Bell Insurance - Unauthorised Direct Debit Withdrawal

jamestc989

I have a question for you if you would be kind enough to help me:

I was in Florida over Christmas and I checked my bank balance online and my previous car insurance company (Bell, part of EUI ltd) had withdrawn via Direct Debit, £72 from me. I have not used the company for approximately 8 months.

I do however, have another policy which I paid upfront via credit card for my new car with Elephant. They are sister companies. I never owed Bell the £72 and it was out of my account for 2 days. I ended up calling them up internationally to discover what was happening and they said it was a processing error and they apologise and it would be refunded back within a couple of days.

As far as I am concerned this is no different than theft? (If they had taken the money out of my house and replaced it later on, this would still be theft even if they have replaced it?). Unfortunately I hadn't been paid from work and my account consequently went over my overdraft limit and I expect to be charged at the end of the month. I imagine it has also affected my credit rating.

I sent an email to them threatening to contact the Financial Ombudsman and I recently received a reply informing me they have posted a cheque of £100 to cover bank charges, international calling cost and any compensation. They have admitted they are liable for the mistake. They also suggest that this has not only happened to me but also other customers, however they were "not able to give out that information".

To be honest, £100 I personally don't think is a suitable remedy for it - I was planning on going shopping the day I checked my balance and if I wasn't with my parents I would have been stuffed and my credit rating will have been adversely affected because of it. Not to mention the fact that over the past several years I have spent near £5,000 on insurance with them!

Is this a breach of Data Protection? Although they informed me they tried to contact me about the accidental withdrawal (which they still refuse to comment on how it happened), I was never made aware of the withdrawal until I made contact and I don't have any emails, letters or missed calls to say otherwise. They stated that it is not a breach because they are required (and I have apparently signed in my terms and conditions of my old insurance contract), to keep my data on file in the event of any late claims being made.

I'd really appreciate any advise - am I able to take this to court? I have had nothing but poor customer service and trouble with them in the past and I would like to reveal them for what they really are like!

If anyone would like to read the email I received I can post it here if required.

dunstonh

To be honest, £100 I personally don't think is a suitable remedy for it - I was planning on going shopping the day I checked my balance and if I wasn't with my parents I would have been stuffed and my credit rating will have been adversely affected because of it. Not to mention the fact that over the past several years I have spent near £5,000 on insurance with them!

So, you didnt lose out financially and it didnt create a problem other than a very temporary inconvenience. What may have happened is largely irrelevant because it didnt happen.

Is this a breach of Data Protection?

Cant see one to be honest.

I'd really appreciate any advise - am I able to take this to court?

Ok, prize of the year for massive overkill. On what basis do you want to take them to court? An error occured, the offered you a decent £100 inconvenience amount when you suffered virtually no inconvenience.

I have had nothing but poor customer service and trouble with them in the past and I would like to reveal them for what they really are like!

That argument wont go down well in court.

To be honest, £100 sounds like a good result based on what you have said.

InsideInsurance

You would need to know what truly happened with their IT systems to know if it is a breach of DPA. You say you pay the existing policy by CC not DD and so it isnt an inter company/ brand sharing issue, I assume therefore that you paid for your old policy by DD and they've had some form of glitch (system or human error) that caused a historic payment request file or such to rerun (obviously just speculation).

1stly, you can only ever claim for what HAS happened not what MIGHT HAVE, our courts do not award punative damages. Regulators can fine companies (eg FSA or ICO) for breaches and you could raise your concerns with either of the regulators but that monies would go into the public coffers and not your pocket.

Whilst you cannot cancel an insurance policy simply by refusing to pay (aka cancelling the DD) it is sensible to cancel any DDs after the final payment has been taken to prevent future errors.

olly300

InsideInsurance wrote: »

Whilst you cannot cancel an insurance policy simply by refusing to pay (aka cancelling the DD) it is sensible to cancel any DDs after the final payment has been taken to prevent future errors.

I've found out with several companies that this doesn't work.

Companies can and do reset up direct debits then take out money they think you owe them.

However if you are fortunate and have a good bank you can get the money refunded almost immediately.

