Swinton and LFS debt recovery

jamesauld

Hi there, first post on MSE as its the first time ive been completely stuck in a circle with my debate.

I would like to know if i have a case and what my next steps should be?

Heres the story:

2nd July 2009 - I changed my car and cancelled my policy with Swinton. At the time I called the branch who told me that was fine it was all cancelled.
I moved from that address not long after and cancelled the directdebit, as i thought my dealings with them were over.

Now I get a call from the present occupier of my old address, explaining she opened my mail by accident and it says LFS are taking me to court and/or sending balifs round to recover debt for Swinton of £600 in unpaid policy.

After numerous calls to both companies who consistantly passed the buck to each other.
Swinton told me that their system notes show, i called on 02/07/09 to enquire about cancelling and was advised there would be 500 to pay then i canceled the dd so they have been chasing me since then.
I said id like to dispute this as i dont believe the operative told me anything of the sort at the time. as if they had i would have kept the policy on and cost myself less
They told me there was nothing to dispute with them as they have notes on the system and have sold the debt.
The debt company say any disputes must be with Swinton.

As swinton state they record all calls, i did ask if they could replay me the call from 2009. But apparently this has now been deleted as the notes have been made.

I have a few years experience in the motortrade, selling all insurance/finance related products and dont think i am being treated fairly whatsoever!

Thanks to anyone who takes the time to read and/or respond to my problem.
Any more info needed just ask

maginot

Swinton do tend to be one of the poorer insurance firms (broker). However it is unlikely you would be able to cancel car insurance without paying a fee and a pro rata amount for the year.

I presume you were paying the car insurance monthly? Car insurance is a year contract so they are able to charge more than 3 months if you only use 3 months etc. You would have to look at your documents to see this e.g. For my insurance if I used 9 months I would not be entitled to any refund of the 12 month policy.

Did you make a claim at in the time you had the policy. This is another occasion, whereby even if you have only used a week of the policy, you are unable to cancel without paying the full years premium.

You could try to ask for the recording of your conversation to see which story is backed up, however your documents probably state the amounts and charges you would be liable for when cancelling.

jamesauld

Yes my original documents stated the cancelation terms however I niavely thought nothing about this when I was told it was alll canceled and no mention of charges were made in the phone call.

maginot

As mentioned often on MSE, Swinton do tend to have a poor reputation so you would need to get the recording of your version of events and then you may be able to negotiate.

However if you have written terms that are reasonable e.g. Not charging £10,000 to cancel. Then I'm afraid you are liable for the costs.

What exactly are the costs for? Is it for cancellation fee and part of insurance? How far into policy did you cancel?

I know written details are often boring to read, however you do need to be aware of these details.

ihateyes

if you called the office, the likelyhood is the call wasnt recorded.

talulah25

The call wont be recorded if you called a branch in 2009, find it difficult to believe that you weren't told of any cancellation charges at the time, unless you asked to be invoiced for it. It is likely that the debt started out nowhere near £600 but LFS charge everytime they send a letter and also admin costs for taking over the debt, instructing bailiffs etc. The only thing I can suggest if LFS are passing you back to Swinton is to call Swinton's customer assistance dept on 01612333676

jamesauld

yeh its for part policy and cancellation charge.
No call was recorded by them.
I have called customer assistance, who say that i had enquired about cancelling not actually cancelled.
They did say that before they passed the debt over it was closer to 500.

Thanks for help.

talulah25

They seem to have a bad reputation for doing this, my sister had exact same situation with a home insurance pol through Swinton, she cancelled and they said she didnt. She ended up paying the charge but then that was only £63 not £600! Sorry I couldnt be more help James, maybe you could log a complaint although I dont know how much good it would do if its just a 'he said/she said' situation

jamesauld

So I have to pay up? Wots the least per month I can pay the debt team? Without incurring charges. As I don't have 60 to chuck at them never mind 600

jamesauld

no one????