Car insurance 14 day cooling off period

aligreen2099

My wife got a new car last week and when looking for car insurance, went for the cheapest deal she found on comparison websites. Which was with autosaints.co.uk.

They offer cheaper car insurance by installing a gps device that monitors your driving etc. Anyway she was quoted £890ish for the year and she agreed over the phone. The paperwork then arrived on saturday and the amount showed there was £1800ish for the year.

I told her to cancel first thing this morning. Firstly when she phoned up they said there must be a mistake cause it should be what was originally quoted and they will look into it. She told them no she would like to cancel. They told her she couldn't. So checking consumer rights I advised her that there is by law a 14 day cooling off peroid.
Also in there T&C's in states:

'Your right to cancel (Private clients):

You have the right to cancel a new policy within 14 days of when you purchase your policy or from when you receive your policy document, whichever is later, and within 14 days of renewal date for renewed policies. Provided you have not incurred any claims during that period, the insurers will pay a pro-rata refund of premium, subject to a minimum charge, and we will refund any policy set-up charges. We will deduct a cancellation fee of £40 from the total refund.'

she then phoned back they said she may cancel, but will need to pay £200 for the GPS device, which has never been installed. Pro rata fee for the 3 days we have been covered and the £40 cancelation fee.

I could agree to them all except the £200 for a GPS device that has never been installed or received by us. I believe through the distance selling act we should not be liable to pay for that.

Can anyone please advise on what we should do?

InsideInsurance

Distance Selling Regs do not apply to financial services/ insurance because they have their own regulations on cooling off periods etc as defined by the FSA.

Was any appointment even set up for the installation of the device? Were you told who would be doing the installation?

aligreen2099

No appointment was setup. We were told they would set one up but nothing was confirmed at all. An engineer was supposed to call within 14 days to arrange this.
My wife spoke to the CAB and they advised they whole contract should be null and void as we're in the 14 day cooling off period, and told her to contact consumer direct Scotland.

However I did find this on whatconsumer.co.uk.

Cooling off and your right to cancel

You will benefit from a cooling off period if the credit agreement was made in one of the following ways:

For agreements signed away from the creditor’s normal business premises – i.e. at your home, place of work or at an exhibition stand
For agreements made at a distance (this also includes banking, insurance, pensions and investments)
For financial products and services marketed by an intermediary or broker (even where this is face to face)
For agreements which fall under (1), you will have a cooling off period of 5 days, which begins from the time you receive the second copy of the agreement (containing the cancellation form). For contracts which fall under (2) and (3), you benefit from a 14 day cooling off period (30 days for life insurance and personal pensions). Unlike the cooling off period for goods bought under the Distance Selling Regulations (DSRs), the creditor may make a reasonable charge for any service (such as insurance cover) which was operating during this time.


Another question is where we stand on canceling as what they quoted us and what they are trying to charge us are hugely different, so the reason we want to cancel is down to them making a huge mistake. Don't want to stay with them if they are this incompetent either.

InsideInsurance

I think the CAB can be a great thing but their advice isn't always correct. The policy isn't null and void, and really you don't want it to be as otherwise you were driving without insurance for those 3 days you were on cover!

Up to £50 has been supported by the FOS as a reasonable fee for cancellations and so the £40 cancellation fee and the 3 days on cover would normally be considered reasonable.

The points to challenge are first of all why the quote received of £890 doesn't match the paperwork of £1800 (I don't know if you mean by "ish" that the numbers you are giving are rounded up but they gave you accurate numbers or if they themselves are only giving you "ish" numbers?) and if they have actually incurred the £200 fee or not

aligreen2099

They did agree a mistake has been made and offered to investigate the issue. As we wanted to pay the insurance over the year it was put through a finance company. they advised they could of made the mistake. Although showing this much incompetence already, we don not want to go with them as insurers.

The 'ish' was that the numbers were rounded up as I don't have the paperwork with exact figures here as I'm at work. The only money they have taken from us was the initial £178 deposit.

I told my wife to phone the credit company and cancel the agreement with them, as we don't agree with that contract.

InsideInsurance

aligreen2099 wrote: »

They did agree a mistake has been made

Personally I would argue that this is enough to argue the fact that all charges other than the 3 days on cover shouldn't apply.

I am sure the FOS would consider it enough of a reason to at least open a complaint file, which would cost the insurers much more than what you're asking them to waive irrespective of what their final verdict turns out to be.

maginot

InsideInsurance wrote: »

Personally I would argue that this is enough to argue the fact that all charges other than the 3 days on cover shouldn't apply.

I am sure the FOS would consider it enough of a reason to at least open a complaint file, which would cost the insurers much more than what you're asking them to waive irrespective of what their final verdict turns out to be.

I would agree with this, I don't think you should have to pay the cancellation fee, let alone the installation cost. You have had three days insurance so perhaps should pay for this, but that is it!

Their representative has made a mistake forcing you to cancel and should either honour the original price or allow you to take your custom elsewhere without any penalty.