IBUYECO won't suspend car insurance, help!

serena44

My daughter recently lost her job and has had to take her car off the road as she has no money. Ibuyeco will not let her suspend the policy they say... as they are only a broker and have paid the insurance up front the policy can't be cancelled. Is this right?

She can't pay premiums as she has no money, can't cancel the policy because it would cost another £250+ and can't cancel her direct debits even though it costs £40 everytime one is refused due to lack of funds.I've spent 50mins on the phone to Ibuyeco but can't get passed the customer service advisor and they won't give me an address to write to. (She only paid £500 for the car):mad:

I've paid November and Decembers' premiums for her but can't afford to loan her anymore money. We're getting desperate now...what can we do?

Quentin

Although this will only help out over the bank charging the £40 for refusing a direct debit, she can cancel the direct debit.

All she needs to do is contact her bank and instruct them to cancel it.

Cancelling the dd will only stop these bank charges, nothing else, so the insurer will still pursue her for any money owed.

lisyloo

Hi Serena,

Car insurance is normally a 12 month contract (unless you buy a much more expensive policy for short term).
It's not pay as you go.
It can be cancelled but as you have found out the short term cover is more expensive (because they have the same admin/underwriting costs for less business) and there are fees for cancellation.
So sometimes it costs just as much to cancel as to continue.

I know it's not much help to you or your daughter but it would all have been explained in the policy documentation so I'm afraid there isn't any get out.

As Quentin says she is entitled to cancel the DD which will at least avoid the bank charges, but the debt is still owed and they will probably chase it.
If she doesn't pay then what will happen is they will chase and then eventually they will probably sell it on to debt collectors.
Some debt collectors use scary/threatening letters to try to get the money and certainly harrass people (multiple phone calls per day).
Not trying to scaremonger, but forewarned is forearmed and it's better you know what to expect (although there will be multiple letters before it gets to that stage).
After that they can win a case in court and potentially send balliffs round to seize goods. Of course they can't get blood out of a stone but a judgment would go on her credit record for a long time.

I sympathise with your/her situation but she needs to plan in future for her commitments. This can take the form of formal insurance or she can save a bit whilst she's working.

On a practical note, would it be a good idea for her to sell the car?
I know it's not worth much, but if her credit rating get's messed up then it will be on her record for a long time and she will have trouble getting any credit including a mortgage for many years.
So if at all possible then it's really best avoided.

If she's been working then does she have any items she can sell? - books, cds, dvds, clothing? etc.
I know it doesn't sound great, but ebaying and car boot sales, might be what she has to do to retain a prospect of a credit rating.

Oscar_The_Grouch

Hi there,

I know this sounds like a stupid suggestion, but has your daughter tried speaking to her local pub or restaurant to see if they have any jobs going? It would leave her days free to go job hunting and probably pay her enough to keep her car on the road.

It's the only thing I can think of really, as Quentin has covered the direct debit issue.

The only other thing I would do if I was your daughter is phone Ibuyeco and ask them what the hell they were doing discussing her insurance with you and whether they usually breach the Data Protection Act in this manner. If she kicks up enough of a stink and says that she's worried about the security of her data and requires the immediate cancellation of the policy due to their inadequate systems and controls, she has a good argument for avoiding the additional cancellation charges. She could also ask whether they would prefer it if she were to contact the FSA regarding their breach of legislation - won't do much but it will get her through to the complaints team!!

mikey72

from the website
"9. What to do if you have a complaint?
Service Standards
We aim to provide a high level of service to all our customers but occasionally
things can go wrong, when this happens we will do everything we can to put
things right.
Complaints Procedure
If you have a complaint about our service or your policy, please contact us
first by phone and if after talking to us you are still not happy please write to
our Service Quality & Assessment Manager at the address shown below.
Should you wish to use an alternative means of communication, we are happy
on request to correspond with you by e-mail, or fax.
For the purposes of handling complaints our working day is 9am to 5pm Monday
to Friday, not including Bank Holidays.
By telephone:
Please ring 0844 871 2310 and you will be put through to the Customer
Service Team. We will attempt to resolve your complaint within 24 hours.
If this does not happen we will agree your next step with you. Calls to
our 0844 numbers cost 5p/minute from a BT landline, set up fees may
apply and network charges may vary. Calls from mobile phones may
be considerably more.
In writing:
Please address your letter to:
Service Quality & Assessment Manager
Fusion House
Bretton Way
Peterborough
PE3 8BG

Please include details of your name and address, a contact telephone
number, your policy or quote number and details of why you are unhappy.
This will help us to respond to you as quickly as possible. If we do not have
enough information to investigate your complaint we will contact you to
ask you for further details. In all cases we will send a written acknowledgement
of your complaint to you within 5 working days of its receipt. In our
acknowledgement we will advise you of the name and job title of the person
who will be dealing with your complaint. "


Defaulting could be expensive as well though.


