what shall i do about tesco??

sugarplum10

last march my car insurance was due for renewal and i wanted to pay in full rather than monthly to save money.
I didnt get paid till the beginning of april so i put my car into a mate car garage, on private land, and informed tesco that i did not wish to renew my car insurance.
I then renewed my car insurance with LV as they gave me a nurses discount of 20% plus my 2 years no claims which made it a bit cheaper!:j:j
I recieve policy renewal documents from tesco and again phoned them and stated that i did not wish to renew. I ststed that the car was off road and i would be renewing with LV in a weeks time as they were cheaper!!
Tescos then wrote to me and said to call them, when i did call they said that i owed them for the two weeks between my policy with them ending and my new policy beginning.
I asked why and they said that because i didnt declair my car off road with the DVLA they effectively coved my car for these two weeks???
I refused to pay them and asked that in future can all correspondance from them be in writing
I then had a letter to say can i please call them (cheeky sods) they said on the phone that if i did not send them proof of having started a new policy with LV they would charge me for the whole policy. when i got cross about them not writing to me instead of talking on the phone they said ' we wrote to you asking you to call us, what more do you want!:eek:'

!!!!!!???
not sure what to do about this.
eventually i called LV who said that was rubbish but as a courtesy they emailed tesco on my behalf with my policy details so they would back off.
this week i have had a letter from JMB??
fon behalf of tesco for the sum of the two weeks lapse!
where do i stand??
if im obliged legally to pay it then i will as i dont want another debt, but if im not i wonna tell them where to go and know that its not my problem!
thanks guys

neverbefore2011

I would make a complaint using Tesco's formal complaints procedure, which I'm sure is readily available on their website. If that goes nowhere, then there's an insurance ombudsman (I think) - Tesco need to prove that you had a contract with them which was effective after the expiry date of your Tesco policy; the question of whether your car was on the road or off the road is irrelevant

MusicalLawyer

It depends how you informed Tesco that you didn't want to re new your car insurance.

On your Previous policy it would have been in the T&C's that the renew would be automatic, and would have stipulated the exact method you would need to cancel - IE Writing to a certain address by a certain date.

jellyjenny

Do you have the date and time of the first time you called Tesco to inform them that you didn't wish to renew? I have had a similar experience a few years ago. I had the details of the call and when I called to complain they checked back their recorded calls and what do you know? I was right

neverbefore2011

KellyKing1987 wrote: »

It depends how you informed Tesco that you didn't want to re new your car insurance.

On your Previous policy it would have been in the T&C's that the renew would be automatic, and would have stipulated the exact method you would need to cancel - IE Writing to a certain address by a certain date.

This may indeed be the cause of Tesco's demand for payment, but it does not explain the nonsense about the car being on or off the road. Such stupidity by Tesco employees is sufficient cause for complaint. Don't forget to tell the DCA that you are lodging a formal complaint with Tesco

theoretica

Are you sure it was March last year. If so Tesco were jumping the gun because at that time there was nothing to prevent you having your vehicle unused, offroad and uninsured if you wanted to. Even with the present requirement for continuous insurance I don't see why Tesco should be able to charge you for preventing you breaking the law. I would go the formal complaint route.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/travel/2011/05/now-you-must-have-car-insurance

neverbefore2011

theoretica wrote: »

Are you sure it was March last year. If so Tesco were jumping the gun because at that time there was nothing to prevent you having your vehicle unused, offroad and uninsured if you wanted to. Even with the present requirement for continuous insurance I don't see why Tesco should be able to charge you for preventing you breaking the law. I would go the formal complaint route.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/travel/2011/05/now-you-must-have-car-insurance

I no longer drive, so I am probably out of date, but I can imagine it is possible that insurers these days put something in their small print about the need for continuous insurance. But any requirement for the policyholder to provide evidence (to a previous insurer) of continuous insurance cannot be a legal requirement, even if it is a contractual requirement

sugarplum10

Ive phoned and told them that i am not paying it, i have a record of the call abd they have agreed that they have cancelled the policy- apparently the problem is not whether or not i cancelled the policy its that they were apparently 'responsable' for my car over those two weeks and because it fell into april when the new laws came into force they can apparenly enforce that i pay them for the two weeks??
Im confused as when i asked them to tell me who gave them the authority to say whom has to / has not to pay this they said its in the DVLA rules??

Happytogetdebtfree

It is policy unless a car is declared as off road via DVla it needs to be insured. It doesn't matter if it's offroad and not used the implication is of its got tax it requires insurance. I think it was a way of weeding out uninsured vehicles x