Car Insurers Scam Customers

snapdragon69

I took out my car insurance on May the 3rd, as it was due.
I went with Budget as they were cheapest via confused.com.
Yesterday, I bought a different car, I changed my 8 year old Vauxhall Omega Elite for a 4 year old VW Passat.
I rang Budget, and after 101 questions, I was told the car was a "Prohibited Vehicle" A what? She said she would have to try another insurer, the quote came through as £750, I said I had already had quotes for £479 on confused.com, and she said I could cancel my insurance, but I'd be paying the equivalent of 9 months for the 3 weeks I have had it due to cancelation and admin fees etc...

This is an outrage, as they are the ones cancelling it.
Is there any way I can get my money back in a similar way to the unfair bank charges?

It seems a scam, whereby if you want to change a detail of you policy, they say it can't be done and then rip you off cancelling your policy by forced majeure.

The company Budget is the same as Dial Direct, Post Office, Admiral and BISL.

Bossyboots

Its no help to you, but I wouldn't touch Budget with a bargepole. They told me two lies which I could prove. I would try ringing them back and speaking to someone else. You might get a different answer.

Did you get an explanation of why it was prohibited? How old are you?

Astaroth

Budget is a broker and is BISL trading name as is Post Office Insurance and Dial Direct

Admiral howerver is a seperate company but also trades as Confused.com, Elephant.co.uk, Diamond to name but a few.

You have paid for a 12 month contract and have no legal right to cancel the policy after the first 14 days - these rules are laid out by the FSA. If they do allow you to cancel the policy it is at their discretion and they can charge a fee which you get to choose to agree to up front or simply not cancel the policy. If you went on a 3 week holiday and just decided 1/2 way through it that you wanted to go home... would you expect the tour operator to send you home free of charge and refund you for the other 1/2 of your holiday?

Why are they saying it is a prohibited vehicle? Is the cover to be TPFT/ TPO or Comprehensive? How much is the vehicle worth? How old are you? - these combined are the only things that jump to mind as being a problem

savvy

Astaroth wrote:

Why are they saying it is a prohibited vehicle? Is the cover to be TPFT/ TPO or Comprehensive? How much is the vehicle worth? How old are you? - these combined are the only things that jump to mind as being a problem

I tried Budget ONCE when I bought a new car, but they wouldn't let me have Comprehensive on my 5 year old Passat because it was too old :eek:.................blumming cheek, it was new to me!

Astaroth

Never heard of Comp being refused on a vehicle due to age... my main 2 thoughts were that the OP wants TPO or TPFT cover on a vehicle which is considered to be worth too much - I know that all of our brands have a financial max value that we will consider for these levels of cover.

Likewise age can limit the grouping of the vehicle we will insure

savvy

Astaroth wrote:

Never heard of Comp being refused on a vehicle due to age... my main 2 thoughts were that the OP wants TPO or TPFT cover on a vehicle which is considered to be worth too much - I know that all of our brands have a financial max value that we will consider for these levels of cover.

Likewise age can limit the grouping of the vehicle we will insure

No I hadn't, as I'd always had Fully Comp on my 9 yr old Cavalier

missile

Cheapest is not always best. Unfortunately one usually only find that out too late

mattymoo

Odd that the Passat is a prohibited vehicle unless it is one of the 4Motion variant (top spec) Passats or the call centre operator has keyed in Phaeton (v. expensive VW) by mistake.

Get them to double check their calculation and ask for a full explanation in writing as to why it is a prohibited vehicle.

PS: some policies give you the option to cancel in the first 30 days providing a claim has not been made. Check the fine print.

snapdragon69

Thanks for the replies.
I'm 32 with 7 years no claims.
My last car was top of the range and had sat nav, xenon headlights etc..., this is just a basic Passat Estate!
I have also tried getting a new online quote for the passat from budget and it says it's unable to provide cover, so next I'll delete my cookies and try it under a neighbour's name and address and keep the other details the same.

ArchieB_2

Import? Have you given the reg number and it is coming up as a past insurance write off?? They must be able to explain why the vehicle cannot be quoted on.

Otherwise there is no reason surely.

impy78

It will depend on your underwriter - some of the underwriters will prohibit ANY changes to the policy during the 12 month contract.

It's a bit odd for that car, I quite agree, I wouldn't excpect it to be that much...
Unless you have any points on your licence and it's a 1.9.


BTW, Admiral aren't part of BISL, they are part of Royal Bank of Scotland group who own Direct Line, Tesco, Green Flag, Privilege etc etc

ArchieB wrote:

They must be able to explain why the vehicle cannot be quoted on.

We just get a screen that says "vehicle not allowed" and that's as much of an explanation as we get.