Quotline Direct - policy cancellation

wongwong

I took out home insurance through Quoteline Direct last year, due for renewal in November. I called Quoteline in October to say that I didn't wish to renew as I had found a cheaper quote. When checking my online bank account I noticed that they had continued to take direct debit from my account. I immediatley cancelled direct debit and have now received a letter stating that I owe them £120 cancellation fee!

Surely this is not my fault that they failed to cancel policy? Has this happened to anyone else and do I have to pay?

lisyloo

Do you have any proof of your cancellation
e.g. written acknowledgement/confirmation?
email?
recorded delivery receipt?
Date/time/name of phone call?
If you know the date/time they might have recordings?

I suspect you have no proof and either they have genuinely lost your call or cynically lost it deliberately.

You could try to complain, but basically it sounds like you cannot prove you cancelled it.

I would advise in future to get some proof.
The best is to get it in writing from them or get a recorded delivery reeipt for your letter.
You can also take dates, time etc. of phone calls but there is no guaratee that phone calls will be recorded.
If it's really important then I do the first one and get it in writing.
If I trust the company then I get the all the phone details. Sometimes I call back the next day and speak to some one different and ask them to check it's on the notes.
Depends on the importance and level of trust.

Try callign them first and if not satisfied then raise a formal complaint.
But be prepared to lose if you have no proof.

Yes it has happened to other people, companies do it all the time and due to the levels of it, I suspect some of it is cynical rather than genuine error.
I would suggest paying it short term whilst you complaint proceeds because if it's drags on you could end up with a balck mark on your credit report and a poor credit record just mean you won't be able to get credit in future.

dacouch

Offer to send them a copy of your alternative cover, if it runs concurrently a lot of Insurers will waive all or a lot of the charge as they can see they had no risk of a claim