Aviva 'charge' for not renewing???

bonnie_bumpkins

Hello all

I had my home insurance (buildings and contents) with Aviva from July last year but changed insurer this year after the premium tripled.

I received the renewal notice from Aviva in early July and returned it within the week with notification that I had arranged alternative cover as the premium was too high and I am currently not working. I cancelled their direct debit and set up an new one with the new insurer.

Today I received a letter from Aviva saying I am in breach of direct debit regulations and I will be charged just over £30 'admin fee' as they were unable to collect the direct debit.

My immediate feeling is they are trying it on but I am concerned with the tone of the letter as I have an all but perfect credit record and I've done nothing wrong in changing insurer (and informing them that I have done so).

I'm going to write, again, and tell them of my change of insurer but I wondered if anyone else has had this experience. I have worked in insurance on and off for the last 25 years so I do know how things work but I do feel worried and intimidated, especially as the envelope contained a leaflet with 'how to deal with debt - don't ignore it!'

Any advice would be very gratefully received. Thank you.

adamc260

Call them and refer them to the notification you sent them and on what date it was. Really, you need to cancel things over the phone as well as in writing. Tell them you have notified them and you would like the fee to be waived. If they still say no make a complaint as you have told them.

Also provide them with proof you have taken out alternative insurance elsewhere and it starts on the renewal date.

huckster

Probably the policy was set for auto renewal and they have not seen you returning the renewal. Always best when you don't want to renew a policy to call companies, as many have outsourced dealing with customer post to places outside of the country. Your letter saying you don't want to renew, may be in an office in India.

Suggest that you make a complaint using their complaints process. They should accept that you have arranged cover elsewhere and cancel the policy from renewal.

ihateyes

bonnie_bumpkins wrote: »

Hello all

I had my home insurance (buildings and contents) with Aviva from July last year but changed insurer this year after the premium tripled.

I received the renewal notice from Aviva in early July and returned it within the week with notification that I had arranged alternative cover as the premium was too high and I am currently not working. I cancelled their direct debit and set up an new one with the new insurer.

Today I received a letter from Aviva saying I am in breach of direct debit regulations and I will be charged just over £30 'admin fee' as they were unable to collect the direct debit.

My immediate feeling is they are trying it on but I am concerned with the tone of the letter as I have an all but perfect credit record and I've done nothing wrong in changing insurer (and informing them that I have done so).

I'm going to write, again, and tell them of my change of insurer but I wondered if anyone else has had this experience. I have worked in insurance on and off for the last 25 years so I do know how things work but I do feel worried and intimidated, especially as the envelope contained a leaflet with 'how to deal with debt - don't ignore it!'

Any advice would be very gratefully received. Thank you.

OP.... do you pay monthly or annually.

a common mistake made by people is when they get that renewal the cancel they ddeb straightaway however on some occasions they still have 1 payment left prior to renewal......

COULD this be the reason they have stung you £30?????

lisyloo

Two things

Always best when you don't want to renew a policy to call companies

I don't agree with this.
SO many times we hear phone call cancellations just being "lost".
The safest way s to put it in the post and pay 77p for recorded delivery then you can prove it way delivered.
There are alternatives.
You can take the date, time and name from the phone call in the hope of listening to a recording, but there is no guarantee that should a problem occur that the recording equipment was miraculously out of order of he day you cancelled.
You could also get a free proof of posting, but this proves posting not delivery. Legally that's enough but who wants to go to court to prove a point??
Having proof of delivery is best in my view.
Some companies cynically lose cancellation instructions so you have to cover yourself.

Also did you cancel your DD at the right time or if there a payment missing.
You cannot be charged for lapsing (not renewing) but for cancellation there are usually charges.

I have got into trouble before by cancelling DD too early.
For example I cancelled one with Npower and they canelled my tarriff because of this and charged me loads more.
I had to go to the ombudsman. Eventually I got most of my money back but it took ages and was lots of hassle.
Lesson learnt. Don't cancel DDs too early if especially if you owe money on them.

bonnie_bumpkins

ihateyes wrote: »

OP.... do you pay monthly or annually.

a common mistake made by people is when they get that renewal the cancel they ddeb straightaway however on some occasions they still have 1 payment left prior to renewal......

