Threatened with some charges for refusing to pay

spox

I recently took out a motor vehicle insurance through a company called DNA.This was my second vehicle and among the items specifically discussed with the adviser was that I did not want my no claims bonus transferred to this second vehicle.I was asked by the advisor to nevertheless declare how many years NCB I had which I did.I was then asked to provide among other things the proof for my NCB on the second vehicle and after receiving that information an adviser phoned me to ask to transfer my no claims bonus which I refused as I had no intention of doing so.A few days later I received a call to say that if I did not transfer my NCB then my insurance premium would go up by over £400.I informed the adviser that I did not have that money and he said that he would discuss the issue with his manager when he came back from holiday as I had objections to the raise in my premium.In the last week they called again to say that after deliberations with the insurance company they had decided to give me an introductory offer which would raise my premium by £58.Again I refused that offer because soon after I had committed myself and paid deposit I had received an offer for insurance which was £80 cheaper but could not take it as I had committed myself to DNAand was therefore not prepared to pay anymore than I was already paying.At this juncture they told me that they were cancelling my insurance and a letter to that effect was sent and I received it the following day.However on our discussions they said that they were going to charge me about £400 for cancellation even though its them who cancelled the cover,misled me about the NCB which they said would not be used on the second vehicle but now wanted it transferred.I informed them that I was not going to pay those charges as I had not breached the contract with them but they had misled me to which they said they would pass it to the debt collectors.Sorry for the long story but my question is Can they do what they are threatening to do that is charge me for their own cancellation.

Horseunderwater

Yes they can and do charge for cancelling a policy. You should have done an on line search which would have given you 100's of quotes from which to base your cover. Martin has links on this very site just for this. Fill out one form and it gets the basics up on screen in 5-10 mins max. So pay up and move on.

keith1950

You may feel you have been misled by this company but you can only use your NCD on one policy so was this quote given using zero NCD??

A bigger problem for you is now that you have had a policy cancelled you have to declare this cancellation when obtaining insurance elsewhere. This can make it very difficult to get insurance elsewhere and even if you can it will be with vastly increased premiums.

Your best course is to sort things out with DNA , whatever that might cost.

dacouch

You need to send them an "Official Complaint" preferably by recorded delivery. Make sure you refer to the initial phone call and insist they listen to the recording of the call.

Mention in the letter you will refer the matter to the Ombudsman if you receive no satisfaction

spox

keith1950 wrote: »

You may feel you have been misled by this company but you can only use your NCD on one policy so was this quote given using zero NCD??

A bigger problem for you is now that you have had a policy cancelled you have to declare this cancellation when obtaining insurance elsewhere. This can make it very difficult to get insurance elsewhere and even if you can it will be with vastly increased premiums.

Your best course is to sort things out with DNA , whatever that might cost.

Thanks but I thought there is a difference between cancelled and refused.

Quentin

Cancelled policies do have to be disclosed.

But you should try and get this sorted as dacouch suggested in #4

keith1950

Thanks but I thought there is a difference between cancelled and refused.

.However on our discussions they said that they were going to charge me about £400 for cancellation even though its them who cancelled the cover,misled me about the NCB which they said would not be used on the second vehicle but now wanted it transferred

Sorry I must have misread your post.....at the end of the day you have had a policy cancelled,if it had been an agreed cancellation I don't think they would be charging you £400 and your post didn't read that you had cancelled it??

spox

keith1950 wrote: »

Sorry I must have misread your post.....at the end of the day you have had a policy cancelled,if it had been an agreed cancellation I don't think they would be charging you £400 and your post didn't read that you had cancelled it??

Its not me who cancelled the policy but the the insurer because I would not agree to paying more than was originally agreed.

TSx

So if asked the question "Have you ever had any insurance cancelled, refused or special terms applied", how could you honestly answer anything but yes?

I would make a formal complaint and take it to the FOS - they can look at exactly what was said and then reverse the cancellation (and ask them to give you a full refund of anything you have paid) if they think that's fair.

keith1950

Its not me who cancelled the policy but the the insurer

So if asked the question "Have you ever had any insurance cancelled, refused or special terms applied", how could you honestly answer anything but yes?

I can see that you feel you have been treated badly by this company,however, as has been explained by others, you need to make a formal complaint and until this is resolved you need to do anything necessary to get them to overturn the cancellation and until you do you will have to answer truthfully the question 'have you ever had insurance cancelled'.

forgotmyname

Putting yes to having insuranced cancelled wont go down well with new insureres and could push the premium up for more than your paying now.

Saying no could see you uninsured if you need to claim. And possibly additional remarks on yout file "FRAUD"

Its not worth the risks with the database's being shared these days. The chance of getting caught is high.