kwikfit insurance emptied my bank account

jeanl1958

1st post please be kind. kwikfit insurance took £554 from my account yesterday as my daughter had cancelled her car insurance.
I paid her insurance for her one month when she was short of cash so they had my details on file. she was under the impression the cancellation fee was £50 but was told last night that they will refund the money to me but will be looking for the money from her and if she does not pay it then it will be passed to a credit recovery agency. She is selling her car as she cannot afford to run it anymore. We are still waiting for a breakdown of this ridiculous charge! Can anyone help? is this legal?

McKneff

Wait for the breakdown and come back, it may or may not be ridiculous,
someone will be able to help then.

But expect deductions for

The insurance charge for when the car was covered.

A cancellation charge

And probably an admin fee.

Quentin

Has there been a claim on the policy? (If so it will have to be fully paid up for the year).

Otherwise check what it says in the policy regarding what happens when you cancel (eg any extras like breakdown cover usually cannot be refunded, so must be paid in full), and if they have broken the policy conditions regarding cancellation, dispute this charge with them.

jeanl1958

no there has not been a claim on the policy. when policy renewed dd agreed to legal cover, breakdown cover, excess cover and windscreencover! I realise now that these will have to be paid in full. approx £190 plus cancellation fee £50 I believe but waiting for letter giving breakdown of £554 that they want.

McKneff

The breakdown cover may be able to be suspended till she get a car or even transferred to another car, so you could maybe recoup that way, Contact all the 'extra's' people and they may take pity on her.

[Deleted User]

If they took the money from you your bank details (dd) or debit card details were on file.
I had a massive issue with AA Insurance of the same nature, you will get this sorted, however be prepared for a long wait and a lot of mix ups. They are not easy to deal with so keep notes and strict records.

magpiecottage

Assuming you only authorised a single monthly payment to KwikFit, contact your bank and tell them that it is an unauthorised debit.

FSA rule BCOBS 5.1.11R says:

"(1) Where a banking customer denies having authorised a payment, it is for the firm to prove that the payment was authorised.

(2) Where a payment from a banking customer's account was not authorised by the banking customer, a firm must, within a reasonable period, refund the amount of the unauthorised payment to the banking customer and, where applicable, restore the banking customer's account to the state it would have been in had the unauthorised payment not taken place."

So your account should be restored.

Kwik Fit will then seek recovery from your daughter in accordance with their contract with her.

jeanl1958

I contacted the bank on wednesday who were great. They said would pursue kwikfit if they did not refund as illegal transaction. Money was refunded this morning to me. Problem now is the eye-watering cancellation charge of £554 !