COULD this be the reason they have stung you £30?????

Thanks for your reply. I was paying monthly but I had definitely paid up all 12 monthly payments from last year's renewal, I checked before I cancelled the direct debit. And the monthly debit they are saying they 'were unable to collect' on this letter is three times last year's monthly premium - hence the reason I changed insurer!!

bonnie_bumpkins

Thank you everyone for your comments and advice.

I have no proof of having told Aviva I was not renewing; I wrote on the bottom of the renewal notice 'not renewing, cover arranged elsewhere, direct debit cancelled' - or words to that effect - signed and dated it. I then returned it to the address on the renewal notice (ie, the proper address for correspondence. This was at least 3 weeks before the renewal date (30th July) so, thinking about it, I would have cancelled the direct debit at the same time so I'm sure they would have know about the lapse of the policy from this even if the paperwork did go 'astray'.

I think both written and phone cancellations can be 'lost'. I'm surprised at Aviva though, as when I was working in insurance Norwich Union as they were then were always one of the more respected insurers.

What I do have is the new policy document from the new insurer which shows the the policy start date as the same as the old renewal date, so I shall send a copy of this with a note explaining again my decision to not renew the Aviva policy.

If there is anything else I have not considered please say!

Thank again

Quentin

bonnie_bumpkins wrote: »

..... I would have cancelled the direct debit at the same time so I'm sure they would have know about the lapse of the policy from this even if the paperwork did go 'astray'...... I'm surprised at Aviva though, as when I was working in insurance Norwich Union as they were then were always one of the more respected insurers....

Cancelling a DD is just that, and nothing else. (ie An instruction to your bank you no longer wish to pay a merchant by DD). It's a regularly misunderstood issue though hearing it from someone who has worked in insurance wrongly indicating it's as a means of cancelling a policy does need pointing out to others.

Equally, saying that under their old name they were "most respected", and you are surprised by their antics despite the name change is hard to swallow!!

bonnie_bumpkins

Quentin

I have not said anywhere that I thought cancelling a DD was a means of cancelling a policy. I know it is not.

What I did say was said I gave written notification that I was not going to renew the policy and THEN I cancelled the direct debit (after checking that I was fully paid up for the year, which I was). Prior to both these actions I arranged alternative cover, and set up an alternative direct debit.

Just as well as it happens, because the written notification does not seem to have been received and I would have had a debit of over £60 come out of my account as well as the new monthly premium!

Please could you explain your last sentence; I don't get what you are saying or having to swallow??!! Thank you.

lisyloo

I think both written and phone cancellations can be 'lost'.

Legally yes, but in a court of law if you've sent it then it's assumed to have been delivered.
So if the police send you an NIP (notice of intended prosecution) for speeding and it's lost then it's assumed you received it and you'll be prosectued much worse for not providing the drivers details (worse penalties that the original offence). Personally I think that's grossly unfair but it is the current law.

Hence you can get a FREE proof of posting from the post office and legally that's sufficient.
If it got genuinely lost then the receiver would have to take the hit (in this case the insurer).

Personally I recommend recorded delivery as I think it's more likely to get a result out of court and I'd rather spend 77p rather than take a day off and travel to court to argue about it.

You could tell the insurer that your written instructions are legally binding and find the legal reference to quote to them about post being sent is assumed to have been received.
Unfortunately you don't have any proof that you sent it, but you could refuse to pay on those grounds.

bonnie_bumpkins

I've just read the MSE info on 'trolls'... Advice seems to be 'don't feed' so I'm going to say goodbye now.

With BIG thanks to Lisyloo, ihateyes, huckster and adamc260!for taking the time to read my posts and offer their advice. It has all been very helpful, I do appreciate it.

Thanks guys!! :T