Admiral - charges for end of insurance

qwertyjjj

So, I did not receive any communication about my renewal, no phone calls, no letters, no emails.
Next thing I know I get a letter from a debt collection agency for £83 so I rang Admiral and they confirmed that this was £63.04 cancellation charge (or 1 month use + cancellation), + £20 admin fee for passing to debt collection.

I paid the debt agency as I have enough problems at the moment clearing cards etc without wanting to affect ratings and it was only £83.
Now, my questions is, what recourse can I use to try and claim this money back from Admiral? They were not able to renew my car insurance as my credit card had changed and I have now renewed my insurance with another provider but can they apply all these charges if they did not notify me?

Buzby

The don't need to. When you took out the policy, it will have said I was an ongoing arrangement so any payment method was beng used as a continuous authority. If this failed, they should have contacted you to arrange alternative payment.

Paying the DCA is an admission the debt exised, so getting it back ay not be easy. It will not have automatically affected your credit file unless you gave permission to disclose as part of the policy terms.

InsideInsurance

Obviously they are going to say that they did notify you and either you ignored it or Royal Mail lost it. They'll also point out you agreed to automatic renewal and continuous payment authority when you bought the policy and on the basis you did buy elsewhere you evidently did remember that the renewal was due.

Did you not think to ask them what the renewal price was before going elsewhere if you received nothing from them but did remember the renewal was due?

Put a complaint into them that you didnt receive the notice, send proof that you had arranged insurance elsewhere and ask them to waive the charges but don't hold your breath for it to happen.

Quentin

It looks as though they cancelled your policy.

If so, then put your current insurer in the picture about this.

Having a cancelled policy on your record must be disclosed.

qwertyjjj

InsideInsurance wrote: »

Obviously they are going to say that they did notify you and either you ignored it or Royal Mail lost it. They'll also point out you agreed to automatic renewal and continuous payment authority when you bought the policy and on the basis you did buy elsewhere you evidently did remember that the renewal was due.

Did you not think to ask them what the renewal price was before going elsewhere if you received nothing from them but did remember the renewal was due?

Put a complaint into them that you didnt receive the notice, send proof that you had arranged insurance elsewhere and ask them to waive the charges but don't hold your breath for it to happen.

Are there any legal things I can quote to ensure that they should have reminded me or tried to get alternative payment?
It's even worse, I actually did not renew until I got the debt letter so was uninsured for 1 month or 2.
The cancellation fee is one thing but then adding £20 to pass it to a debt agency - I feel they should give some money back for not contacting me.

Quentin

As previously posted this cancelled policy is bad news and must be disclosed to all future insurers.

Maybe better to appeal to them to allow you to reinstate the poiicy.

qwertyjjj

Quentin wrote: »

As previously posted this cancelled policy is bad news and must be disclosed to all future insurers.

Maybe better to appeal to them to allow you to reinstate the poiicy.

It's the same as if I cancelled it, so I don't fully understand why that's an issue.
Doesn't affect my no claims.

bryanb

qwertyjjj wrote: »

It's the same as if I cancelled it, so I don't fully understand why that's an issue.
Doesn't affect my no claims.

It's not the same. They cancelled because you did not pay!!

qwertyjjj

bryanb wrote: »

It's not the same. They cancelled because you did not pay!!

Then why didn't they charge the full renewal price in the debt collection?
Out of interest, why would it affect future insurers? It's not like they cancelled it because of something else such as points or refused insurance.

bryanb

Every proposal form I've seen asks "Have you ever been refused insurance, had insurance cancelled or special terms imposed. Not neccessarily in those words, but guess what happens when you say you've had insurance cancelled or alternatively falsely say you have not.

qwertyjjj

Are there any legal requirements that I can quote to ensure that they should have reminded me or tried harder to get alternative payment?
I can of course cancel the card payment with the debt company if needed and that will not admit there was payment due but Admiral will no longer accept any payment on their end even if I was to pay some of it (ie exclude admin charges).