Personal Accident Insurance, Feel Ripped Off

YORKSHIRELASS

Hi all

I took out car insurance with Swinton Insurance in April 2011. This guy rang me from Swinton shortly afterwards firstly to check everything was OK with my policy and then to try and sell me some kind of Accident/Health Insurance.

I remember the call because my son wasnt very well and I was desperately trying to get rid of this bloke who was really pushy. OK I should have just put the phone down but in the end I agreed to a 3 month free trial which ended on 31st July.

I have had no paperwork whatsover - I am not even sure now what I agreed to. On 4th of August Swinton took £17.99 out of my account for the first months instalment. When I rang them today to complain they agreed to cancel it - but I dont get the £17.99 back.

The person I spoke to this morning was really clever about it - offering to get someone to listen to the sales call to make sure I agreed to the trial. When I said surely you needed to send me something in writing he said "oh no we dont, it was all done verbally".

At the very least this is very underhand. I accept I have lost the £17.99 but I feel like I want to do something about it. Can I complain to anyone?

somethingcorporate

This is a common ploy and they bank on people taking out the free trial on forgetting to cancel and getting billed for the first months premiums. Just be thankful you spotted it quickly!

Not much you can do, especially if this is what you agreed to on the call. I would ask them to listen to the call and see if it was pointed out to you that you would be billed if you didn't cancel. You could do a SAR request asking for a transcript of the call but costs £10 so you could be throwing good money after bad.

I'd probably chalk this one down to experience and just remember in future to not agree to anything when someone calls you!!

YORKSHIRELASS

Thank you. And yes its a good job I check my online banking regularly or it could have soon added up!

I wonder at what point they would have sent me some policy documents though - or at least some documentation showing what my £17.99 was paying for. The fact that they havent sent anything out yet suggests that they wanted me to forget about it - and this seems wrong.

Ah well, as you say £18 isnt the end of the world and its a lesson learnt.

somethingcorporate

It does seem weird that they sent you nothing, not even a "welcome to your free trial" welcome pack.

Do you know what the name of the service you signed up for was called? even if you cannot get your money back it may save other people from getting stung if they see this.

YORKSHIRELASS

I have been onto the Swinton Insurance Website and it must have been a Personal Accident Cover Plan as this is shown as £17.99 a month for a Family Policy. The website says

"Personal Accident Cover from Swinton can help ease the financial burden. You’ll receive lump sum in the event of an accident resulting in permanent injury or fatality helping to make life a little easier for your loved ones. At the moment Swinton are able to offer Personal Accident Insurance Free for three months. So for less than the equivalent of £2 a week for single cover, £4 for joint cover or £5 for family cover, you and your loved ones can enjoy the benefits the policy provides."

They even say that no medical is required and no forms to fill in - I can vouch for that bit!

I think I am going to write to them and complain that I was never sent any documents. Might be worth a try at least.

somethingcorporate

I'd agree. Something like that would be riddled with terms and conditions so I am really surprised you didn't receive anything at all!

micknmace

Swinton Personal Accident policy is underwritten by MMA Insurance.
Address is: MMA Insurance plc, Norman Place, Reading, RG1 8DA.

paddyrg

I don't get that - it was an insurance product, so shouldn't it have a key facts document, etc? And some way for you to read what you are buying? Otherwise I call you up, offer you a free trial of xyz insurance, bill you a zillion quid, and cover you for nothing except xyz's most extreme case. Otherwise, the guy on the phone would surely have to read you all the contract terms he was signing you up for - a call so long it would cost more than the premium!

jstvj

I too was apparently sold Personal Accident Insurance by Swinton in September 2011, when I purchased motor insurance. The problem
is that I don't remember it though, and I also did not receive a policy from them. I only became aware of it when I noticed they had been taking £13.99 from my bank account and I phoned them about it in July.

I was extremely annoyed and insisted they cancel the cover and after some argument they agreed to refund the premiums. I then realised that an accident last Xmas would no doubt qualify, so I changed my mind. I then asked Swinton to send me the policy document and when I read it, I immediately noticed that there was a time limit on when a claim could be submitted. The exclusions and limitations on the cover make it virtually worthless and having read this post I am now convinced that this why Swinton fail to send the policy out,as most people would immediately consider it a scam
and cancel. Needless to say, they offer the first 3 months expecting the Policy holder (oh no, not the Policy holder because they never send one in the first place) to forget about it, when the premiums commence. In fact, only this week have I received a letter from Swinton, admitting that they may not (did not) explain the exclusions and limitations and attached a copy to ensure clarity.

My accident caused a fractured my wrist, which is not covered by this insurance as it only covers death, loss of limbs or permanent loss of use a limb. However, sometime later (well after the time limit for submission of a claim) I was diagnosed with Chronic Regional Pain Syndrome, which the consultant told me is permanent and untreatable, apart from managing the intense, disaberling pain. My hand, wrist and arm is completely unusable, so as I have said I have submitted a claims form and am awaiting a decision from the Insurers.

Just to add to this, I did make a complaint to the CEO's office as I am retired a such cover has very little relevance to me. They rejected out of hand that the cover is more appropriate to working people and that it had been mis-sold. I find all this to be very underhanded to say the least and Swinton, you should really re-evaluate your unethical practices.

tomtom55

Was sold MMA personal Insurance through Swinton when i took out car insurance.Decided to continue with policy when 3 month free trial ended. BIG MISTAKE!!!!! My wife had an accident and no one wanted to know, they lost claim form,doctors report,hospital report etc and blamed us for sending self addressed envelope to wrong place TOTAL JOKE DONT BE CONNED INTO TAKING THIS.

dacouch

tomtom55 wrote: »

Was sold MMA personal Insurance through Swinton when i took out car insurance.Decided to continue with policy when 3 month free trial ended. BIG MISTAKE!!!!! My wife had an accident and no one wanted to know, they lost claim form,doctors report,hospital report etc and blamed us for sending self addressed envelope to wrong place TOTAL JOKE DONT BE CONNED INTO TAKING THIS.

Give us more details as we may be able to help get your claim settled