Elephant. Is this correct??

lynsiloo

I recently changed my car insurance policy from Elephant to the RAC. However, today I have recieved an e-mail from Elephant claiming I still owe them £52.21. When I phoned to find out why, I was told it was a 'back dated payment' because half way through my policy with Elephant I got 3 points on my licence which I never told them about. When I went to get a renewal quote from them I told them about the 3 points and when the incident occured. So now that I have left them they now want the extra money that I should have been paying on my policy because of the points.
Is there any way I can get out of paying this or will I just have to give them what I probably should have a few months ago????

deanos

You are meant to tell them if you get any points, i would just cancel your new policy and go elsewhere, not sure if they can demand payment tho if the policy has run out and you have had no claims, if you had made a claim im sure they would get out of paying because you didnt mention it.

Bossyboots

lynsiloo wrote:

I recently changed my car insurance policy from Elephant to the RAC. However, today I have recieved an e-mail from Elephant claiming I still owe them £52.21. When I phoned to find out why, I was told it was a 'back dated payment' because half way through my policy with Elephant I got 3 points on my licence which I never told them about. When I went to get a renewal quote from them I told them about the 3 points and when the incident occured. So now that I have left them they now want the extra money that I should have been paying on my policy because of the points.
Is there any way I can get out of paying this or will I just have to give them what I probably should have a few months ago????

DO you still have the policy t&c's? Check what it says in there. If it says (as most of them do) that you should report convictions or material changes when they occur then you owe them the money.

If it is ambiguous you might be able to argue that you didn't realise that you needed to let them know at the time, you thought renewal would be okay. If their usual practice is to load a policy because of driving convictions then even if they accept that argument, you still owe them the money.

Many insurers seem to ignore three points but the fact that you have renewed elsewhere may be why they are charging you for this. If you had stayed with them, they might have let you off the additional charge for that year and just charged you more on renewal.

lynsiloo

I got rid of all the t&c when I moved to the RAC. They have threatened to send debt collectors if I do not send the money within ten days of receiving the e-mail.

Bossyboots

lynsiloo wrote:

I got rid of all the t&c when I moved to the RAC. They have threatened to send debt collectors if I do not send the money within ten days of receiving the e-mail.

The policy t@cs are here http://www.elephant.co.uk/Policy/versions/policy13.pdf

It is clear from there that you only had to notify them on renewal of your conviction, not before. I have only read it briefly but I cannot see that they are in a position to charge you anything, unless there is a clause somewhere near the end.

As you were not obliged to notify them during the insurance period, I would be inclined to contact them again and ask where in your agreement it states an increased premium is payable in these circumstances.

lynsiloo

Thanks Bossyboots I will have a read and then give them a call.