Ripped off by Swinton

marshmallow79

You'll have to excuse me as this is a bit of a long one but I really need some advice!
I've just bought myself a new car and when looking at insurance quotes I found it cheaper to go with someone other than my present insurer (which I got through Swinton). I then decided to look into extending my current insurance for my old car for a month (it was due to expire on 14th Dec) so my husband could use it through the christmas period as public transport is a nightmare at this time of year! I called Swinton and spoke to a guy about it and he originally said it was fine and all I had to do was renew my insurance for the year then call and cancel it when I was ready.
I put the phone down being a happy girlie with this result but 5 minutes later he called me back and said that he'd just talked to his manager about it and had been informed that I would have to pay a £45 cancellation fee if I want to cancel the new insurance after a month. I then told him that I didn't want to pay that so it wouldn't be worth me renewing and that if I changed my mind I would call them back. This was around 3 weeks ago. A few days ago I got a new insurance certificate through the post from them!!!!!:eek:
I called them up and they said the guy had put a note on the system saying that I would probably be letting the policy lapse and they should expect me to call back if I didn't want it renewed!!!!:mad:
I had a huge barney with his manager (he wasn't in the office) as I don't see why I should pay for a policy that I didn't ask for all because her staff don't listen to people properly! She informed me that their company policy for someone with a direct debit already set up is to renew the policy unless told otherwise (I did say otherwise but the guy I spoke to obviously heard something else!) and because I'd had the policy renewed and technically had the car insured a couple of days I would have to pay for the canecellation fee as well as 2 days insurance which came out at around £56!:mad:
The manager has stated it is her staff members word against mine and because of their DD policy there is no way her staff member could have got it wrong and it must have been my error!
I have contact the FO about this and they are investigating but I just wondering if anyone has any other ideas how to sort this out quicker than the 8 weeks schedule that the FO allow a company? Also has anyone else had this situation and how did it end?

dunstonh

Also has anyone else had this situation and how did it end?

Auto-renewal of general insurance policies is very common. They are allowed and providing renewal terms were issued and it said on there what you needed to do to cancel, then they are considered acceptable.

I have contact the FO about this and they are investigating but I just wondering if anyone has any other ideas how to sort this out quicker than the 8 weeks schedule that the FO allow a company?

FOS will pass your complaint on to Swinton who then have 8 weeks to investigate and give a decision. If you dont like that decision then you have the right to take it to the FOS who will then take about 3-12 months to give their decision (6-9 seems about right at the moment). You cannot speed the process up in any way.

marshmallow79

dunstonh wrote: »

Auto-renewal of general insurance policies is very common. They are allowed and providing renewal terms were issued and it said on there what you needed to do to cancel, then they are considered acceptable.



FOS will pass your complaint on to Swinton who then have 8 weeks to investigate and give a decision. If you dont like that decision then you have the right to take it to the FOS who will then take about 3-12 months to give their decision (6-9 seems about right at the moment). You cannot speed the process up in any way.

I understand the auto renewal is common and fully accepted but as far as I'm concerned when I tell someone I'm not willing to pay £45 for a cancellation fee and not to bother renewing the insurance then I have stuck to their companies cancellation policy but it's looking like they don't want to do the same thing!

LittleVoice

Do they claim to record telephone calls? If so, get them to find your conversation. They have admitted that there is some sort of note on your file - and you write it as though it could be considered to be a cancellation "would probably be letting the policy lapse" though it isn't certain and goes on to put the onus back on you to get back to them.

So have you now cancelled the policy and so your OH is not using the car?

marshmallow79

Sadly no they don't record phone calls as it was my local office I called not the main customer service centre.
Yes I've now had the policy cancelled as I'm selling the car (I was planning to sell it in Jan which is why I wanted to cancel it then until I found out about the cancellation fee). By the end of the day the car will be sold so I've got no need for an insurance policy on it. I even said to the manager that I was selling the car now rather than jan because of their cancellation fee and that it was a really pain for my hubby to use public transport at the moment due to the time of year and why would we being going through all this hassle of using pubilc transport if we had expected to still have a second car with insurance! Her reply was that she couldn't justify MY actions or explain them (CHEEKY MARE!!!!:mad:).

dunstonh

If you have arranged alternative insurance then the FOS would consider this strong evidence in your favour. if you havent and the car is not declared off road then you lack evidence supporting your case.

The problem you have is that it is your word against theirs. If they choose to fight it then a decision on balance of probability will have to be made and a few places where you have posted it throws open doubts as to whether you wanted it cancelled now or when you sold the car. For example, telling the manager you are selling the car does not mean you want it cancelled. You have a legal requirement to have car insurance if the car is on the road, even if parked. If he cancelled on that basis, it could leave you breaking the law.

marshmallow79

I did tell the guy that I didn't want to pay the £45 cancellation fee as it wasn't worth it and to cancel it and if I was to change my mind then I would call him back.
The car is taxed but it is currently in my garage and not on the road so no law breaking there. I have only put the car up for sale now because there was no point in me keeping it to Jan as I can't use it due to the no insurance (or so I thought!).
I'm confused as to what you think I've posted dunstonh that puts in doubt as to whether I wanted the insurance or not, can you quote me (please make sure you check what I have typed just before and after whatever you quote to see if you could have been mistaken first please)?
Would the FOS not consider me selling me car now rather than when I original planned (Jan) evidence that I clearly didn't want the insurance (selling it on ebay and I posted it on there before my insurance ran out!). Also the fact that my husband has been using public transport rather than the car since I thought the insurance ran out would surely be some hint to them that we had no idea they were going to do this?

marshmallow79

Just thought I'd give you an update. I finally got a call back from Swinton who basically told me that because there was no recording of the conversation I had had with their branch member and that I had proof that A. my car had infact been off the road the few days they told me they'd covered me and they were trying to charge me for, an B. I also had proof that I had put my car up for sale before the cover had been due to start, that they would not be going forward with charging me the £40+ cancellation fees and £10+ few days coverage!:j
It just goes to show that the big guy doesn't always win and that complaining about bad service can get you somewhere. Thanks everyone who gave me advice it's appriciated.:T