Warning about using credit card to pay somebody elses insurance premium

babyharry5

Belnahua wrote: »

Just report the card as lost, and you'll get issued with a new card and new number, which stops any transactions that are automatically renewed.

hi
i had this problem with setanta sports - and when i spoke to virgin visa to cancel card , they told me that even if i cancelled they can still continue to take money .
they advised me to write to company to explain that you are not authorising anymore debits from this card to them - and to dispute and future transactions as fraudulent with visa

Paul_Herring

madca wrote: »

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 think you'll find, as with most car insurance, you agreed to a Continuous Payment Authority (CPA) which is authorisation.

I contacted insurers who were not prepared to discuss matter with me as I am not the policyholder.

You perhaps stressed (or gave the impression of stressing) the insurance rather than the payment when you spoke to them. They are entirely within their rights not to discuss the policy, however you should be able to stop them taking a payment. Try again, and specifically ask them how to stop them taking another payment from your card, even though it's not your insurance.

This cannot be legally or morally correct. How can anybody other than me authorise a payment from my card.

You did give authorisation. You just didn't realise it at the time.

Has anybody else experienced this problem or have any comments this?

Lots of people, in that their old insurer has taken payment from their own card when they didn't cancel when they got insurance from another provider.

JesseJames_2

PROLIANT wrote: »

How does that work? If the card number is void as happened with Experian, they could not renew my credit expert subscription and I had to register a new card.

Not sure but see Yorkshireboy's post near the start, it is linked to the old card.

Anyway there was another subscription (similar to yours) that asked me to update details for it to work. So there seem to be 2 different types of recurring payments, one that is linked directly to the card, and the other that can still be linked to a different card from the same issuer. I remember reading about that in these forums last year.

brightonman123

i am v surprised ins co took took a 3rd party card, to start with!

has the other person paid you, for this year's amount?

if mopney not taken yet, i would write to ins co saying card no longer usable, request seek other forms of payment. copy in your bank.

i can't see what DPA case the ins co have either, if they sent you the renewal notice?

Radsteral

I had the same....
insured for a month my mate's car who was driving abroad... that was 230 quid.... when i realised they were geting my money i contacted the insurer and they told me the same ..so i put my mate to write a letter pointing the insurance was done to export the car abroad etc and the car hasnt been here in the uk since we took the first policy etc... thank god ecarinsurance.co.uk- the insurance company gave me my money back - all 1300 quid-- big relieff

reebie_peebie

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?

I bought AA cover for my dad for his birthday one year and for the past two years AA have taken payment from my Visa. I rang AA told them that it was a one off payment as a it was a birhday present but they kept I told him he must telephone AA to cancel as I have no rights to cancel even though it's my visa, he forgot to cancel and did'nt give me the money back so I did'nt get him anything for his birthday or xmas this year.
I would like to say even though I've got a new renewal card number they had my new details and still took for the transaction, If my dad doesn't cancel this time I will close my visa account because it truly takes the pee and totally sympathise with you.

Paul_Herring

reebie_peebie wrote: »

If my dad doesn't cancel this time I will close my visa account because it truly takes the pee and totally sympathise with you.

If it's a CPA (and if it's the AA, it will be,) simply 'closing' the account won't stop them taking another payment.

All that will happen is the account will be re-opened, with the debit, and you'll be liable to pay it.

2234

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?

Stopping your card by reporting it as llost does work.
As long as you haven't signed up to direct debit, in which case you will need to close down the account. The same thing happened to me, my insurance sent me a letter with a new quote but at no point did they say the policy was automatically renewing, I work for a card insurance company and we have to say this to everyone who calls. So when I found out they were taking the premium, I simply 'lost' my card and the card number and security code they had was different to my new one, and they couldnt take the premium. They wrote to me lots to say I need to give them a new number or my insurance will be invalid, but then if they ring you they can't discuss the policy with you as you are not the policy holder, simply advise them to contact the policy holder to arrange alternate payment

jamalfatty

Sounds like a bit of confusion here with the CPA's, I work for one of the lenders and can absolutely guarantee that a CPA will be honoured even if the card/account has been lost/stolen/closed - as the authorisation took place before the account became compromised or closed then it is assumed to be genuine so the fact the card has been reported as missing is irrelevant.

What may be happening for those where reporting it as being lost has stopped the payment is that the recurring payment is not actually a proper CPA, instead the merchant has retained the cardholders details and are presenting each payment as a new transaction

tripled

Write a letter (sent recorded delivery) to the insurance company rescinding authorisation to take any payments from your card with immediate effect.

Proliant, recurring subscriptions can be taken from a cancelled card - it has happened to me before. Nationwide said they often allow continuous payments to go through on cancelled cards 'for the convenience of the cardholder'.