Car Breakdown Discussion

daveyjp

The accident care is free. i.e they will handle your call and arrange recovery as part of your cover.

The recovery isn't free, but its irrelevant as it can be claimed through insurance.

Clare_the_Bear

TheBeeMan wrote: »

Hi all, hopefully this is the correct place to post this question. Your advice would be much appreciated.


AA Breakdown member since 2016.


Questions:
Do the AA need to notify you before you contract is due for renewal?


Should they be telling me the amount due for renewal?


Are they just allowed to increase the premiums with payment via direct debit and without notification?



I've never received an email, letter or call regarding this and my premium is now at £37.45 per month.


They started at £13 per month between 07/2017 & 06/2018 ( Im guesing this is the Introductory offer)


Increased to £29.24 between 06/2018 & 04/2019


Increased again to £37.45 between 06/2019 to present day.


No notification ever regarding increases or payments going forward. I have also previously asked for Auto Renweal to not be used on my account. Doesn't look like this has been done.


Do I have any right to a refund as no notification has ever been given to me regarding my cover and increase of premiums?


Cheers all

Hi,

If your Direct Debit amount is to be increased, the organisation taking the payment has to give you advance notice of any change. If they haven't then they are in breach of scheme guidelines and you can make an indemnity against them via your bank. This applies for ALL the payments they are in breach of the rules for, not just 2 months. Be careful to check all your emails (was it a different email address you use to communicate with AA??) as they can counterclaim and you won't get your money returned. Organisations are normally very hot on giving advance notice as they don't want indemnities.

You can read more here about advance notice here smartdebit.co.uk/bacs-underlines-the-rules-about-advance-notice/

HTH

roddydogs

Autoaid used to be the cheapest by far, when you had to pay up front and claim back.It may still be good value if you have a spouse or more than I car.
But for a single person with one car, its very expensive.

TheBeeMan

Hi,

If your Direct Debit amount is to be increased, the organisation taking the payment has to give you advance notice of any change. If they haven't then they are in breach of scheme guidelines and you can make an indemnity against them via your bank. This applies for ALL the payments they are in breach of the rules for, not just 2 months. Be careful to check all your emails (was it a different email address you use to communicate with AA??) as they can counterclaim and you won't get your money returned. Organisations are normally very hot on giving advance notice as they don't want indemnities.

You can read more here about advance notice here smartdebit.co.uk/bacs-underlines-the-rules-about-advance-notice/

HTH

Thank you for the headsup on that. I tend to keep every email and have searched through them all dating back to 2016 when I first joined the AA for breakdown cover. No emails with anything to do with price increases, contract expire dates or new contract via auto renewal. Infact no emails at all regarding anyhting to do with costs or financially.

So hopefully I have a chance to claim via indemnity.

Should I be writing to the AA first to notify them before I make the indemnity claim or should I just speak with my bank?


Anyone else had any similar success stories to share?


Want to make sure I follow the correct procedures, you know how good companies are at wrggiling out of responsibility when it comes to things like this.

Thanks again for your advice. :money:

wagtamm

TheBeeMan wrote: »

Thank you for the headsup on that. I tend to keep every email and have searched through them all dating back to 2016 when I first joined the AA for breakdown cover. No emails with anything to do with price increases, contract expire dates or new contract via auto renewal. Infact no emails at all regarding anyhting to do with costs or financially.

So hopefully I have a chance to claim via indemnity.

Should I be writing to the AA first to notify them before I make the indemnity claim or should I just speak with my bank?


Anyone else had any similar success stories to share?


Want to make sure I follow the correct procedures, you know how good companies are at wrggiling out of responsibility when it comes to things like this.

Thanks again for your advice. :money:

The direct debit scheme is only a method of payment.

Similarly, the Direct Debit Guarantee covers Direct Debit payments. It cannot be used to address contractual disputes between you and the billing organisation.​

As per the terms of the Direct Debit Guarantee:

If you receive a refund you are not entitled to, you must pay it back when the organisation asks you to

bigdaddykez

Hi,
This is a cautionary tale to ensure you always read a company's Terms & Conditionsbefore buying. (Which, I have to admit, I didn't do in this case)
I took out a cheap car breakdown policy, via GoCompare, with Nova Direct last year, on Continuous Payment Authority/Auto Renewal, which now appears to be common practice with most insurance companies, and I've never had this problem before.
I didn't have to make any claims so I can't comment on their response to claims.
I got my renewal email this week which included an administration fee of £4.99 for renewal.
I sent them an email stating I did not wish to renew, and of course received a reply stating that they don't accept renewal declines via email and I had to call Customer Services.
I duly called and was told that there would be a £4.99 fee for cancelling my policy. I argued that I wasn't cancelling my policy, just not accepting it to be renewed on expiration.
To cut a long story short, I finally found their Ts&Cs (via a FAQ section on their website) which did actually state that there is a £4.99 fee for not accepting policy auto-renewal.
In effect they want to charge you for renewing your policy and for NOT renewing your policy.
Needless to say I will not use this company again, and I will always read Ts&Cs before buying in future.

Cheers and a Merry Xmas

NutWorld

bigdaddykez wrote: »

Hi,
This is a cautionary tale to ensure you always read a company's Terms & Conditionsbefore buying. (Which, I have to admit, I didn't do in this case)
I took out a cheap car breakdown policy, via GoCompare, with Nova Direct last year, on Continuous Payment Authority/Auto Renewal, which now appears to be common practice with most insurance companies, and I've never had this problem before.
I didn't have to make any claims so I can't comment on their response to claims.
I got my renewal email this week which included an administration fee of £4.99 for renewal.
I sent them an email stating I did not wish to renew, and of course received a reply stating that they don't accept renewal declines via email and I had to call Customer Services.
I duly called and was told that there would be a £4.99 fee for cancelling my policy. I argued that I wasn't cancelling my policy, just not accepting it to be renewed on expiration.
To cut a long story short, I finally found their Ts&Cs (via a FAQ section on their website) which did actually state that there is a £4.99 fee for not accepting policy auto-renewal.
In effect they want to charge you for renewing your policy and for NOT renewing your policy.
Needless to say I will not use this company again, and I will always read Ts&Cs before buying in future.

Cheers and a Merry Xmas

Welcome to MSE :hello:

Yes, it really is important to read the terms and conditions of any offer.

Having said that, I'm surprised you missed term 33 that states "Verbal requests for cancellation are not accepted ", although as you argue, you are not cancelling.

In which case perhaps term 34 would have assisted you?
It states "Automatic renewal is only an option if we still have a valid Continuous Payment Authority."

https://www.nova-direct.com/terms-and-conditions

So why not cancel it direct with your card provider?
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/recurring-payments/

Cheers and a Merry Xmas.

pjapk

I'm looking to get some cover for my long-term partner (not married, all bills in my name) driving her car, me riding my older (21yrs old) motorcycle & occasionally her car, & in case there's any relevance I also tow a caravan occasionally but only in the UK.
We don't have holiday insurance.
Do any particular providers jump out as a sensible deal?

Haven999

Has anyone had problems renewing their breakdown cover with AutoAid? I just tried to renew with my (Newday) Credit Card but it insists that I enter a card start date (which my card does not have).. the transaction would not process. I have emailed them and there response was ''Our payment system has a block on some credit cards. New Day issued cards are one of them''. Surely most credit cards don't have a start date?

molerat

Haven999 wrote: »

Surely most credit cards don't have a start date?

I would say the opposite is true, all 7 of mine do :cool: