car insurence cancellation charges

broncoblue

hi,newbie here...
Ive just sold my car and bought a 125 motorbike, i went to a well known bike insurer and got a decent enough deal.I tried to get my car insurence to match it and they couldnt. So i cancelled and then !!!!!! turpin charged me £165 to cancel, £50 cancel fee( i knew about this and then i had to pay in FULL for breakdown(for a car i no longer have and legal fee and excess ) . and insurers wonder why people drive around uninsured £60 fine .

dunstonh

I fail to see any wrong doing here.

You know the admin fee which is within FOS tolerance. You also bought breakdown cover which is well known (and documented) for being non refundable.

So, what part of it is showing any wrong doing by the insurer?

McKneff

I agree with DunstonH
Yet another customer who doesnt read the t&cs.

Id like to see any link where you only get fined £60 for driving round with no insurance, first of all your car is taken away, then you have to walk home, then you go to court.

mikey72

Ignoring the t&c's, what reason is there why insurers can refuse any refund for breakdown insurance?

dunstonh

mikey72 wrote: »

Ignoring the t&c's, what reason is there why insurers can refuse any refund for breakdown insurance?

Its not an insurance product. They are just selling it as a third party add on. In theory they could bolt on the sale of Cadbury creme eggs if they wanted to (sudden craving for one). The terms of the add on can be different to the insurance.

For example. Take a look at the AA breakdown cover:
http://www.theaa.com/breakdown-cover/pdfs/breakdown-cover-policy-feb-2011.pdf

Page 20 covers cancellation.

for Members with Annual cover: subject to any other statutory rights the Member may have,there will be no right to cancel (and therefore no refund of the Membership premium);

---

You dont suddenly get different terms because you buy it with the insurance policy. If the OP bought AA cover direct and not through the insurance then there would be no refund either.

broncoblue

not saying they have done anything wrong,but to me its morally wrong. I was told I would have a 50 pound cancellation fee,which i knew i had.But how how can it be justified that you pay in full for a service that you no longer are using?

starrystarry

broncoblue wrote: »

not saying they have done anything wrong,but to me its morally wrong.

Perhaps you shouldn't have agreed to their T&Cs then. You agreed that you would not get a refund for the breakdown cover.

raskazz

broncoblue wrote: »

not saying they have done anything wrong,but to me its morally wrong. I was told I would have a 50 pound cancellation fee,which i knew i had.But how how can it be justified that you pay in full for a service that you no longer are using?

So is it also "morally wrong" that if you buy a tin of baked beans from Tesco and eat half of them, they won't refund you for the uneaten half?

Helen_J_3

I can understand your frustrations but there's not much that can be done about it. Unless we all boycott driving!

dunstonh

broncoblue wrote: »

not saying they have done anything wrong,but to me its morally wrong. I was told I would have a 50 pound cancellation fee,which i knew i had.But how how can it be justified that you pay in full for a service that you no longer are using?

Why did you buy it then?

mikey72

Back to the op then.

It's only not refundable because it says so in the t&c's
Rakazz's tin of beans is nonsense, as the insurance company will refund half a tin for the car insurance.
The AA say it's insurance,

"AA Membership can involve you contracting with two insurers for your breakdown cover"

so there is nothing to stop you sending a written complaint to the insurer, then referring it to the FOS if they don't refund, so they can decide if it is fair or not.
Maybe they have already, as the AA have got away with it for years, or maybe just no one has asked them yet.

If you do refer it, ket us know how you get on.