StartRescue Breakdown Insurance, no renewal or expiry notice

alcalc

Our breakdown insurance expired on 9 may 2012. We received *no* notification or renewal letters about this (in 2011 we got a renewal letter *and* a renewal email).

About 2 weeks after our policy expired we were 2 hours from home and had a serious breakdown, when I phoned StartRescue they told me the policy had expired and could give me no explanation as to why we had not received any notification. Having 2 young children in the car I was left with no choice but to pay up-front for recovery for us and the car. I am firmly of the opinion that traveling in a car with kids is fairly unwise without some form of backup in case something goes wrong so I would never have taken the trip had I been aware we had no breakdown cover.

I've since spent some time on-hold to an 0845 number waiting for a customer service agent (so far I've become bored, frustrated and annoyed waiting and given up). I'm also waiting for a reply from their website contact-us section.

Can anyone think of a *valid* reason why we might not have received a renewal and/or notice of expiry? We have claimed once on our policy in 3 years with StartRescue (18 months ago and that was just for a flat battery in cold weather so it's not like we're not excessive users or anything).

Does anyone know if breakdown-insurance is covered by the same laws as car-insurance (or "insurance" in-general)? I'm fairly sure car insurance companies are required by law to notify when a policy is expiring, is this the case for breakdown-insurance?

1jim

Maybe lost in post?
Have you checked spam filter on email?

To be fair it's really your job to know when policies expire and take action to ensure cover is continued if that's what you want. Probably bad luck itch breakdown but best put it down to experience

Tiexen

And isn't this the complete opposite of all the people who complain about the AA auto renewing.

funkycoldribena

I bought this thing called a calendar.Its great- you can write all sorts of reminders on it.

alcalc

I never said I was in favour of auto-renewal. I was questioning why, unlike every other insurance policy I've ever had, I got no notification it was about to expire.

Auto-renewal, is devious and underhand (last year I discovered we'd been paying twice Tesco for 2 separate home-insurance policies for 3 years because they auto-renewed one when we intended to allow it to expire in favour of another Tesco policy).

I know it's my job to make sure I am covered. I'm also pretty sure car insurance and home insurance companies are required by law to notify when a policy is expiring.

It might indeed be lost in the post, but the email reminders from previous years are still in my inbox and there is nothing in spam-filter.

Any chance anyone could be tempted to answer either of my *actual* questions?

motorguy

alcalc wrote: »

Any chance anyone could be tempted to answer either of my *actual* questions?

in answer to your *actual* questions, no, noone else is liable for you not renewing your breakdown insurance.

Does noone take ownership of anything anymore?

balletshoes

if you read to the end of this thread from last year, it appears that insurance providers do not have to provide notice at renewal time, as of 2008 -

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=89782

I have no idea one way or the other, but I do keep a note myself of when my home, car and breakdown cover are due to need renewal.

arcon5

alcalc wrote: »

Our breakdown insurance expired on 9 may 2012. We received *no* notification or renewal letters about this (in 2011 we got a renewal letter *and* a renewal email).

About 2 weeks after our policy expired we were 2 hours from home and had a serious breakdown, when I phoned StartRescue they told me the policy had expired and could give me no explanation as to why we had not received any notification. Having 2 young children in the car I was left with no choice but to pay up-front for recovery for us and the car. I am firmly of the opinion that traveling in a car with kids is fairly unwise without some form of backup in case something goes wrong so I would never have taken the trip had I been aware we had no breakdown cover.

I've since spent some time on-hold to an 0845 number waiting for a customer service agent (so far I've become bored, frustrated and annoyed waiting and given up). I'm also waiting for a reply from their website contact-us section.

Can anyone think of a *valid* reason why we might not have received a renewal and/or notice of expiry? We have claimed once on our policy in 3 years with StartRescue (18 months ago and that was just for a flat battery in cold weather so it's not like we're not excessive users or anything).

Does anyone know if breakdown-insurance is covered by the same laws as car-insurance (or "insurance" in-general)? I'm fairly sure car insurance companies are required by law to notify when a policy is expiring, is this the case for breakdown-insurance?

Incorrect.

Although to do inform you when the policy expires - on your original documentation.

I hope to god you monitor insurance policies and like more closely, otherwise you could end up either
a) driving without insurance b) finding a policy being auto-renewed at a rate you are unhappy with

Nothing like taking personal responsibility now is there

Former_MSE_Andrea

Hi alcalc

startrescue has asked us to post a reply on its behalf. MSE doesn't endorse anything a company may say on the forum.

Dear Alcalc

After reading your post we are concerned that none of the policy renewal or expiry reminders reached you.

At startrescue.co.uk, we take policy renewals very seriously as we are keen to repeat custom year after year.

Currently we send:
2 emails, 2 months in advance of a policy expiry,
1 letter, 1 month in advance of the policy expiry,
1 text message (providing we have a mobile number registered) 2 weeks in advance of the policy expiry,
And finally, 1 last email up to 2 days after the policy has expired, to advise that the policy has now lapsed.

We also provide a facility for our customers to set up their own email reminders for important dates related to their vehicle, including the breakdown policy expiry.

We are very interested in discussing this further with you to find the route cause for no reminder reaching you at all, as we have put these reminders in place to help our customers avoid these types of situations.

Please can you either contact us on 0845 437 9690 Customer Service Department, Monday – Friday 9.00 am until 5.30 pm, alternatively please email us at enquiries@startrescue.co.uk with your contact details and preferred call back time to discuss this further.

boyse7en

to find the route cause for no reminder

They could do with finding someone who can spell, too.