Do I have to wait for 30 days for a refund for my car insurance?

denmjd

Hi This is my very first post so apologies if it is in the wrong place..
I have paid for my sons car insurance for the year upfront (he's paying me back as he goes) he had to send in forms & a copy of his driving licences etc, which he did, apparently they didn't get them & have cancelled his insurance, they are now saying that there will be an administration charge of £75.00 + the cost of his insurance for the days covered, they then said that I will get the money back in 30 days, my question is can they do this? this is what they said on their e-mail...

"I can confirm that under the Insurance conduct of Business we have up to 30 days to return any refund that is due back to our policy holders. This is why we advise our policy holder to allow 30 days for this refund to be issued. "
I did try to ring them about this issue, but my phone barrs calls to premium rate numbers (they charge £1.00 per min to talk to them)

I have now taken out another policy with another company, Aviva, who were so helpful when I rang them up (free calls too) & they were cheaper than the original insurance company
personally I have never known a company to do this before, is this right & can I do anything about it?:(
Thanks for taking the time to read this

Dave_Z

Who were the original company? Neither i or any of my family have ever been asked to send in forms or copies of our licence to an insurance company. In any event i would expect a reminder letter about said items before just cancelling the insurance (which could affect his future premiums).

Back to the question; I have had a few refunds in my time and none have taken more than a week/5 working days.

And one more point of advice. Aviva are great when you ring to take out a policy and often quote good prices, but God help you if you ever need to claim. I hope you never have cause to discover their gross incompetence.

denmjd

Hi Dave

Thanks for replying the company is ecar insurance, have you heard of them?

denmjd

ps.. no letter was sent to say they hadn't received them

Dave_Z

Haven't heard of them but i would seriously question them cancelling insurance in this way. Obviously things can easily get misplaced or lost in the post so for them to just cancel doesn't seem right. Several years ago in my darker financial days, i had insurance cancelled as my monthly payments bounced, but i had letters warning me that it could happen and shortly after that it was happening. I was given the chance to try and correct the situation before it got cancelled.

denmjd

Thanks Dave, I thought it was unprofessional of them too... I am going to email them back & question this, I think they just want to hang on to the money to get 30 days interest in their account.. makes you wonder how often they do this.. So if anyone mentions ecarinsurance.co.uk:eek: to you advise them against it..
Thanks for your replies, I do appreciate them :T

Keith

denmjd wrote: »

Hi Dave

Thanks for replying the company is ecar insurance, have you heard of them?

Yes I was a customer for 3 years, very good service and never had a problem

Next time you send docs perhaps send them by fax and recorded delivery. Some of the smaller brokers ask to see docs

Quentin

See if you can get them to rescind this cancellation - otherwise this is a serious issue your son has on his record, and can cause problems taking out insurance in the future. (Did he declare this to aviva when taking out the policy with them?)

If you are successful in getting the policy reinstated, then you can cancel the Aviva policy during the cooling off period. As Dave Z previously posted, if you do a search on MSE or on the net you will see how poor they are regarded as far as any after sales service is concerned.

denmjd

Hi Keith & Quentin, thanks for your comments, I will try to get them to change it however I have to say I was disappointed that I couldn't get to speak to them as their phone charges are £1.00 a min to talk to them, & both my mobile & home phone barrs premium rated calls, very frustrating to say the least, & no letter or call to say they hadn't received them, they just cancelled it...
Will have to try & work out what I can do to get this sorted out

Many Thanks x

Quentin

denmjd wrote: »

I was disappointed that I couldn't get to speak to them as their phone charges are £1.00 a min to talk to them, & both my mobile & home phone barrs premium rated calls, very frustrating to say the least.....

Looks like they only deal online - they claim emails answered in 4 hours, though get poor reviews here:

http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews103920.html

But as already posted, having a cancelled policy on your record is very bad for the future, and well worth fighting to get it reinstated.

al25

I've had the same problem with this company, I was informed that refunds take upto 30 "working days" that period has just about lapsed but still no news of any refund.
I have sent them an email once again, Just hope I don't have to go through small claims to get my money back.