Automatic insurance renewal mess - please help!

ernie-money

Hi all, hoping that someone can help...
Last year we took out household insurance with Budget, I guess it must have said in the policy wording that it would automatically renew, but I never noticed.
Didn't realise until this year when they tried to take the renewal premium off my credit card, which I had since cancelled, so they wrote and said they were unable to collect payment. I assumed that if they didn't get the premium, the policy simply wouldn't renew, and thought no more of it, but now we've had a letter in the post, saying that we owe them £106.74, for cancelling the policy early, charges broken down as follows: £38 Cancellation Charge, £14.57 Time on Cover, £54.17 Short term rate.
The weird thing is that they keep referring to the house as a vehicle, as if it was a motor policy, rather than household - I had to dig out the old policy from last year to make sure that it was actually our household insurance it related to, and not some unrelated mistake.
I'm not sure what to do now, just ring and plead with them - do they actually have a right to demand the money, and if so are they likely to? Would be very grateful for some advice!

hcb42

can you prove insurance elsewhere? if so send a copy and a letter, explaining you had gone elsewhere, and plead to their better nature

dunstonh

I guess it must have said in the policy wording that it would automatically renew, but I never noticed.

They have it in their T&C which you could easily miss if you don't read it. However, its much clearer in the renewal letter in the section telling you what to do next if you do or do not with to renew.

I assumed that if they didn't get the premium, the policy simply wouldn't renew

That is an incorrect assumption I'm afraid.

I'm not sure what to do now, just ring and plead with them - do they actually have a right to demand the money, and if so are they likely to? Would be very grateful for some advice!

Fairly easy this one. You provide them details of your alternative insurance as you have been dual insured. You should only be insured once so you shouldnt have to pay twice. You should also query the figures as they do indicate vehicle (short term rates). You don't find short term rates on house insurance normally.

lisyloo

I would send your correspondance recorded delivery (for an extra 74p).
When I sent proof of other insurance to esure to get a refund, they lost it 3 or 4 times (I don't believe it got lost in the post that many times, simply that they weren't interested in refunding me).
In the end I phoned up and got someone to stand by the fax machine whilst I faxed in and then phoned up to ensure they had received it.

Recorded delivery is not a 100% guarantee but it tends to stop companies fobbing you off for a relatively small charge.

ernie-money

Thank you so much to you all! See I don't remember getting a renewal notice, but perhaps it just went in the bin with the other junk mail - we always get inundated with letters from every insurance company under the sun around renewal time. I guess that's what you get for always getting loads of quotes every time you renew...
Anyway, I will contact them and see if I can email proof of cover instead, that should be harder to lose, and at least we're not waiting for them to refund us, but just to wipe our "debt"...

lisyloo

See I don't remember getting a renewal notice

I have a theory that some companies don't send them in the hope that customers will forget to look elsewhere.
They can always fall back on the "lost in the post" excuse.
But if you don't manage your junkmail then that is also a possibility.

I would suggest ticking (or unticking the box) that says you do/don't want junkmail.
Also use false email/phone number for on-line quotes.

that should be harder to lose

Make sure you chase them up to check.
Emails can and do get lost, so don't just assume it's being dealt with.