Autotrader Short Term Rates...

kneeslider

Hello one and all!

This is my first post, but I am a long term lurker!

Recent events have led me towards registering and then posting on here to alert others as to some rather sharp practices by Autotrader insurance.

I have held a policy with them for a couple of years, and was initially enthusiastic about their low (ish) rates, and even renewed my policy with them for the present year in February. I changed my car in July, and I thought that it would be fair enough to let Autotrader insurance have a crack at a quote for my new car first. My existing policy cost approximately £450 and I was paying in installments.

They informed me that my existing insurer would be unwilling to cover my new car, but they could call upon their portfolio of insurance providers to get me a quote, which they informed me would be £1,300 for 12 months! Some internet bashing to get a better one ensued!

Swift cover were able to insure my new car for £550 for 12 months, which I deemed more than reasonable, and I asked Autotrader to forward to Swift cover the details of my no claims bonus.

My issue was that Autotrader were then going to charge me £107.39 for me to remove my risk from their books! I thought that this was rather unfair, and an uncompteitive practice. I had paid Autotrader for the time that I was covered by their policy, and the interest (which was punitive) to pay in instalments, and now needed to move on. The outstanding bill to cancel my policy was apparently outlined in page 4 of their terms and conditions (which I can not now find, online or otherwise) and their telephone representatives somewhat gleefully pointed out to me. I asked Autotrader to send me a hard copy invoice to detail their charges, and they refused.

I swiftly (sic) pulled my standing order, so that Autotrader were unable to automatically recover the ammount from my bank accout, and a couple of weeks later, a Notice of Outstanding Balance arrived requesting payment within the week, or the matter would be 'Passed to an external agency.'

Has anyone else happened across this situation? Do I need to pay? What will happen if I don't?

System

If you go to the autotrader website for car insurance, you can retrieve your quote and download a PDF document that includes the policy terms and conditions.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/compare-car-insurance


I think the appropriate section that you were informed about is :

Cancelling this insurance
If you fail to disclose a material fact your policy may
be voided from the policy start date and no prior
notice will be given.
You may cancel your policy with immediate effect by
notifying us by phone or by post. Our contact details
can be found on the reverse of your Certificate. We
may cancel this policy by giving you at least seven
days notice in writing. Where a policy is cancelled a
refund of part of the premium paid may be due.
Refunds will only be payable if the Certificate of Motor
Insurance is returned to us. Any premium refund due
will be calculated as follows, less any deduction
shown in the Policy Payment Arrangements.
If you cancel within 14 days of receipt of your policy
documentation, we will refund that part of the
premium paid which relates to the term of the policy
remaining at the date of cancellation. This amount will
be refunded when we receive the Certificate, unless
you have made a total loss claim in which case no
refund will be given. Thereafter refunds will only be
given if no incident has occurred which has led to a
claim, or may yet lead to a claim against the policy
and calculated as follows.
If you or we cancel within 12 months of the Policy
Start Date, we will calculate the premium for the
period of cover based on our short period rates in
force when we receive the Certificate of Motor
Insurance and refund any excess premium you have
paid.
If you cancel within... % charged
1 month ................. 30%
2 months ................ 40%
3 months ................ 50%
4 months ................ 60%
5 months ................ 70%
6 months ................ 80%
7 months ................ 85%
8 months ................ 90%
9 months onwards .... 100%

You may have a case for not paying cancellation charges since in effect you have not cancelled, it was the insurance company who could not insure your new car, so they have cancelled, so I would have expected you to receive a pro-rata refund as detailed in the table above.