Privilege Home Insurance (Auto renewal blackmail)

pdtnc

Hiya...
I'm about to start my 3rd year of home insurance through Privilege, last year I was shocked to find that my renewal notice was Automatic payment and there would be a £26.25 fee to cancel the policy and a administration fee of £15.75 to amend the policy.
At this time last year we had just moved into a current house and were busy planning and getting married, so other things on our minds and couldn't be bothered to change the or cancel the policy.
An online search at the time also revealed they were still competitively priced, so no big deal.

However, this years renewal notice has a £90 price hike and the cancellation and admin fees have also increased... this all smacks of Blackmail and must prevent a lot of people from changing their insurance and being over-charged year on year.

I plan to do something about it this year, If I had been given a choice or actually been told in anything other than a ream of T&C's I WOULD NEVER have taken on a policy with Automatic renewal.

I would greatly appreciate anyone else's dealings with the above company and how you cancelled your policy and didn't pay the Blackmail fees!

many thanks

adamc260

Your sent a renewal before the renewal date and it will clearly state if you do nothing it will auto renew... if you don't want that to happen you just tell them to not renew the policy and let it lapse. If you fail to do this, as per the T&C it will auto renew and then as your in a new policy cycle, have to pay to cancel it as you've been given the opportunity to say you do not want them to renew it.

Monitoring the dates of your insurance is your responsibility, although insurers should remind you, its YOUR insurance at the end of the day =/

A lot of people complain about the auto renewal saying 'well the prices go up and thats not fair' but thats why you should note when its due and shop around. Also, a lot of people say they hate how it auto renews but as you've also agreed, you had other things to do. If it had not of auto renewed, you might not of remembered and god forbid something happens for example... a flood? You might not of been covered, bet you would of wanted the auto renewal then.

Privilege haven't done anything other than what they said they would do... renew the policy if you don't get in contact

pdtnc

Yeah, Auto-Renewal for the one year is fine... (busy life meant it had to be).

My last line is the question, the rest of what I wrote is setting the scene and giving the current facts.

I would greatly appreciate anyone else's dealings with the above company and how you cancelled your policy and didn't pay the Blackmail fees!

Blackmail fees = Cancellation fee of Auto-renewal Policy (and/ or Policy amendment fee)

Though, maybe I'm not reading the documents or reading a lack of plain English regarding Cancellation, to be precise a lack of clarity about when admin/cancellation fees would be charged.

For instance, if I phone up now (over a month before the actual renewal date) and say I'd like to stop automatic renewal will they or won't they charge me a Fee?!

I'm going to have to phone and find out.

cheers

adamc260

If you cancel a policy mid term you will be charged a fee.

If you are on the run up to the renewal and you ask the insurer to let it lapse and NOT renew.. they will not charge you a fee for this.

2 very different things, cancelling mid term is breaking the contract you have with them so they charge you a fee for this. Asking the policy to lapse at renewal is like saying "I've had my 12 months with you, thank you very much, I'm leaving you", they cannot charge you a fee for doing this as you've met your side of the deal staying with them for 12 months.

pdtnc

That sounds good to me, I'll post back when I've phoned them.

cheers

adamc260

Nae bother.

pdtnc

Sorted...
If only the policy docs had explained or even mentioned what you did.

cheers

dunstonh

If only the policy docs had explained or even mentioned what you did.

They do in the cover letter. It says what to do next if do or do not wish to renew.

pdtnc

It doesn't tell you that you won't get charged an Admin fee for cancelling Auto-Renewal, that was my main point.

lisyloo

It doesn't tell you that you won't get charged an Admin fee for cancelling Auto-Renewal

No, the charges are for cancellation of the policy.
I think you've mis-interpreted it and added something that's not there.
You said very clearly in your first post that the fees were for cancelling or ameding the policy.
That's not the same as letting it lapse.
If you don't understand what the sentences mean, then either call them or use a broker to help you.
That really isn't meant to be condescending as there are loads of things that people don't understand about insurance and end up getting in a mess and then coming here.
Eitehr you do it DIY and ask questions or take risks that you might not understand something, or you can use a professional to help you.

dunstonh

It doesn't tell you that you won't get charged an Admin fee for cancelling Auto-Renewal, that was my main point.

It doesnt tell you that you will be charged either. That is because you arent.