Atlas Travel Insurance-Claim they want paying for the policy!

djleekee

Hi all back in September 2010 I took out an insurance policy with Atlas Travel and followed all on screen prompts and paid for the policy. I then took the holiday in October 2010. Now imagine my surprise when a letter arrived today (November 2011) saying that due to an error payment was never take for my policy and please can I send them the money now! According to the letter there was a "payment systmes failure in the Autumn of 2010" So my quandry is firstly is this a scam? Or is it legit? Secondly - what incentive is there for me now to pay for something that i've already used and wasnt my fault that they failed to take payment. Also thirdly - surely there is no legal claim for them to now force the money from me as so much time has passed (over a year!) If it was a couple of days or weeks I would feel more obliged to pay! So where do I stand legally in respect of deciding NOT to make this payment now? Thanks in advance for any replies! Lee.

Aquarius1980

I think the first question that needs answering is 'did you actually pay for the policy'? Did the money come out of your bank account/credit card?

If it did, and you have proof then there is no problem.

If what they say is true, and the payment didn't go through for some reason, I'm unsure on where you'd stand.

jackieblack

djleekee wrote: »

Hi all back in September 2010 I took out an insurance policy with Atlas Travel and followed all on screen prompts and paid for the policy. I then took the holiday in October 2010. Now imagine my surprise when a letter arrived today (November 2011) saying that due to an error payment was never take for my policy and please can I send them the money now! According to the letter there was a "payment systmes failure in the Autumn of 2010" So my quandry is firstly is this a scam? Or is it legit?

Did they take the payment when you took out the policy? Have you checked?

djleekee wrote: »

Secondly - what incentive is there for me now to pay for something that i've already used and wasnt my fault that they failed to take payment.

I presume that had you needed to make a claim you would have expected them to to have honoured the cover even if the premium hadn't been taken.
IMO you've had the service you requested from them and they're entitled to be paid for it.

djleekee wrote: »

Also thirdly - surely there is no legal claim for them to now force the money from me as so much time has passed (over a year!) If it was a couple of days or weeks I would feel more obliged to pay! So where do I stand legally in respect of deciding NOT to make this payment now? Thanks in advance for any replies! Lee.

I cannot comment on the legal position.

Maybe Martin could consider this for his Moral Dilemma of the week?

djleekee

Well when i took out the insurance I went through the method of paying on their website and completed the transaction as expected. As this is now over a year ago I am unable to view that far back on my online bank account so cannot establish whether they took the money or not! Atlas are one of the cheapest insurers on the web and it was under £10 for that policy. So i'm not really worried about the money but the overall effect this could have on people. They say in their letter that this affected customers during last AUTUMN. Rather than a specific date or even month! Therefore to me it seems the issue is between the insurance company and the company supplied the financial transactions on their website. If the company supplying the transaction facilities failed to fulfil their part of the contract then that is between those two companies! I dont see why im being pestered for money in retrospect so far down the line when most people wont have access to check their accounts! Also the bigger issue is whether this affects just a handful of people or whether it was EVERY policy over a few weeks or months? Therefore some company has dropped a major bollck somewhere and they are trying to make the public pay for their mistakes! As I say my amount is under £10 and i cant see it worth Atlas doing that much about retrieving this amount from me. Surely the wasted man-hour, letters, stamps etc it's surely easier and cheaper for them to write it all off? Thanks for replying! Lee.

djleekee

Ive just been checking thru my old bank statements and there is proof that i did infact pay for my insurance policy. Im now beginning to think whether this is a scam after all? Imagine the amount of people that wont have access to their statements or even bother to care to check as the amounts paid via Atlas are usually quite small! I wonder if there is need for a full investigation here? Lee PS im not sure why my spacing doesnt work properly!

stanners_2

They have done exactly the same to me too.

A quick google search reveals that a number of people are having the same issue.

It appears all the ones Ive come across have paid previously including myself.

EDIT* Since posting this Ive checked my bank account online. It seems my bank have managed to reclaim the funds after I complained to them about Atlas taking unauthorised payment.

eltel007

i can confirm they have taken money from my account in nov 2011 which was paid for in sept 2010 for a policy in sept 2010 im now in the process of recovering my money


Terry

headpin

Cannot comment on whether a scam or not. But if they hadn't taken the money for a service you have requested then legally they could demand payment for upto 6 years after the event. After that any claim is time barred.

Also, from recollection Atlas offer the opportunity to download the policy Docs for free. So why would anyone want to pay for something you can download and save as well as print if you really do need a hard copy?