"Car insurance fees and charges


We believe in being completely upfront about our fees and charges. That way, there are no surprises waiting for you after you take out a policy.

• If you cancel your policy within 14 days - £20
• If you cancel your policy after 14 days - £35 plus an additional charge dependent on the length of policy remaining
• If you default on a payment - £20
• Document reprint fee - £10
• Administration fee - £25 (changes made during the lifetime of the policy)
• Telephone Administration fee - £10 (buying a policy on the phone)

Details of these fees and charges are also contained within your policy documents –you can see a sample when you get a car insurance quote ."


(can't see the details from the home page though.)

serena44

Oscar, she was working at the local pub but they cut staff at the end of the summer season...she is looking for another job...any job but jobs here tend to be seasonal.
I rang the insurance company at her request and they checked I had permission...they had my daughter in tears as they just kept reciting script to her.

lisyloo

I have pm'ed you regarding a job (check your private messages).
From time to time I'd find it useful to know where people are located (when I'm offering help) so it would be useful to have this in profiles.
If you don't want to be specific then county would still be useful.
You never know, someone might be able to assist in some way.

serena44

Thank you for all your replies. I think what is most frustrating with all of this is not being able to go into an office and speak to a person...trying to sort things over the phone at 5p per minute when you are put through to automated lines and kept on hold for 15mins at a time means that I'm wound up before I even get to speak to a 'human' (in quotes because they can't deviate from their script!) It all makes me want to scream and I do, when I get off the phone of course. My daughter wants to do the right thing and avoid getting into debt but the companies involved don't make it easy, she knows she was naive about the small print but Iv'e read it myself and it's so confusing and the only winner is IBUYECO £1200 for a policy she'll never use as she can't afford to run the car!
lisyloo...I hope my reply to your pm got through...thanks again for your kind thoughts.
Thanks Mikey...I'm going to try writing to that address and also to Zurich who the insurance is with...after all if as ibuyeco say, they have paid premiums up front Zurich should be able to suspend policy temporarily to extend end time of insurance(even though we'll have to continue paying)

dunstonh

after all if as ibuyeco say, they have paid premiums up front Zurich should be able to suspend policy temporarily to extend end time of insurance(even though we'll have to continue paying)

You buy car insurance for a 12 month contract. The insurer is paid in advance and normally a credit agreement is used to pay the monthly amount. It is not pay as you go. You dont extend the time as it has a fixed renewal. They are not designed to be flexible.

Oscar_The_Grouch

Serena, thanks for explaining the position regarding your daughter's job. Shame you had her permission to speak to the insurance broker, as that would have helped a great deal!!

Regarding the phone costs, I looked at the website www.saynoto0870.com where they list alternative numbers. The alternatives for IBUYECO are:

01733 845845 or
0800 2947570

If you get 01 numbers included in your phone package, use that one. Othewise, I think the freephone number gets you through to their sales line and you may have a fight on your hands getting them to transfer you!!

IBUYECO are part of Budget Insurance Services. I've looked at their FSA register entry and found the following information for you as well:

Contact for Complaints:
Debbie Holt
Tel. 01733 845 766
Fax. 01733 845 241
e-mail. [EMAIL="debbie.holt@bglgroup.co.uk"]debbie.holt@bglgroup.co.uk[/EMAIL]

Here's a link to the "names" page on the FSA website. It lists all the companies that you probably thought were separate brokers, but are actually the same firm! It's quite a list:

http://www.fsa.gov.uk/register/firmNamesCurr.do?sid=127413

I always like to make it clear if I have any links to a company and as an Insurer, I have had relationships with parts of the BISL group before both on home and motor, but have never been employed by them or responsible for the relationship.

My personal view of Budget is kept completely separate from my professional view of them. I don't and never will take out any policy that they offer or administer, but I could say the same thing for BDML (Capita) and other low cost high volume firms. Price, as your daughter has been most unfortunate to find out, is not everything.

I hope you do contact their complaints people and see what they can do to help. If you get no joy with them, look at your daughter's schedule or certificate and it should tell you who the insurance company are that provide the cover (Budget use a panel of insurers, so they have to tell you on the documents who the actual providers are). Send me a PM and I'll see if I can find you some contact details.