United Friendly Policy & Doorstep Collections

portlandboy

Hi,
I have a question which I hope someone here may be able to answer.
I have a Royal London insurance policy which was originally taken out with United Friendly 14 years ago. It was an IB policy and the premiums were collected at the door each month. Recently Royal London have been pestering me to go direct debit but I have refused to do so. They have still been collecting premiums at the door but now come every 6 months. The collector has stated that RL are making the collectors redundant in February 2011, before my policy matures.
I seem to remember being told that companies providing "friendly IB" policies HAVE to provide doorstep collection for the premiums.
So the question is - Do they HAVE to offer doorstep collections or can they just stop doing so?
Thanks in advance

dunstonh

I seem to remember being told that companies providing "friendly IB" policies HAVE to provide doorstep collection for the premiums.

I dont believe that is the case. They have to allow for alternative methods but that can be you paying by bank giro credit at your bank or posting in the premium by cheque or by standing order. They cant force direct debit although they can encourage you.

portlandboy

Thanks for the above info, Selden.
Royal London phoned in reply to me emailing them. I explained that I had not agreed to the cessation of doorstep collections and that I wanted them to continue as they have been for 20 years. I refused to go DD and insisted that the collector came back to get my payment, as he had not phoned to make sure I would be home when he called (as he had previously agreed to do).
With the above facts in mind, I insisted that Royal London have agreed to make the collector return for the payment (a round trip of about 80mls) and I have accepted £15 of shopping vouchers in exchange for me to agree to pay my remaining premiums at the Post Office. They told me that the collector should have mentioned the offer of vouchers before but must have overlooked this!!
So, once the collector comes for the 6 months premium, I'll only have 5 more to make at the Post Office before the policy ends.
However, Royal London could not say that the savings they make by making the collectors redundant will result in higher payouts for the policy-molders - not very mutual, is it?
I just wonder how many people have received the vouchers that they were entitled to when they went over to DD or PO payments?
Thanks for your help.

dunstonh

However, Royal London could not say that the savings they make by making the collectors redundant will result in higher payouts for the policy-molders - not very mutual, is it?

It will do but indirectly and by such a small amount.

Go back 15-20 years when collections were normal and you had hundreds of people in a handful of streets to collect (and at the same time got some sales to go with it), it was expensive but nowhere near as expensive as nowadays where there is probably only a handful of people in any one medium sized town who have collections. The use of post office is still not as cheap to them as direct debit or even standing order. However, it is cheaper than sending someone round.