car insurance, 5 months! wait for refund

Dominic666

Struggling to get by at the moment, lost my job and on benefit, so i suspended my car insurance with Elephant on Jan 31st 2011, they told me over the phone Februarys direct debit had been requested from my bank and they would refund this back. Money was taken 1st Feb 2011. I understand now i should have cancelled the d/d myself but at the time this was a option.

On the 10th Feb I get a letter in the post telling me the money would be refunded in June when the policy ends or used as a cancellation charge. This isn't what i was told over the phone. I have £14 to last 10 days for food now thanks to Elephant. Sent them 2 emails telling them iv been a good customer for years and will leave them but they seem to be automated replys telling me it's company policy. Well this company policy stinks and iv been mugged. I have no idea what my next move is, any advice?

lisyloo

Can you confirm whether you do really have a direct debit mandate set up at your bank or whether you gave them debit card details.
I can read what you said but sometimes people use the wrong terminology so just checking.

If you really do have a direct debit then I would ask your bank to refund you under the direct debit guarantee.
These are your legal rights.

Dominic666

Direct Debit mandate, although i cancelled it yesterday for fear they take more out in March.

lisyloo

I would ask you bank to refund it under the DD guarantee as it was taken wrongly.
These are your legal rights.
If a call center preson tries to fob you off then insist on speaking to a manager.

If you want to save on phone costs try
https://www.saynoto0870.com

Dominic666

i'm confident i'm not, but what if i'm wrong, i don't want Elephant to issue a bad credit rating. Just taking my money back without Elephant knowing could be seen as criminal?

lisyloo

You are asking your bank to refund you not elephant.

Up to you whether you want to do it or not but I thought you didn't have enough money for food?

Don't you have any family of friends who would at least feed you?
If you were my family or friend I wouldn't let you go hungry if I had food on my table.

mummysaver1

To be honest I dont think you stand a chance. You cancelled the day before payment was due, even if you cancelled with the bank it would have gone out as there wasnt enough notice. Also you lost your job and then managed to get a benefits claim accepted which takes a few weeks so you should have really cancelled then. I wouldnt be too surprised either if the try to claim the remainder of the balance from you as in effect you have taken a loan to cover the premium, and that loan needs to be paid back.

Quentin

You may have misunderstood what happens when you suspend cover.

When you suspend cover that doesn't mean you can suspend payments.

Your insurer will give you any refund due from the suspension at the end of the period of suspension.

If you don't pay March's instalment (which it looks like as you have cancelled the dd), then you will be in default and your insurer may cancel your policy unless you quickly pay what is owed. This may cause more trouble than the bad credit rating you are worried about - future insurance may be hard (and expensive) to obtain.