not rnewing my car insurance,now reciving threatening letters

youngpab

OK, this may of been covered, I'm new on here, but my insurance for my car automatically renewed and money was taken from my account through direct debit. I had no idea about this, until the second year, but i made sure I cancelled my direct debit so they couldnt take any more money, unless I was happy with the quote they gave me. Anyway I found a cheaper quote with the Post Office and decided to go with them, ofcourse the letters came from my origional insurer Nationwide about unable to get money from my account, I thought about replying, but then forgot about it, a couple of weeks later, I got a letter saying we have had to cancel your policy, remember I never wanted to renew with Nationwide anyway. Now I have recieved a letter asking for over £80 and a load of other figures on the sheet, I dont know if they going to ask for more after the £80+ quid if I decide to pay, or they will pass it on to their debt recovery company. This all sounds crazy to me, and i feel like im being bullied by Nationwide. Any help from anyone please??? cheers

C_Ronaldo

Did you actuall call the ins company and tell them you didnt want to renew,

youngpab

No,I never spoke with anyone,I just cancelled the direct debit. I meant to reply out of courtesy I didn't think i was obliged to.

Browntoa

I suspect it will say in the small print that it will automatically renew unless you tell them

C_Ronaldo

youngpab wrote: »

No,I never spoke with anyone,I just cancelled the direct debit. I meant to reply out of courtesy I didn't think i was obliged to.

You always must phone up at least a month before the policy is due to end to either cancel it or keep it running, you never cancel the direct debit without calling the company first, you cancel the DD then you will get letters demanding payment plus if you dont call them the policy will automatically renew for another year

raskazz

youngpab wrote: »

No,I never spoke with anyone,I just cancelled the direct debit. I meant to reply out of courtesy I didn't think i was obliged to.

Cancelling the payment does not cancel the contract - you have just learned this the hard way, unfortunately.

C_Ronaldo

OP just pay what theyre asking and get a new quote from another ins company

youngpab

I have already got insurance from the post office, by the way i did all this over the internet i have not signed anything, why should i have to pay for something i don't want, I don't know where it says it will automatically renew ether i just found out after the first year.

shelly

Just to point out, not every ins co these days auto renews. I know its very common but not everyone does it.

OP it usually says on your renewal letter something along the lines of "You do not need to contact us if this quote is satisfactory. We will automatically renew the policy and debit your card/account as previously instructed. If however you aren't satisfied with the quote please contact us telling us not to renew" (that's not exact but you get the jist)

Also if everything was done over the net you don't need to have signed anything for them to be able to auto renew. But you will have had a statement that said something like "By proceeding to buy this policy you agree to our T&C's which can be read by clicking here". I assume you would have proceeded without reading the T&C's.

It will say somewhere on either the renewal letter you received or on last years documents or in the T&C's somewhere about auto renew.

Ian_W

Browntoa wrote: »

I suspect it will say in the small print that it will automatically renew unless you tell them

Or the not so small print!

Got my renewal letter yesterday [from another insurer, not NW] and it says on p1 in bold under the heading "Renewal made easy"
As you pay by Direct Debit your policy will automatically renew ..... If you do not wish to renew you should tell us ....

OP, I suggest you dig out NW's renewal letter. If it is as clear as that I really don't think you've any choice but to pay. Well you do - but it could damage your your credit record if they pursue you, which might not be the smartest move in these crunch times for 80 squid! :rolleyes:

advantix

I would also suggest that when getting quotes in future and you are asked if you have ever had insurance declined or cancelled that you need to answer yes as it will be recorded on the insurance database that this policy was cncelled by the company.