The AA charging me for a friends insurance

ScottS

Good Afternoon,

Apologies for my first post being one of 'need' but I am looking for some help/info.

In March this year, my friend bought a car and I agreed to pay the deposit for his insurance (he gave me the money before I paid it, but it was a saturday and he had the money to hand, but not in his bank account).

The site stated that the card would be used for the deposit and the monthly payments would be taken from the nominated bank account.

He has since cancelled his insurance, but the AA state that they have no record of this and that the money is owed. They took circa £130 in June (I hadn't noticed this had came out of my bank account) and then today I have been told that they are going to take circa £1,170 tomorrow. I've been to my bank (LloydsTSB) and they have stated that it is 'too late' to stop the payment.

To my knowledge, the site did not state that the payment method would revert to card payment if the DD did not collect.

Is this an un-authorised payment collection, or should I get my money back without issue?

I would normally count myself as financially savvy, but to miss the fact that the payment in June (for insurance that wasn't mine) was an error I won't repeat.

So in summary, I help someone out, they cancell their insurance (I have to take this as 'true' until proven otherwise, but that hopefully doesn't matter), the AA take money from me and I am a little annoyed (to say the least).

I have tried looking on their site, but can't see anything that will help me. I'm stuck at the moment as they are likely not to talk to me as I am not the policy holder. £1,300 is a lot of money to me and I want it back.

What are my chances?????????????????????????

InsideInsurance

Normally insurers/ brokers websites' terms and conditions state they will store the card number and reserve the right to use it again in the future. Haven't got the time this afternoon to read all the T&Cs from the AAs site.

You could speak to your bank and say it is an unauthorised transaction and see if they will do a chargeback but on the basis you gave the card number to them and this is not an uncommon way people try and get out of paying their bills etc they may well say they won't do a chargeback.

Personally would attack it from both directions of chargeback with the bank and getting your buddy to argue the fact he cancelled the policy - though even if they did there would be a cancellation fee and so you wont get a 100% refund and will need to get that back from the friend too.

magpiecottage

Coincidentally, FOS has just issued some guidance on this here.

I recommend you dispute both payments with your bank as unauthorised and ask for a refund in accordance with FSA rule BCOBS 5.1.11R.

mikey72

It is an un authorised payment, and you can reclaim it.
Most insurers t&c's now include a statement over third party cards, as they should not be used for continuous authority. They rarely adhere to them though. They will initially refuse to speak to you, but insist that you speak to a senior advisor. Explain you have no contract with them, they have no authority to charge you, and you want an immediate refund. If that fails, speak to your bank and you should get a chargeback, although again, you will have to insist on it.
Either way will leave the insurer having to pursue your friend directly.

ScottS

Well, just spoke to the AA and they were good (with me) and have 'promised' me a refund in 7-10 days. I'll be happy when i see it come back to me.

They were far less helpful with my friend, who spent 2hours all together on the phone to them getting nowhere.

I mentioned the continued authority for the third party card and the lad I spoke to was helpful. He couldn't send out any written confirmation, but assured me (hence my remaining apprehensiveness).....

Thanks a lot for the above posts, they were very helpful!

mikey72

As to the cancellation the FOS state a pro rata refund, and a fee of up to £50.

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/ombudsman-news/54/insurance.htm

You said they didn't receive any notification to cancel? Why did he cancel, if, say, he sold the car, it would be more likely he would have told the insurer, and indeed they shouldn't insure a car he doesn't own.

ScottS

Thanks for that info, he has to send a copy of the DVLA letter (the one that says he is no longer liable for the tax of the car) to them in relation to the cancellation of the policy. I have full confidence he would have called them, so it's for him to take it up with them.

They wouldn't (for good reasons) disclose any details of his contact with them (I wouldn't be interested in the details to be honest) so I have no idea what is owed or paid.

The_AA_Company_Representative

Hello ScottS, we appreciate you have already spoken to someone from The AA regarding this, however if there is anything outstanding which you would like to discuss, please email into chat@theaa.com with Reference number 14248 . Thank you

Quentin

mikey72 wrote: »

As to the cancellation the FOS state a pro rata refund, and a fee of up to £50.

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/ombudsman-news/54/insurance.htm
......

That link is out of date (2006) and irrelevant.

The £50 cancellation fee is not "up to", nor was it for motor insurance.

Nowadays motor insurance cancellation fees are regularly in excess of £50, (eg AXA £52.50, Shiela £55, Budget £75)

mikey72

Quentin wrote: »

That link is out of date (2006) and irrelevant.

The £50 cancellation fee is not "up to", nor was it for motor insurance.

Nowadays motor insurance cancellation fees are regularly in excess of £50, (eg AXA £52.50, Shiela £55, Budget £75)

It's about time they were reminded that the ceiling is £50 then. I haven't cancelled car insurance, if I ever do, I'll let you know how I get on. Either I'll lose, or the t&c's will have to be corrected. Maybe another poster on here will try, as until the excessive fees are challanged again, the last ruling is good enough.

Quentin

mikey72 wrote: »

It's about time they were reminded that the ceiling is £50 then......

Where is the "ceiling" stated as £50?

(Not in the link you supplied, which refers to £50 being a correct cancellation fee for home insurance back in 2006)