Urgent advice needed please

Nicoll

My insurance policy for my motorbike came up for renewal at end of July and I wrote to the insurance company, Bennetts, to say I didn't want to renew as their quote was very high, and my bike is currently off road locked securely in the garage so don't want to insure until I can afford to get it MOTed etc.

They sent me out a new certificate and I rang them straight up to say I had informed them not to renew, they have denied receiving my letter and want me to cancel the policy at a £50 charge to myself. I have been arguing with them ever since but they will not budge, I returned the certificate the next day by registered post but they would not cancel the policy without me first paying £50.

They have now written to say they have cancelled the policy as off this Monday and will be forwarding the debt to an agency. I don't know what to do next. I have sent them 4 letters so far and spoken to them a number of times. They won't let me speak to a manager, they always say none are available and they will not budge, they won't offer any options they just keep saying you have to pay the fee.

I can't afford to get a bad rating from a debt company but don't see why I should pay £50 for their error. Unfotunately I didn't send the original letter asking for them not to renew by registered post so have no proof, though I have since sent them a copy of it.

Do you think I will have to bite the bullet and pay the fee and then maybe try and reclaim later or should I let it run and risk my credit rating? Or the final option I can see is they are cancelling the policy as of Monday, should I renew the policy even though it is considerably more expensive than quotes I've had off the internet and I don't really need it for at least a month?

Any advise would be gratefully received.

Thanks in advance

lisyloo

but don't see why I should pay £50 for their error

I can't see how you can say categorically that it's their error.
How do you know that Royal Mail didn't fail you?
You took no protection against a lost letter.
You did not pay for recorded delivery and check it had arrived, you did not ask and check for an acknowledgement.
It MAY be that it is a third part error and unfortunately you did nothing to protect yourself from that.

Do you think I will have to bite the bullet and pay the fee and then maybe try and reclaim later or should I let it run and risk my credit rating?

I am cycnical about the letter being lost but the fact is that you haven't protected yourself adequately against either genuine Royal Mail loss or Bennetts trying it on.

I don't see that you have much option but to pay the £50.
You could consider a complaint after this.
If they aren't charging you for time on cover then maybe you have got off lightly.

You probably know what you should do now but in future I would either
1) send by recorded delivery
and/or
2) get a written acknowledgement

There is always the posisbility of something being lost in the post, butin my view you are more likely to be protecting yourself from cynical companies who abuse the normal lack of proof.

Porker

if it were me: pay it, and get out of the contract, you dont need the headache of debt collection hanging over you...then follow their complaints procedure very clearly, if they still wont pay out then, after you've been through all their hoops as outlined in the regular complaints process, get your complaint refered to the ombudman. The insurance co really doesnt need the hassle, and if you are right they should sort it out - eventually.

Nicoll

Thanks for the quick replies guys.

I realise now to send anything like that as registered post in future. I know there is a good chance it has been lost in post. The really frustrating thing is that when I speak to Bennetts they will not discuss any other options other than me paying the full cancellation charge. Didn't put on original post that they are charging for the insurance charges as well and even though I sent the certificate straight back because I've been argueing the toss with them they hadn't cancelled it until this coming Monday. I think they should at least show it as cancelled straight away but they won't compromise at all.

I think you are both right and I will have to pay and then try and sort it out after, just annoying as cancelled as short of money and have basically done myself out of £50 through my own stupidity of not sending by registered post.

I'm hoping someone on here will read my post who has had the same sort of situation and has managed to get their money back. One can but hope.

Porker

you shouldnt have to send stuff like this as recorded delivery...isnt there some sort of contract law precedent where the act of putting something in a postbox counts as it having been recived (or something similar)?

Quentin

You have time to pursue a complaint about this before you pay up (they won't set debt collectors on you now for an unpaid bill from just last month).

Give up phoning them.

Write a reply to their demand for £50 and say you want to dispute it, explaining you cancelled the policy, send a copy of the cancellation, point out your machine is off road and you have no need for any insurance anyway and ask them to review the matter.

Then see what their reply is and take it from there on what you decide to do.

lisyloo

isnt there some sort of contract law precedent where the act of putting something in a postbox counts as it having been recived (or something similar)?

I'm not aware of anything that works that way in the consumers favour (but would be very interesting in hearing it if you have).

The only one I've heard about is if the police send YOU a letter about speeding then it's OK for them to deem that you received it.

Doesn't ever seem to work in our favour.

I sometimes use a (free) proof of posting in some cirucmstances.
e.g. when returning goods on approval.
In this case proving posting is sufficient because the goods remain the property of the company that sent them and it's their problem if it's goes missing.
Also if I have something that is not time critical and can be resent then I'm not too worried.
So you have to use your judgement about when recorded delivery is appropriate (it's not called registered anymore).

raskazz

Porker wrote: »

you shouldnt have to send stuff like this as recorded delivery...isnt there some sort of contract law precedent where the act of putting something in a postbox counts as it having been recived (or something similar)?

You're thinking of the 'postal rule' in relation to acceptance of an offer for the purpose of contract formation. It is only relevant to acceptance of an offer, and doesn't affect any other dealings in relation to the contract (i.e. it doesn't apply to things like this).

Porker

knew someone would have the answer! thanks for clarifying!

Quentin

lisyloo wrote: »

use your judgement about when recorded delivery is appropriate (it's not called registered anymore).

It never has been.

Registered post changed its name to "Special Delivery". This is a guaranteed delivery service, (with compensation if the guarantee is broken or items of value are lost) unlike recorded delivery which pupports to get you a signature on delivery only.

lisyloo

unlike recorded delivery which pupports to get you a signature on delivery only

Recorded does provide some compensation (the same level as normal 1st and 2nd).
It's around the £30 mark.
Not the same level as special delivery though as you say.