Can you be declined Monthly Payments because of the post code you live in?

leedslass1984

Hi,

My mum has recently received her car insurance renewal; this is her first renewal with this company. The renewal was sent via email. The email showed the annual figure based on 1 single payment, but also showed a link to click to check what the monthly payments would be. When she selected this, it stated she was unable to pay for policy monthly.

She called the company to ask why and the representative said she didn’t know why she was unable to do this. My mum requested a response from a supervisor or manager. This was the response via email

"We do not offer this payment option to all customers. The decision to offer monthly instalments to customers is based on the payment history of the postcode declared on the quote or policy. If our internal statistics have indicated a poor experience of customers paying their monthly instalments in that particular postcode then we remove the facility to pay by monthly installments for all future customers. Therefore, the decision not to offer monthly installments is not based on the details of one customer, but the actions of a group of customers. "

Can an Insurance company decline existing customers monthly payments when this customer has never had any payment issues with this or any other company?

Should my mum be penalised because of the "actions of a group of customers”?

Rather long winded, apologises.

I would appreciate some views or advice and if it is worth responding to the complaint email my mum received.

Thanks

TonyMMM

The whole premium is due at renewal - the option to pay monthly is just a credit/loan agreement. They are free to accept or decline to lend on whatever criteria they choose to use (within the law,which this almost certainly is).

vaio

They can put whatever restrictions they like on how you pay, equally you can go elsewhere to a company that offers a method of payment you prefer.

As this is a renewal it’s almost certain that you will be able to get a better deal elsewhere anyway as experience shows that renewals tend to be £££ (even compared to a new customer with the same company)

My renewal was £360. By letting the policy lapse and then taking out a new policy with the same company the price dropped to £250. Same cover, same company.