Swinton Home Insurance

thejedi

I seem to be having some difficulty with Swinton Home Contents Insurance. I took out a policy with them last July, but after receiving the finer details from them I decided I no longer wished to be insured with them.
They sent a letter which stated if I wished to cancel the insurance within five days of receiving the letter, I was able to. It had a form attached which I filled out stating I did not wish to continue with the policy.
Thankfully I made a copy of the letter and form I sent back.

I am now receiving about three letters a week claiming that I owe them money. As far as I was aware I had cancelled the policy. They are claiming they did not receive any cancellation letter.
I have since sent them a copy of the original cancellation, and I all I received back was a letter from their debt collection department.

I don't know where I stand with this and whether I have to pay the money they claim I owe them. I thought I had did everything correctly?

FinAdv

Hi,

Well, if you did cancel the policy within 5 days of receiving their letter and have a photocopy of letter that you sent them, there shouldn't be a problem sorting this out.

You should speak to the debt collection company. They would ask for the letter you received from Swinton as well as the one that you photocopied. And they should be able to clear it out for you. You shouldn't have to pay anything since you did everything right.

Best of luck!

Quentin

The only thing you could/should have done was send your letter to them via recorded delivery. Then you could easily "prove" they received your instructions.

thejedi

Thank you! I shall endeavour to get this dealt with...

thejedi

Ok - So I have since spoken to Swinton Complaints Department, to a rather snotty gentleman who seemed to be trying to catch me out with every piece of information I was telling him.

They asked why I cancelled the policy in the first place, and I told them it was because my employment situation had changed and I wasn't in the country.

They now want to see evidence (Flight tickets, pay slips, etc) to prove that I was employed with who I said I was and that indeed I was not here! I'm shaking where I am so furious. I regret not sending anything by recorded delivery, because they are really making me pay for it now. I don't know what to do. I don't feel as though they have the right to see my personal employment details.

Quentin

It may be that if you can supply them with evidence that you truly no longer needed any insurance then they will waive the debt.

But if you choose not to comply with their requests they can't make you! (Though they can continue to pursue you for their money)