Halifax Car Insurance Automatic Renewal????

Felix_the_Foccer

Last year, my partner was insured with Halifax for her car insurance.

When she received the renewal quote, it was too high so we shopped about and found a cheaper quote with AXA and she took out a policy with them instead.

The Halifax later took a Direct Debit instalment from her bank and when she rang them to query this, they said 'oh, we renew it for you automatically unless we hear otherwise'.

Now, I guess we should have read any smallprint, but the Halifax promised that if she sent the Insurance Certificate back to them, along with a copy of her NEW insurance cert, that they would reimburse her the payment of £66.23.

She has sent them all the docs they wanted, and now they have written saying she owes them £30 (She was uninsured for 1 day inbetween companies so they are saying she owes them for that day). They are also saying there is a 'Cancellation Fee' of (from memory £32).

They then said that if she pays £20 (yesterday) then we won't hear from them again. I refused.

Can they do this without any comeback ...? It seems to me if they can think of a number (i.e. £20) to end it all, then they could just as easily write the thing off....? or, should they refund my partner the £66.23 etc ...

Grateful for any advice ... Thanks in advance.

dacouch

They will normally want some type of payment as you were insured by them for one day, if you had been involved in an accident you would have looked to them to pay the claim and they would have had to deal with the claim under the terms of the policy.

A charge of £20 is fairly reasonable for the situation, you might be able to get them to waive the fee if you speak to the right person or write a letter but bear in mind you were covered for the day. If you decide to complain you will get a better response if your call / letter is polite and avoids ranting

dunstonh

Now, I guess we should have read any smallprint

its not small print. Its contained in the main part of the renewal letter in the section on what to do next if you do or do not want the insurance.

She has sent them all the docs they wanted, and now they have written saying she owes them £30 (She was uninsured for 1 day inbetween companies so they are saying she owes them for that day). They are also saying there is a 'Cancellation Fee' of (from memory £32).

That seems fair enough.

1 - She failed to tell them not to renew. So, they could potentially have taken a harder line but they didnt. They offered a refund as long as she could prove dual insurance. That is very fair and reasonable.
2 - They have actually provided cover because she didnt choose the correct date. So, dual insurance did not occur until one day after the policy was in force. So, they have every right to charge for that one day.
3 - The FOS generally allow cancellation and admin fees up to £50 (they could allow more but their publications show examples where they have rejected complaints where the fee was up to £50).

So, looking at the position from a technical point of view, the Halifax have done no wrong and have actually given very fair and reasonable refund terms. If only more were like that. Your partner made a couple of errors. 1) not reading the renewal letter, which is only one or two sides of A4 and 2) not insuring with the new policy from the correct date.

Its possible they will waive it totally if you can persuade them, as dacouch suggests above. However, I have to say that I am impressed with that they have offered.

Quentin

Now they've come down to £20, there is some evidence that (although they are entitled to the money) if you make enough rumblings and escalate your complaint insurers give in and waive the fee rather than have to fork out more in management time and money defending the complaint (if you take it all the way!)

foggytown

Quentin wrote: »

Now they've come down to £20, there is some evidence that (although they are entitled to the money) if you make enough rumblings and escalate your complaint insurers give in and waive the fee rather than have to fork out more in management time and money defending the complaint (if you take it all the way!)

Also, make certain that the auto-renewal provision was actually part of the policy that expired. If it wasn't then they can't just spring it on you at renewal.

f3f0f9f5

I have had a similar experience with the Halifax's household insurance. They advised that it was part of the policy terms to automatically renew - but on inspecting the policy it does not mention it. I have complained that this is an unfair practice - If you take out an annual policy then you should have no obligation to advise that you do not want to renew.