Auto renewal who has been caught out

Jane2005

theJudge wrote: »

A lot of people buy insurance policies from heavily advertised price comparison sites without any advice available to them. If you think that consumers should be employing brokers and lawyers before taking out a policy then I'm sure that you'll agree that price comparison websites should be closed down until they provide sufficient advice to allow consumers to make an informed decision.

What is evident about not only insurance but buying any other product nowadays in this morally bankrupt country is that you should now read every line of every page of terms and conditions and policies before accepting a product or service. Obviously, if you're retired you'll have that amount of time to do this, but pretty much anybody who works doesn't have the time to do this every time they buy insurance, a holiday, a bathroom, a car, a tv, a mobile phone, change banks, change energy suppliers, apply for a mortgage etc. etc.

I don't see anything in my post which suggests we all should speak to a lawyer before taking out car insurance. Do you?

Auto renewal information is VERY clearly stated on the renewal letter,as well as being in the policy documents, it is not hidden.

I really don't see the problem, either opt out or put up with it. Even busy people can manage to find 5mins out of thier day to ask thier insurer to take off the auto renewal.

Personally I have been with the same insurance company for years and just allow it run through on auto renewal, I do of course check and compare prices, but am happy to stay with my insurer.

They will be many many people out thier who have set policies up online, without taking advice, who do not have the correct level of cover, fail to tell thier insurer of any changes, totally oblivious it runs on auto renewal, because they do not read the documents. A nanny state is definately needed for the majority out there.

starrystarry

Jane2005 wrote: »

I really don't see the problem, either opt out or put up with it. Even busy people can manage to find 5mins out of thier day to ask thier insurer to take of the auto renewal.

It's strange isn't it, they can't spare 5 mins to opt out or to read the T&Cs/renewal notice but they can spare an inordinate amount of time to moan about it on here?

Inactive

starrystarry wrote: »

I got my auto renewal letter from AA breakdown last month, wasn't happy with the price so I got a better deal elsewhere, rang AA to tell them not to renew, cancelled my DD, no problem.

.[/B]

I just had my Auto Renewal from Green Flag, they gave me a 10% discount for not claiming ...wonderful ... but then I go to their website, put my details in as a new customer, lo and behold, it is 20% cheaper than my auto renewal quote.

So I then have to contact them, threaten to cancel and all of a sudden they can match the new customer quote.

Auto renewal is a legal scam in my opinion.

Oh and yes I told them not to Auto Renew in future.

paulsad

We got an autorenewal building and contents reminder that didn't arrive until way past the renewal date of end of December - letter dated 13th December not posted or received until mid January. The renewal price was £640 (about 400 more than last year) - I rang and played hell (its my regular bank) they offered to drop price by £240. I ended up using someone else and paying £220.

They should wear masks! :cool:

mikey72

starrystarry wrote: »

I've used it. My car & house insurance have been with esure for several years. Every year I get my auto renewal letter, every year I shop around, every year esure have been competitive so every year I have allowed it to auto renew. I know when they're both due, so I know when to expect my renewal notice.

I got my auto renewal letter from AA breakdown last month, wasn't happy with the price so I got a better deal elsewhere, rang AA to tell them not to renew, cancelled my DD, no problem.

I works for me because I read my post.

Didn't trust them enough not to try to take the money anyway?

You should have read your t&c's, it says they won't charge you.

starrystarry

Inactive wrote: »

I just had my Auto Renewal from Green Flag, they gave me a 10% discount for not claiming ...wonderful ... but then I go to their website, put my details in as a new customer, lo and behold, it is 20% cheaper than my auto renewal quote.

So I then have to contact them, threaten to cancel and all of a sudden they can match the new customer quote.

Auto renewal is a legal scam in my opinion.

Oh and yes I told them not to Auto Renew in future.

That's a slightly different issue, insurers not offering their best price unless/until you threaten to cancel. I have no problem with auto renewal itself but I do have a problem with companies not offering me their best price without me having to haggle. The AA offered me a much lower price when I rang them to cancel but I told them I wasn't interested because they should have offered me that in the first place.

starrystarry

mikey72 wrote: »

Didn't trust them enough not to try to take the money anyway?

You should have read your t&c's, it says they won't charge you.

I did read the T&Cs and I do trust them not to attempt to take the money but I like my banking to be in order. If I'm no longer dealing with a particular company I always cancel the DD otherwise you end up with dozens of inactive DDs on your bank account. Am I now to be criticised for being organised with my banking?

theJudge

Jane2005 wrote: »

I don't see anything in my post which suggests we all should speak to a lawyer before taking out car insurance. Do you?

Auto renewal information is VERY clearly stated on the renewal letter,as well as being in the policy documents, it is not hidden.

I really don't see the problem, either opt out or put up with it. Even busy people can manage to find 5mins out of thier day to ask thier insurer to take off the auto renewal.

Personally I have been with the same insurance company for years and just allow it run through on auto renewal, I do of course check and compare prices, but am happy to stay with my insurer.

They will be many many people out thier who have set policies up online, without taking advice, who do not have the correct level of cover, fail to tell thier insurer of any changes, totally oblivious it runs on auto renewal, because they do not read the documents. A nanny state is definately needed for the majority out there.

Your and your fellow insurers posts are hypocritical. On the 1 hand you say that auto-renewal is needed for those people who can't be bothered to remember when their insurance policy is due, otherwise they'd be uninsured but these are the very people who wouldn't have bothered to read the policy document or small print when they first took out the policy, so are most likely to get scammed by insurance slimeballs. We don't have a nanny state. We have corrupt regulators giving the impression that they're protecting consumers whilst allowing spivs and fraudsters to operate in this country because we don't make anything that people want to buy anymore so our only means of making money is to rip people off. That's the truth that a lot of people have woken up to.

Jane2005

Just how are insurers ripping people off?

Have you ever thought there is a genuine reason as to why the premium can change when you actually pick up the phone and speak to your insurance company? If they are offering a much much cheaper quote online compared to what's in the renewal letter, there is usually a good reason behind it, 9 times out of 10 people forget to tell thier insurers circumstances have changed, change of occupation, change of marital status, being quoted on huge excesses online. Insurers have to remain competitive, so why on Earth would they send out an inflated price, knowing that we are all a lot more savvy these days, and risk losing business.

mikey72

starrystarry wrote: »

I did read the T&Cs and I do trust them not to attempt to take the money but I like my banking to be in order. If I'm no longer dealing with a particular company I always cancel the DD otherwise you end up with dozens of inactive DDs on your bank account. Am I now to be criticised for being organised with my banking?

No.
But I think you should have stood by your principles, and cancelled the DD after the renewal date, rather than before.
You would of course have been as organised, and I sure would have been punctual in doing it.
You would also have shown your faith in a well ordered autorenewal system, rather than expressing the opinion you needed to police it yourself.

I do find it very hypocritical that no one appears to have actually used the system they advocate so much.

Even at best, there is still all the shopping around, getting quotes, moving or staying only if it's the cheapest, and cancelling payments just in case.
What about just let the auto renew happen, or as actually no-one uses it, just making it opt in. Or can't you remember to do that?
Or is it the usual case of "I'm alright, stuff everyone else"?