last known address on file giving a minimum of 7 days. The letter giving 14 days to pay is fine however thay are not allowed to cancel unless they also send this by Recorded Delivery and MUST also state the Road Traffic Act - along the lines " Please note that it is illegal to use and/or keep a motor vehicle on the public highway without the minimum Third Party Insurance."

 

Contact them again and advise them the above. Ask how much is outstanding and offer to be over a reasonable time period. Should they not agree to this, ask how much the pro-rata charge is (without additional admin charges etc) and offer to pay the balance.

 

Even if you owe them money, they cannot withold your proof of NCB, they might say different and try to but are obliged to issue it.

 

If they do not see reason then ask for the name of the Motor Underwriter - who'll probably be based in Guildford - and write/speak to him.

 

Failing that though, write to the Insurance ombudsman, details will be in your policy booklet.

 

Finally, please be aware that if they have cancelled the policy, even if you still hold the certificate, they will have deleted your details from the MID so if stopped by police, they may prosecute for having no insurance. Unless you have arranged a new policy, please do not use your vehicle as you may be committing an offence.

 

Keep at them.

[lenny100]

Have called them and after getting the runaround i now have to make a written complat as they have no phone complants department???

the fight will go on

 

anybody have the email address of the charman.

[Trojan1401]

Lenny,

 

That's absolute rubbish on their behalf.

 

Ask for the name and direct telephone number of the head of either motor or personal lines underwriting. If that fails, I'll get it for you tomorrow & will PM it to you later in week.

[xrchris]

As Gary said - they are talking trash.

 

Customer Satisfaction Manager

Cornhill Direct

2530 The Quadrant

Aztec West, Almondsbury

Bristol BS32 4AW

Phone: 08705 50 60 70*

Email: [email protected]

*Calls charged at National Rate

If you are with Allianz Cornhill but not through their direct arm you can use the following phone number - 01454 611785.

[lenny100]

  Here is a copy of the letter i am planing to send to both cornhill and theInsurance ombudsman

My motor insurance policy was cancelled by Corhill Direct, after sending out letters informing me of problems with account via first class post only.

I did not receive any of the letters until 16 February when they delivered at my address bundled together with an elastic band.

I have been informed that these letters should have been sent by registered post to make sure I was aware of any problems, and to give me the time to pay or to obtain alternative cover.

The cancellation letter was also only sent by first class post the day after cancellation according to the dates on the letter, again only received on the 16 February 2007.  

breakdown of the letters recived on the 16 feb2007 all bundled together with a elestic band!

16 February 2007

In the post I received that morning was a bundle of three letters from Cornhill Direct

Letter 1 Dated 16 January 2007

This letter informed me that my Bank had rejected my Direct Debit Instalment, and it was essential that they receive payment of the outstanding amount of £23.77 within the next 14 days

If they did not receive payment within this period they would assume that I did not wish to continue with the policy and would arrange to cancel the cover provide3d 14 day from the date of this letter.

This letter was signed by Syju Anne Philip

Letter 2 Dated 01 February 2007

This letter referred to the correspondence dated 16/01/07 and they noted that they have not received the requested payment therefore I was advised that the policy has been cancelled with effect from 30.01.07

Also this letter asked me to return my certificate of motor insurance without delay.

It also states if my vehicle must not be used on a public highway until I have obtained alternative cover.

This letter is unsigned

Letter 3 Dated 01 February 2007

This letter is a confirming that the policy has been cancelled with effect 30/01/2007 and also asks for the sum of £215.37 which will be taken from my bank account by direct debit 10 working days from the date of this letter.

All three letters had been sent in a first class pre paid envelope with no post office tracking.

When I phoned the company and explained what was happing, all the call centre worker was concerned about was the recovery of the cancellation charge and was insistent that I paid by credit card now.

21 February 2007

Received another letter stating that the bank had returned my direct debit instalment of £215.37 and this amount was still outstanding and I have 14 days to pay.

This letter is singed by Dev Kumar

26 Feb. 2007

Called Cornhill again after receiving advise about the situation, which was the letter dated 16 February should have been sent via registered post, and the cancellation notices should have given me seven days to arrange cover before cancellation and also should have been sent registered post, The fist person I talked to was unable to help and keep insisting there was no telephone service to the complaints department, and also keep asking when I will be paying the outstanding amount. She eventually transferred me to another operator, who was also unable to help me so she transferred me onto another person.

This person also stated they were unable to take complaints over the telephone and I must write to them via the Insurance ombudsman

I would like them to cancell all outstanding amounts they say I owe to them due to no fault of my own as i was unable to act on any letter due to late delevery, and they can not give me any proof of postage or recipt. Also I would like themto repay my bank charges on the attempt to take £215.37 from my account. Also remove any and all default notices on my credit report

Can you give me feedback before i send

[xrchris]

Just one query - were they sending letters to an old address?

[lenny100]

no i have lived at my address for 20+years

[lenny100]

.letter of complant sent today to th IO and a copy to cornhill now just sit back and see what happens

[Nelly75]

 

Cornhill will not release evidence of no claims bonus if there are monies owed to them. Details are on page 14, the last bullet point in General Condition 12.

 

Well spotted! I never have had to consider this before - I had a dispute with an insurer a couple of years back after cancelling a policy. Instead of bothering to fight about proof of no claims I just made up a no-claims letter and printed it off on my own insurance company headed letter paper (naughty I know - but I had a maximum no claims anyway)

[lenny100]

got a replay from them, and in a round about way they have said what they did was all fair but as a good will gesture and in view of my comments they have wave the the canncellation charge of £50

so I now owe them £165.37

 

I will for now just awate the FOS jugment