Warning about using credit card to pay somebody elses insurance premium

Incisor

madca wrote: »

Last year I used my credit card to pay the annual vehicle insurance premium for somebody. The renewal notification for this year received stating the insurers will automatically renew policy using my card details. I took exception to this as I had not authorised any payment other that last years premium.
I contacted insurers who were not prepared to discuss matter with me as I am not the policyholder. They will carry on renewing insurance using my credit card until policyholder cancels. I have no rights in matter and they do not need any authorisation to take a payment from my card as the policyholder has requested automatic renewal. The policyholder and insurers can do as they please with my money and I can do nothing to stop this.
I was obviously dismayed by this and so contacted Barclaycard, my card provider. Barclaycard confirmed that insurers can continue to take payments from my card until policyholder cancels. They cannot refuse payment on my say so and will do nothing to stop payment. They did not seem to think this was a problem as policyholders need this protection to ensure their policy does not lapse and they become uninsured.
This cannot be legally or morally correct. How can anybody other than me authorise a payment from my card. If the insurers now use my card details to take this premium, the transaction is fraudulent and Barclaycard should look after my interests as their customer and not the interests of the insurers and their policyholders. Another example of the Financial Services sector bullying the little people to make lives easier for themselves and maximise their profits.
Has anybody else experienced this problem or have any comments this?

Sue the blighters. If you have money deducted from your account they have to speak to you, and if they don't then they will have to give you an answer by other means. If you pay, they account to you for the money. End of.

madca

Thanks for all. your replies.
I could cancel my card but why should I have to?
I have not authorised the insurers to take any payment from me other than the first. They have nothing from me confirming that I agree to them any further payments and I have demanded that they remove my card details from their records and do not take any further payments. Surely if they now take a payment they are committing fraud as would anybody who used my card without my consent?
Perhaps I am being a bit dense but I cannot understand how paying 1 annual insurance premium for a policyholder means I am liable for payment of that insurance premium until the policyholder decides I am not.
If I pay a gas, electricity, council tax etc etc bill for somebody will my credit card be debited for all future bills - of course it won't.

madca

Biggles wrote: »

No, the account will remain open, and any continuous payments will still be taken from it.

The OP mentions the payments being fraudulent, I'm afraid the only person deceiving the system was the OP, by pretending to be the policyholder at the time of the original payment.

Instead of pursuing the card company, Madca should be chasing his/her friend to either terminate this payment or to pay up as, presumably, they did last time.

What utter rubbish. about me deceiving the system. I did not "pretend" to be the policyholder. I am female the policyholder is male and names are completely different- I simply agreed to pay this persons premium using my credit card and the insurers were aware that somebody other than the policyholder was paying this premium

Biggles

Belnahua wrote: »

How does the CC company know a genuine from fraudulent transaction after you've reported the card as lost?

I imagine they would only expect a really long-term fraudster to have set up an annual CPA in advance ;-)

madca wrote: »

I have not authorised the insurers to take any payment from me other than the first.

I would be fairly sure that there was something in the documents that your friend and/or you agreed to authorising annual payments.

By the way, I'm just curious as to why they've sent the renewal notice to you, not to the policyholder?

addictedtosoreen

can you not ask your friend to ring and take your details off the system? its only a 5 min call

madca

Biggles wrote: »

I imagine they would only expect a really long-term fraudster to have set up an annual CPA in advance ;-)

I would be fairly sure that there was something in the documents that your friend and/or you agreed to authorising annual payments.

By the way, I'm just curious as to why they've sent the renewal notice to you, not to the policyholder?

The renewal notice was sent to the policyholder and not to me.

I have not authorised any payment other than the first. Insurers have already told me that they do not ask cardholder whether they agree to future payments for automatic renewal so how was I supposed to know at that stage that they would hold my details and use my card again. Had I known then what I know now - I would have made it clear that the card details were to be used for 1 payment only and must not be used again - or refused to make payment of premium for policyholder. After the event, I am not able to do this.

natweststaffmember

are you still on amicable terms with the policy holder who you have paid the premium for?

Wyndham

I don't understand why you are not talking to the policy holder about this? If you are still friends then they should be perfectly willing to sort it out for you. If you are not still friends, you should still ask, and maybe go to the small claims court if they refuse to change the details and the payment is taken?

PROLIANT

As said previously, cancel the card and they can't take anymore money from it, different card number altogether, impossible to take money from a cancelled card, just cant happen!

Kavanne

PROLIANT wrote: »

As said previously, cancel the card and they can't take anymore money from it, different card number altogether, impossible to take money from a cancelled card, just cant happen!

You should read Martin's article on continuous payment authorities.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/direct-debit#steal