advice please

60katy

can anyone help me? i took car insurance out and 3 months later a family memeber asked to get added on they quoted another £200 for them plus an admin fee of £55.
( I came on here and asked bout the admin fee and was told it was right)
A month later family member had no access to car so asked to be removed, another £55 admin fee, but they wont refund the premium, so am now having to pay almost £650 for insurance. My monthly payments have doubled and family member wont pay me. Can't afford to cancel don't have the money to pay, but really can't afford the monthly payments now.
Can they keep the premium added on?

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It sounds like it.

Can't you just leave them on the policy?

60katy

had already removed them thought it would just be admin fees of £55 to pay didn;t even get a new certificate with them added

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So you paid extra to have someone removed from your policy? You're aware how daft that sounds, yeah?

The most disgusting aspect of this isn't the amount you're being charged, it's the fact that your "family member" won't pay. That's outrageous.

bouncydog1

I would write a letter to the insurance company - send by recorded delivery - and ask them for a breakdown of the charges, emphasising that you asked for the family member to be removed (give dates etc). Also enquire as to the date they issued the new certificate which you have not received.

You may or may not have a case for getting them to repay the money but we need all of the facts first.

You have made an interesting statement though, about the family member having no access to the car. Is there any way that they could possibly have been involved in any incident which may have liability for the insurers (which might be why insurers are refusing a refund). If there is any possibility of this then insurers might be protecting their interest in case a claim against your policy arises.

You can't really stop paying as you have entered into a contract and if you break the contract then insurers are likely to pursue you for the premium - why won't family member pay - sounds a right little so and so!

mikey72

I've just paid to add a family member to my insurance, Your fee sounds a bit high, mine was £20, and they have agreed a pro-rata refund of the premium when I take them off. (for another £20 though).
Make a complaint to them, and see what they come up with.

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mikey72 wrote: »

I've just paid to add a family member to my insurance, Your fee sounds a bit high, mine was £20, and they have agreed a pro-rata refund of the premium when I take them off. (for another £20 though).
Make a complaint to them, and see what they come up with.

Your named driver example is pretty irrelevant. What happens to your pro-rata refund if they make a claim?

You do know that not everything in life can be solved by complaining, don't you?

mikey72

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Your named driver example is pretty irrelevant. What happens to your pro-rata refund if they make a claim?

You do know that not everything in life can be solved by complaining, don't you?

I would imagine I'd be making a claim on my insurance, not them, to be honest, but what happens if they don't?

As to the complaint, £55 is over the maximum the FOS allow to be charged, so worth it there to start with.

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Yeah. If you're taking to OP at absolute face value then you're right. I think there's a bit more to this than meets the eye.

bouncydog1

Mikey

Your indication of a £20 AP is misleading - we don't know the circumstances regarding the OP's additional driver. If, for instance, it is a youngster, recently qualified and the postcode is deemed poor risk by the insurer, and the car group is not the lowest, the AP for an additional driver will be considerably more than £20.

You can only compare like with like. As to the FOS £55, doesn't this just relate to cancellation fee? Other parts of the cost like the premium charge will be in addition to this.

And before a complaint is made to the FOS, the policyholder must have exhausted the insurers complaint's procedure which is laid down in the policy conditions.

I am sure you don't mean to mislead people, but people can get very het up and upset if they base what they have paid on somebody's else's experience which is not on a like for like basis.