Insurance question.

[don simon]

Hopefully someone more knowlwdgeable than I can help with this.

I changed insurance companies for this year due to a marked decrease in price. The old insurance company received no renewall notification from me and assumed that they could just continue taking out direct debit payments.

They managed one.

I have requested that they return the payment but they insist that I prove to them that I have cover before they will return the payment.

This cannot, in my view, be right for several reasons:
1: I did not agree to the renewall.
2: The policy price, a fundamental part of the contract, changed, and I did not in any way demonstrate agreement.
3: It's none of their bloody business.

If I am correct, this is shocking behaviour. If I am wrong, it's a shocking intrusion into one's privacy.

[RJL Services]

have you tried your bank and say it was not authorised they should be able to help and claim money back straight away as direct debits are not authorised by you and also my wife told me a friend of hers is taking the insurance company to court as she has the same problem as you but as she did not agree to the new terms and conditions they had no right to auto renew her policy plus you have a 14 day cooling of period too by law if i am correct

[jims-terrano]

Got nothing to do with them if you have cover. You might find small print about none contact renewal though.

[don simon]

Got nothing to do with them if you have cover. You might find small print about none contact renewal though.
That'd come under an unfair term, whcich is illegal, imho.

Good to hear that others are facing simoilar problems, well, not good, but you know...

Had a dodgy message this morning stating that my insurance had been cancelled and that I should call a named company, who panned out on an internet check, but not as a company that I had heard of or dealt with. I rang them and after a cagey conversation with me refusing to give certain details to an unknown person and them falling back on data protection, it became clear that this was the old company. Conversation over and they'll be billed for my time if we need to go legal.
This might actually turn out to be a bit of fun. :naughty
Just had clarification of 4 years NCB which goes a long way to explaining the increase in policy cost... :nenau

[jonny]

I've only had it with bike insurance but managed to get the money put back in the account by shouting at them. I always have a good read through any paperwork now.

[jims-terrano]

Direct Lime definitely do auto renewal but do make it clear in the renewal notice. I’m sure other companies will too. Also be careful if you have used a comparison website or an online form. Ring the insurance company direct because we have nearly been caught out by that, they’ll go through all the questions and often put the online quote up and blame something that wasn’t answered correctly.

[don simon]

There you go, put your foot down, call them out on bullying tactics and they capitulate. Full refund in the post, and they apparently don't need to see evidence of a replacement policy in order to do this.

[jonny]

Nice one :thumb2

[macabethiel]

I too have had issues with "Automatic" renewal problems in the past.

Almost all Insurance Companies want you to sign or agree over the phone or online to automatic renewal authority or continuing Insurance when you pay by monthly direct debit or in full on a debit card.

TBH it has come about as a result of less diligent drivers forgetting to renew insurance and finding themselves without insurance.

As you may be aware the law requires all UK Insurance Companies to provide Road Traffic Act Cover only for 14 days after your insurance has expired. You have to dig deep into the T&C's to find it but it is a statutory requirement under the Road Traffic Act. You do not get a 14 day cover note but it is there as RTA Cover only.

I had Direct Line take a full years card payment on my Debit Card a few years ago even though I had renewed without a break elsewhere. Luckily I picked up on it straight away and they refunded me in full within a week.

Now when renewing over the phone I insist that they do not renew automatically, some companies seem to go out of their way to refuse this option you just need to be persistent or send a cheque instead.

I have found a way around this. I usually pay by annual premium with my Debit or Credit Card using one of my cards that is due to expire within 12 months. Interestingly American Express do not allow continuing renewal authority but some Insurers will not accept Amex Cards probably for that reason.

With regards to a Direct Debit there is an inter Bank Agreement to refund unauthorised payments. You need to write to your Bank to get this done, you can't beat a letter by hand or registered post to your bank for an audit trail.

Finally if you bank online you can cancel the direct debit via internet banking but if one payment has already gone it often a hassle to get the payment back you have to persist. If you have requested proof of NCB from your old insurers this will help you win the argument.

I have used the argument over the phone that I do not authorise them to retain my payment data after the payment has been made.

This led to an interesting situation about 10 years ago where a payment was taken for about £750 from my bank mid way through my annual insurance period by I think it was Hastings Direct. My account became overdrawn so I rang up Hastings who insisted it was not their mistake as I had renewed a policy on a vehicle that was not mine!

Even though I gave them my Policy Number and pointed out it still had six months to run they initially would not budge. I sent them an e-mail asking for the details of the Policy I had paid for but they hid behind data protection refusing to disclose whose premium I had paid for. I suggested they check on the recording they keep when I renewed my policy over the phone when I had insisted that they did not retain my data. No apology but I did get the refund within 5 or so days.

Needless to say I did not renew with them, I am pretty sure that someone used a drop down menu showing my surname and payment details or it was an internal fraud.

I have two policies with the NFU, when you make a card payment you do not give card details verbally you have to use your phone keypad for all the card details! No help if you pay by Direct Debit though.