Post Office Daylight Robbery!

WallacePS

I got the chance to buy a second hand car and purchased it from a dealer who kept the tax disc. If found out too late that the cost of insuring another car was extortionate so it has stayed in my driveway till I sold my original car last week.
I followed all of the great advice from this site and used moneysupermarket.com to find a quote for car insurance. I did all of my searching online first and at lunchtime on Friday 9th March I called the Post Office to check a few details of their cover. I stressed that I couldn't drive the car till the documents came as it had no tax disc yet and I was assured that the documents would be sent out first class that day., so I asked for cover to start on Saturday 10th March. However, by Monday afternoon the documents had not arrived and I phoned to complain. The lady I spoke to said that the documents could take up to 7 working days to arrive - this was not the story I had been told prior to purchasing the policy and I'm really unhappy about being conned out of my money by the Post office in the first place. I chose to cancel and asked for a refund since the £50 cashback I would have been anticipating has been spent already on taxi fares to and from work. Within an hour of cancelling I went down to my local Swinton, had the car insured, taxed and finally on the road.
However, the Post Office say that they will refund my money-£275.25 paid by debit card on Friday 9th March, MINUS the cost of insuring my car from the start date till the time of cancellation! Pure cheek and robbery, if you ask me! I asked to speak to a supervisor and he refused to take my call. There is not much money involved here, but on principle I don't feel I owe any money to them.Can anyone suggest how to get a full refund, please?
PS still no documents from them today, 13th March.

rizla01

So are we looking at TWO days cover being charged for?

Is that 2x £275.25/365?

Just a small point but does the offer of a £50 postal order refund state that you must keep the insurance running for the whole duration?

If not, I wonder if that will arrive.:)

impy78

Your policy has to run for 14 days before you are eligible for the postal orders.

However. Call back. Ask to speak to a supervisor. They are not allowed to transfer you through.

(I was allowed to transfer a call once in 6 years to a supervisor, after I threatened to walk out if the manager didn't take the call!!!))

However, they can arrange to call you back within an hour. Ask for compensation for the inconvenience that has been caused you, and tell them you weren't advised of the documents being sent out second class, and the extra costs this has incurred you. Say you want to listen to the sales call with the manager.


As you have had alternative cover, ask them to give a full refund, saying that you understand that their policy will not have provided any cover, but as you took out a policy with Swinton.

Hope this helps. I bloody hate that company!

WallacePS

Thanks for your replies, I needed the chance to rant and warn others off. The documents arrived today, Wednesday, posted second class of course. I'm annoyed to have had the inconvenience of spending £12 per day on taxis while my car lay in the driveway waiting for the paperwork AND being charged for cover that I did not need as the car wasn't road taxed. Lo and behold, the wrong registration number is quoted on the certificate of insurance! They have an N instead of an R. Not a good show for the Post Office, is it? Avoid like the plague if you want my opinion!

M:)