The company will then contact you demanding the money. The best response for their demand if you don't owe them the money is to write a "Letter Before Action" to them informing them you will take them to court if they keep insisting you owe them the money.

jamestc989

Thanks for the replies.

They were very vague in that it was an "Admin Error", they also said that I was not the only person that this happened to. In terms of it breaking the Data Protection Act - my DD details are redundant and no longer required by them, regardless of whether a late claim is to be made.

I do not wish to cancel my current policy as they are far cheaper than anyone else unfortunately.

I don't owe them any money and from the phone call it was clear that they knew it was purely their fault and at not point did they imply I owed them anything.

Saying I would take them to court was overkill I know, i'm just wound up by it because it will have affected my credit rating which is not 100% in the first place and I could not access my money when I wanted it on holiday. They also refused to do an instant bank transfer which would have put the money back into my account within 2 hours which was unreasonable as they took it from me in the first place.

If I make a complaint to the FSA what is the process/likely outcome? It sounds like they are obviously wanting to keep me away from doing this because of the money they have offered. Thanks for the help!

dunstonh

In terms of it breaking the Data Protection Act - my DD details are redundant and no longer required by them, regardless of whether a late claim is to be made.

They are entitled to hold to them for the life of the contract and for as long as necessary. Even if that exceeds 6 years after the end of the contract. So, no breach likely.

If I make a complaint to the FSA what is the process/likely outcome?

The FSA dont handle consumer complaints. They will forward your complaint to the insurer. The insurer will match the complaint up with your existing one.

It sounds like they are obviously wanting to keep me away from doing this because of the money they have offered.

It doesnt sound like that to me. It looks like your standard £100 payment made for an error. Quite normal and within the typical range.

Parking_Trouble

jamestc989 wrote: »

Thanks for the replies.

They were very vague in that it was an "Admin Error", they also said that I was not the only person that this happened to. In terms of it breaking the Data Protection Act - my DD details are redundant and no longer required by them, regardless of whether a late claim is to be made.

I do not wish to cancel my current policy as they are far cheaper than anyone else unfortunately.

I don't owe them any money and from the phone call it was clear that they knew it was purely their fault and at not point did they imply I owed them anything.

Saying I would take them to court was overkill I know, i'm just wound up by it because it will have affected my credit rating which is not 100% in the first place and I could not access my money when I wanted it on holiday. They also refused to do an instant bank transfer which would have put the money back into my account within 2 hours which was unreasonable as they took it from me in the first place.

If I make a complaint to the FSA what is the process/likely outcome? It sounds like they are obviously wanting to keep me away from doing this because of the money they have offered. Thanks for the help!

If I were you I would accept the £100 with good grace and back off.

If you went to Florida with £72 making a material difference to your cash flow then I would suggest you are taking too much of a risk.

IMHO they admitted the problem and gave you more than adequate compensation. I suggest you move on.

InsideInsurance

olly300 wrote: »

However if you are fortunate and have a good bank you can get the money refunded almost immediately.

You dont have to be fortunate, the DD Guarantee assures you that you can get the money back instantly by instructing your bank. Some banks complain about having to do it but they can complain all they want, they have no choice.



To the OP - If you are talking about making a personal complaint to the FOS about the issue, then you have to state on the complaint form what the resolution is that you want. The FOS do not simply "decide" what the restitution should be but as has been said a £100 compensation is probably going to be considered fairly adequate.

If you are talking about a general FSA complaint then you will never hear the outcome of the matter. If they deem it worthy of inquiry they would speak to relevant people in the insurance company and find out what happened and what has been done to (1) resolve the issue to those effected and (2) prevent it happening again. Depending on the answers there may or may not be a fine and there may be a follow visits with the threat of sanctions/fines if things haven't improved.

twinkle10

What is mean by Bell Insurance? I am not aware of this type of insurance?

scheming_gypsy

It's incase somebody steals or damages your bell.

Either that or it's the name of an insurance company belonging to Admiral Insurance.

dunstonh

twinkle10 wrote: »

What is mean by Bell Insurance? I am not aware of this type of insurance?

One assumes you have bells in India. Have you heard of Big Ben? That is the worlds most famous bell.