Charged £75 within cooling off period???

green_claw

I took out car insurance a day and a half ago with Asda (at £479.27), then read the awful reviews and want to get a different policy quickly!

Spoke to guy at Asda who told me that I'd have to pay a £75 cancellation fee plus the cost of the days that I had used.

When questioning him about the cooling off period, he said that the cooling off period (and my right to a free refund) only applies if the policy has not yet started. hence, once the policy starts, if you want to cancel, you will be charged.

IS THIS RIGHT??

So, I have to pay about £80 for having car insurance for 2 days?

gordikin

You've got it! £75 quid is steep though!

dunstonh

When questioning him about the cooling off period, he said that the cooling off period (and my right to a free refund) only applies if the policy has not yet started. hence, once the policy starts, if you want to cancel, you will be charged.

IS THIS RIGHT??

You have a right to cancel in the cooling off period but you have to pay the premium for the days covered and they can charge an administration charge as well.

£75 is above the norm. Typically figures up to £50 (plus premium due) are more normal for a cancellation.

Are you sure it was £75? or did you buy any third party products with it (such as breakdown cover or legal expenses)

Asda website says:

You have the right to cancel the policy within 14 days of receiving your policy document. If the insurance cover has not commenced you'll be entitled to a full refund of the premium paid. If the insurance cover has already commenced, a pro rata refund will be made to you, less an administration charge of £20, provided there has not been a total loss claim and the certificate of motor insurance has been returned to us.

After the expiry of the statutory cooling off period, your policy will continue as contract for twelve months. If your insurance is cancelled for any reason after the first 14 days, a pro-rata refund will be made to you, less an administration charge of £50. There will be no return of premium if a claim has been made during the current year of insurance. If you pay by instalments, please refer to your credit agreement.

There is no refund on Motor Legal Protection or Hire Car Cover.

mikey72

Maybe you should point them to their own website.

"You have the right to cancel the policy within 14 days of receiving your policy document. If the insurance cover has not commenced you'll be entitled to a full refund of the premium paid. If the insurance cover has already commenced, a pro rata refund will be made to you, less an administration charge of £20, provided there has not been a total loss claim and the certificate of motor insurance has been returned to us"

http://www.asdafinance.com/insurance/car-insurance/legal-faqs/

green_claw

Thanks for everyone's help.

I just read the email i was sent by Asda when i took out the policy:

"You have a 14 day cooling off period. Within this period, you have the right to cancel this insurance policy if it does not meet your requirements. This cooling off period will commence either from the day of purchase of the policy, or the day on which you receive your policy documentation; whichever is later. Please note that the cancellation of your policy after cover has commenced will not result in a full refund. A cancellation fee will be incurred, together with a charge based on the number of days you have been on cover. No refund will be issued if a claim is made on the policy".

It says nothing about 75 pounds. I wonder where they plucked that from?

What exactly is the function of a cooling off period if they are allowed to charge a cancellation fee and proportion of the premium??

gordikin

..if it were otherwise anybody including 17 year old boy racers would be able to get free ongoing insurance by cancelling and switching every 2 weeks.

McKneff

If you are quite happy with the insurance, why listen to what other people say, for every one complainant there are probably 500 happy customers.

Do yourself a favour and just forget about cancelling and save the £80 or so.

green_claw

I've had problems with Eldon Insurance services in the past (Eldon work for Asda and also Ecar) and was trying to avoid them so ignored the cheaper Ecar insurance premium and went for Asda only to find they are the same company. I really dont want anything to do with them!

green_claw

to Gordikin:

what does cooling off period mean then??
if the cancellation rules are the same both within the first 14 days of the policy, and for the rest of the duration?

green_claw

gordikin wrote: »

..if it were otherwise anybody including 17 year old boy racers would be able to get free ongoing insurance by cancelling and switching every 2 weeks.

sure, but if they got into an accident then they'd lose their premium.

InsideInsurance

Cooling off means you can cancel. After that period in theory insurers have no legal obligation to allow you to cancel at all given you are buying an annual product. That said, since the ICOB rules were created which introduced the statutory cooling off period the FSAs Treating Customers Fairly has come in which would most likely oppose a policy which cannot be cancelled after the cooling off period