Car insurance cancellation - do I have to pay them?

retiredalso

OP, why not transfer the existing policy to your new car?

Because it will probably cost them a lot more to do that than to get a new policy from someone else, as I discovered.

OP, it isn't Swinton is it?

retiredalso

But as you have previously been told you cannot use the same NCD for two policies in force at the same time.

Who told?

All I get is you were told.

Is there any statute or law that says that?

Point me towards it.

I posted my experience, if you don't want to believe me then don't.

BoGoF

Quentin told you a while back, who knows his stuff when it comes to insurance.

Easiest way to solve the problem (not that you think you have a problem) is to phone your insurance company and tell them exactly what has happened. Better to take the hit on the increased premiums now than be refused a payout should you ever have to claim.

BoGoF

Oh and here's a link to Budget Insurance which makes it clear. This is industry wide

http://www.budgetinsurance.com/Car-Insurance/Frequently-asked-questions/Can-a-No-Claims-Discount-NCD-be-applied-to-more-than-one-car/

retiredalso

Oh and here's a link to Budget Insurance which makes it clear. This is industry wide

Is it? or is it just Budget. I don't know.

That is the problem with the internet. Who can you believe? Someone on a forum, or the company that your car is insured with?

Anyway my insurance company were informed as I have already posted, but who reads all the replies on a forum anyway?

and I was told I was properly insured.

If you don't believe me then that is up to you.

I believe me.

BoGoF

Oh well, one of these people that can't be told.

Ignorance is bliss, if you believe you're insured then that's all that matters.......

dunstonh

Getting lucky and not getting caught does not mean you were right. It may well have happened and you may well get away with it. However, technically, your NCD should only be on one policy at a time.

retiredalso

Ignorance is bliss, if you believe you're insured then that's all that matters...

So you are saying that my present insurance company has lied to me and has been lying to me since March?

Doesn't give me any confidence in what anyone who deals in insurance tells me then does it?

BoGoF

retiredalso wrote: »

So you are saying that my present insurance company has lied to me and has been lying to me since March?

Doesn't give me any confidence in what anyone who deals in insurance tells me then does it?

Depends what they told you, did they say it was ok to use your NCD on 2 cars at the same time. Earlier you said you told them you weren't cancelling your previous policy and "assumed they would contact your previous insurer". Not quite the same thing is it? And you were wrong to assume they would contact them.

It's up to you to understand the rules and any quote is based on the info provided and your insurer may or not request proof of NCD. In this case they didn't. As has been said you may have got lucky but please don't try and encourage others to try.

retiredalso

A story for all you disbelievers.

In February I got a lump sum from an endowment and rather than stick it in the bank to make 1 or 2 % interest I decided to throw the money away on a brand new car.

My old car was getting old and due an MOT, which it would most likely fail due to it turning into iron oxide.

So I picked one out to buy, a Hyundi i10. I then searched all the comparison sites for insurance and my cheapest quote was £150.

My then present insurer, Swinton, gave an online quote of £267.

Thinking that this was taking the micky, I went into the local branch and asked them if this was so.

After entering the details into their computer I was told that my present insurer would not insure me for a brand new car and I would have to cancel that insurance, paying a cancellation fee of £50, and pay back a pro rata amount of the cashback I had received but with the amount reduced by the refund I would get from canceling the insurance.

I owed them £65. The cheapest quote I got from them in the office for my new car, which I had not at this time purchased, was £250, so if I wanted to go ahead I should pay them £315.

After picking myself up from the floor I said I got a quote of £150 from another company could they try at least to match it.

Showing disbelief that I would actually go elsewhere I was told various things to dissuade me from going elsewhere. Poor CS, claims taking a long time to be settled etc.

I said that I had not bought the car yet and was only looking at options, true, and my old car was still MOT'd for another month, so I would be back.

So off I went to the garage and ordered a brand new Hyundi i10 and got a delivery date 4 weeks in the future.

4 weeks later the garage called me with the registration number and told me to get insurance so that they could tax it. No road tax to pay as it was exempt but it still needed a tax disc.

Back I went to the internet to get my insurance but because it was a brand new car and it had not yet been updated in some database I was told to call the insurer direct. So I did.

After being told the call was being recorded I told the agent I was calling because I could not insure my car online as it was a new car just registered, and answered all the questions. I was asked about my present car and insurance, NCD etc. and I told him the car was going to be scrapped, and told him about Swinton wanting £65 to cancel my present insurance when I had, with cashback, only paid £80 and was it OK if I just left that insurance in place since I was scrapping the car.

He said that was OK and because I had a problem insuring my new car online he would give me a discount of £20 so I only paid £130. He then said I would be sent an email with a link to the documents so I could download them.

Which I did then emailed the link to the garage where I was buying my new car.

Next day I got a phone call to come and pay for and pick up my new car.

Which I did.

I then told Swinton my old car had been scrapped because it had failed its MOT and was uneconomical to repair. Which it was, I got £150 for it.

Of course in late September when the insurance should have been renewed I get a renewal notice from Swinton.

Naturally I had made sure it was not automatically renewed.

So who do I believe as to whether my car is insured or not?

Someone on a forum or an agent for a large company who insure people over a certain age?

You believe what you want to believe and I will believe what I believe and no one will convince me that my car is not insured.