Need to prove insurance for full refund

darich

Hi all.....

I recently started a car insurance policy with a company who promised that if I could find a cheaper quote within 14days, they'd give me a "full refund". This was all done over the phone with no mention of clauses, conditions or any other criteria that would require to be met to get my refund.

Fair enough I thought.....I bought the policy then thought I'd have a look for something cheaper.
I found insurance around £70 cheaper so bought that and arranged cover with them. I then contacted the more expensive company for my "full refund".

All of this was happening around 1 week before the policy was due to start so I wasn't actually covered.

A few days later I received a refund less £30. At first I thought it was a cancellation charge but since they didn't tell me that there was one, I emailed them and asked for the remainder of the money to be refunded.

Today I received an email stating that they cannot give a full refund until they received "proof of alternative cover".

Now, I have alternative cover. But on what grounds can they keep my money? I can prove it if I need to but if I can argue the point and get it back without divulging, then I'll do it.

Can they legally keep some of my money (without telling me it was a condition of the refund) unless I prove insurance to them???

Grateful for any (sensible) advice
Thanks

McKneff

Sensible, are you nuts, why signe up to two insurances at the same time, you should have contacted the first company and cancelled it or give them the opportunity to meet the price before entering into a contract with the second.

Of course they need proof, would you give someone a refund just willy nilly.

You are likely to be charged a cancellation fee, have you read the T&Cs, it probably says a full refund less a admin fee, and lets face it, they have done some work for your arranging this policy, words dont hold water, its what's written that counts. Did you get any paperwork at all.
Sometimes on the phone, we hear what we want to hear so dont listen properly

Just provide the proof, get your money back and move on.

darich

McKneff wrote: »

Sensible, are you nuts, why signe up to two insurances at the same time, you should have contacted the first company and cancelled it or give them the opportunity to meet the price before entering into a contract with the second.

Of course they need proof, would you give someone a refund just willy nilly.

You are likely to be charged a cancellation fee, have you read the T&Cs, it probably says a full refund less a admin fee, and lets face it, they have done some work for your arranging this policy, words dont hold water, its what's written that counts. Did you get any paperwork at all.
Sometimes on the phone, we hear what we want to hear so dont listen properly

Just provide the proof, get your money back and move on.

I do deserve a bit of stick (hence the sensible in the post) but I still don't see how they need proof that I'm insured to refund me.

I've sent them a copy of my new certificate even though they could get all my details very easily on their own.

thanks
D

Quentin

The certificate won't show them how much you paid!

The deal they offered was based on you finding a cheaper deal, not just going elsewhere!

darich

Quentin wrote: »

The certificate won't show them how much you paid!

The deal they offered was based on you finding a cheaper deal, not just going elsewhere!

But they didn't ask for evidence of cheaper price....all it will show is evidence of insurance....but there were no conditions attached to the "full refund".
I initially blanked out my gf's name and policy number on the scanned copy, just because I could, then decided it was just a waste of time.

Sent them a photo of the certificate and expect my £30 in due course.

Still don't think they were entitled to hold my money using the reason they gave.

Quentin

You mentioned a condition in your OP!

I recently started a car insurance policy with a company who promised that if I could find a cheaper quote within 14days, they'd give me a "full refund".

darich

Quentin wrote: »

You mentioned a condition in your OP!

Yeah...that is a condition but that wasn't requested in order to get the full refund.
The email states I need to provide "proof of alternative cover" in order for the full refund to be given.
No mention of proving it was cheaper.

But that's really a side issue....I don't think they can demand to see alternative cover in order to refund the remainder of the money I'm due.

keith1950

Yea but why get the hassle for the price of a stamp and a copy of the new policy cost.

bouncydog1

Of course they would want proof of what you paid to the other company - you may have decided to purchase different cover at a higher price - they wouldn't want to refund you then. Without the proof of what you paid Co no 2, how could Co no 1 see that you had bought cheaper - with a crystal ball I suppose!