Illegal to charge credit card without permission?

rs03

Hi

I recently took out a new car insurance policy with Aviva. They quoted me £1286, which was the cheapest quote I could find, so I took the policy.

They asked me to send a no claims bonus proof, which I did.

2 months on, my credit card got blocked. I rang up my credit card company, who told me than an additional charge of £3270.99 had been placed on my credit card, which was the reason why it was blocked.

I did not authorise this charge, nor was I told about it. I rang up Aviva to ask why this charge was placed, and to refund me that money, so I could unblock my card. They told me that they didn't accept my no claims discount.

So what happens now? I feel cheated. Not only did they overcharge me with a massive amount without informing me of it, it has also blocked my credit card and left me with a massive bill which they refuse to cancel.

Is it worth taking legal action against them or going to a small claims court? Should I contact the FSA or FOS? Can I refuse to pay (even though they have taken money from my credit card)? I reckon they will saddle me with the 3 months they have covered me for, if they do let me cancel the policy...but they will charge at the higher rate (£4500+) meaning I will have to pay £1500 + a cancellation charge, for 4 months of cover, when I intended to pay less than that for the whole year.

Thanks for the help and advice.

dmg24

Calm down, and ask why they did not accept your proof of no claims. Come back with your answer and we'll tell you what to do next.

rs03

dmg24 wrote: »

Calm down, and ask why they did not accept your proof of no claims. Come back with your answer and we'll tell you what to do next.

Well, I have just bought the car (so don't have a no claims for that car) and so sent the 10+ year no claims letter for the other car I own, which they said they can't accept.

noh

You still own and insure the other car that has the 10 year no claims?

rs03

noh wrote: »

You still own and insure the other car that has the 10 year no claims?

Yes. Still own the car the NCB letter was for, for about 4 years now. Previously it was from a car I owned for 9 years. So total of 13/14 years of no claims. The two no claims for the two cars combined and I had the letter proving that whole period of time.

dunstonh

rs03 wrote: »

Yes. Still own the car the NCB letter was for, for about 4 years now. Previously it was from a car I owned for 9 years. So total of 13/14 years of no claims. The two no claims for the two cars combined and I had the letter proving that whole period of time.

Your NCB can only be used against one car. As you still own the car, you cant use that NCB against a different vehicle.

ffacoffipawb

dunstonh wrote: »

Your NCB can only be used against one car. As you still own the car, you cant use that NCB against a different vehicle.

Probably could have with the likes of Admiral Multicar as it covers more than one car?

Not sure if that's a USP product or if other insurers offer a comparable product.

Dabooka

ffacoffipawb wrote: »

Probably could have with the likes of Admiral Multicar as it covers more than one car?

Not sure if that's a USP product or if other insurers offer a comparable product.

Nope, your NCB is still against just one vehicle. We quoted to insure a third car (with just us two as drivers) and couldn't use the NCB again, which I kind fo knew but thought I'd ask anyway!

I can't believe how much the OP's quote was, makes me curious what they drive!

anotheralias

The NCB isn't valid as explained by other posters, and so obviously they are entitled to levy the additional charges, and presumably the cancellation charge is unfortunately also fair....

But surely the insurance company can't just charge the OP's card without providing notification of the additional charges first (they don't appear to have bothered to contact the OP at all to explain the charges until he/she phoned to ask). It doesn't seem to be "treating the customer fairly" as required by the FSA - what if the OP didn't have the additional money in their account and so faced bank charges for example - whether the charges are valid or not it just doesn't seem reasonable to debit money without any warning whatsoever.

noh

As said by other posters you can only use yout NCD on one car at a time. However there are companies who will "mirror" your NCD on a second or subsequent vehicle. ie they give you a reduction equivalent to the NCD on the premium.
You will probably have to go via a broker to find a company willing to do that.
Don't know what the car is you are trying to insure but often it is worth enquiring with brokers that are associated with owners clubs they usually are able to provide specialist policies.

tubsh

I had a similar experience with one-call
Purchased on-line because they were cheap – paid by credit card (Smile) – using the banks on-line confirmation system – name, place of death, inside leg measurement, the first number you thought of type questions. Had letters about not receiving proof of no claims. Sent them in the post, via email and they threatened to add a premium. Eventually they agreed they did have them and all was ok. Because of changes in work I upgraded my insurance to cover extras and again this was paid on the credit card during a phone call. Thought all was fine until a couple of months ago when they took £26 with no reason. On phoning 0ne-call they said I had underpaid on some legal cover and this was a correction. No letter of explanation and taken without my permission. Then I get a letter telling me that I had failed to disclose vital information! Because of this there was going to be a £100 increase in premium and a £50 handling charge. I phoned to find that my the information passed from my previous insurance company said I had had an accident where a third part had claimed against my insurance – which was not true. This information had come from the insurance company prior to them. So I wrote to my bank, SMILE and instructed them not to allow any money to be taken by one-call. I wrote to one-call removing any authority to take money. And on the 28th of May they took the £155. Smile say that because I original gave them the authority to take money from my credit card they still can and there is no way I can stop this (apart from cancelling the credit card I suppose). So now I am £156 out. Smile don’t care. The insurance company have the money so are happy and will not bother to investigate. I can not believe that you can not give a written instruction to a credit card company to remove authority and they side against you. I can not believe that a company can ignore a written removal of authority and get away with it. This is legal mugging condoned by the bank who not only watched but helped.