Direct Line won't pay overpaid money back

damiancox78

Hi,

I took out a policy with Direct Line in September, and they asked me to send to them proof of my no claims bonus with my previous insurers. I did this, but a few weeks later I got a letter saying they were increasing my installment amount from £39 to £117 because they hadn't received the proof. On speaking to them, they said they'd received the letter, but it wasn't good enough proof.

So I sent another letter, which they then claimed didn't prove my no claims bonus up until the expiry of my policy (which I'm pretty sure it did), and by this time they'd already upped the amount. I sent them the letter again, but they've claimed they still haven't received sufficient proof (the AA also faxed them a copy direct).

I called them yet again last week, and they gave me what was supposed to be their fax number. I again sent the proof of no claims bonus, along with my name, address, phone number and policy number, but it now turns out they gave me the wrong number (so some stranger now has my personal details). I got a different number off them tonight, and have sent it again.

They've now been charging me this amount since January, so I've paid about £312 too much to date.

However, I asked them tonight to transfer this amount straight back into my account, but they say they can't do that. All they can do is pay off the rest of the policy, and send me the difference (probably about £30). However, this is no good to me, I'm in debt and am dealing with a debt management company, losing this amount of money each month has caused problems and now I owe even more money to various companies.

In a very long winded way, what I'm trying to ask is are the obliged to pay the additional amount they've been charging me back, and then continue with the original payment schedule. As far as I see it, they've taken money straight out of my account, so they should be putting it straight back in again. What have I done wrong to have my payment schedule cancelled (I've made all the payments on time).

The only other option I have (which I'm considering anyway) is to cancel my policy with Direct Line, in which case they can pay me it back apparently. However, this will incur a cancellation charge.

I'd appreciate any advice.

MarkyMarkD

Yes but no but.

Your original premium - including the NCD - was based on you correctly and honestly disclosing the NCD entitlement you had.

Normally there would be no difficulty in proving this - the renewal notice from the previous insurer is the proof.

The fact that you are saying things like

(which I'm pretty sure it did)

makes me think that, frankly, there is something you are not telling us.

Did you cancel your previous policy mid-term, or something like that? Is there a reason why you did not have a standard straightforward renewal notice which would always include the number of years' NCD entitlement, clearly and unequivocally?

Insurers normally specify at the outset that you have to send them proof of NCD, and then issue a reminder after a few weeks. They wouldn't normally start increasing premiums until a reasonable time after the reminder - so maybe a month after the policy started. Did you not manage to get them reasonable proof within a month of the policy's start?

I cannot imagine why they started asking for faxed proof. Faxes are too easy to fake in any case. Most insurers insist on original proof. But equally well they will normally contact the other insurer - if necessary.

AFAIK AA are not an insurer, but a broker. That might not be helping matters.

Anyway, after saying all that, then YES, they are allowed to increase your premium if you do not provide adequate proof of NCD. And YES, that might lead to a breach of your payment schedule and consequently a reversion to a requirement to pay up front.

The fact that you are on a DMP makes me wonder why they would allow you to pay in instalments in the first place.

damiancox78

Thanks for your reply.

My previous policy ended when I had an accident in my previous car, which was written off. However, I had my no claims bonus protected.

As soon as they asked for the proof, I sent them my renewal notice, which included the no claims bonus. However, Direct Line said that this did not tell them the no claims bonus at the time my insurance was ended (ie. when the previous insurer paid out), so they asked for further proof, which they said could be a letter from the AA stating the amount of ncb at the time my policy ended. They also gave me their fax number saying that the AA could send this direct.

I phoned the AA and asked them to send this direct to Direct Line, which they said they did, and they also sent a copy of this letter in the post to me. This clearly stated that the no claims bonus at the end of my policy (also stating the date, September 2008), was 6 years.

However, a further payment of £117 then went out, so I phoned up to complain and one person said they hadn't received the letter, another said it wasn't proof at the time my insurance expired (even though it specified the date).

They had actually advised me to send the faxed copy of the letter, so a fax is obviously good enough for them. The difficulty appears to be with them agreeing the dates. As I say, my previous insurance ended when they paid out, I then immediately went out and bought my next vehicle, which I insured with direct line. But they don't seem to want to accept any proof of the ncb.

With regards to breach of the payment schedule, I've continued to pay on time, even the additional amount they've added on. If they thought I was in breach I would expect them to ask me for the full years amount, but they didn't, they just added it onto my monthly payments.

zkw29

damiancox78 wrote: »

I called them yet again last week, and they gave me what was supposed to be their fax number. I again sent the proof of no claims bonus, along with my name, address, phone number and policy number, but it now turns out they gave me the wrong number (so some stranger now has my personal details). I got a different number off them tonight, and have sent it again.

Just to put your mind at rest about your personal details. Direct Line have hundreds of fax machines across their different offices and departments. The number they gave you would most likely have been a Direct Line fax number - just not for the correct department. For example, it might have been the one closest to the person you spoke to who was intending to deal with it for you.

vikingaero

Make a formal complaint in writing to Direct Line.

They will send you a confirmation and investigate.

Worst case: escalate the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

MarkyMarkD

Thanks for the extra information.

Assuming that you correctly disclosed the accident in which your original car was written off, I cannot see what the problem was, apart from the fact that providing a renewal notice for a past year of insurance is no evidence at all of your NCD status at the time you original policy ended.

The letter from the AA - if they are indeed the broker - should have done the job.

Valli

vikingaero wrote: »

Make a formal complaint in writing to Direct Line.

They will send you a confirmation and investigate.

Worst case: escalate the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

ditto that - complaints in writing seem to spur companies on to sort things out, as I found out with a CC problem earlier this year.
And give them a time limit, say 14 days from the date of your letter, which you will, of course, send recorded delivery, and keep a copy of, ready for the ombudsman.

No more phone calls!

damiancox78

Thanks all for the advice.

I've been advised to phone back in 48 hours to check if the fax was received, so I will try speaking to someone else first to find out what they say (different members of staff seem to have a different opinion on what they can and can't do). If I get no joy there I'll write to them as advised and see if that does any good.

If not, then I'll just have to pay the cancellation fee and go elsewhere. It seems strange that they can only give me the money back if I cancel my policy, you'd think they'd want to try to keep hold of their customers.

Thanks again.

damiancox78

Just as an update, I decided to cancel my policy on Saturday (though my phone calls to do this on both Saturday and Sunday were pointless because the people I spoke to didn't actually cancel it, only on Monday when I spoke to a third person did the policy actually get cancelled).

I then ended up getting in a bit of an argument with them trying to get them to agree how much I was owed. They said I was now paid up to the end of my policy in September and had no more payments to make until then. But, they seemed to think that I was only entitled to £7.45 refund for cancelling 6 months early! After several attempts at explaining "if I've paid to the end of the policy, I'm cancelling 6 months early, and the cancellation fee is 1 months payment, then I'm entitled to 5 months refund" did someone in account realise that their software appears to have gone mad somewhere. After doing the calculations manually, they finally agreed that I'm actually owed £211!

I just wonder how many people have cancelled policies with Direct Line and have assumed their refund is correct, without checking?

Anyway, I'm happy now as I've got (or should get in about a week) what I was entitled to.

Thanks again for the advice.