Letter From Swinton Owing Money

dunstonh

in terms of fairness I can't see any difference

I am sure you playing devils advocate on this one as you cannot surely believe what you are saying. However, I will play along for a bit more.

You are you looking at the insurance as if it was pay as you go. Car insurance is not pay as you go. You pay a lump sum on a given date to cover you for an event that may occur in a 12 month period. It someone is paying monthly then this is because they have taken a loan out to pay the car insurance. It doesnt make it pay as you go.

Most insurers will transfer the policy to a new vehicle and offer continuance if there is a claim. However, if you choose not to get a new vehicle then the policy will cease and not refund as it has done it's job.

mikey72

dunstonh wrote: »

I am sure you playing devils advocate on this one as you cannot surely believe what you are saying. However, I will play along for a bit more.

You are you looking at the insurance as if it was pay as you go. Car insurance is not pay as you go. You pay a lump sum on a given date to cover you for an event that may occur in a 12 month period. It someone is paying monthly then this is because they have taken a loan out to pay the car insurance. It doesnt make it pay as you go.

Most insurers will transfer the policy to a new vehicle and offer continuance if there is a claim. However, if you choose not to get a new vehicle then the policy will cease and not refund as it has done it's job.

But, to take that to the other extreme, if you take the cover for 12 months, and cancel claim free in month 11, you should be due a complete refund of the full year, as no claim has been made, so the risk could only be for the final month. As to transfer, that only assumes the vehicle has been written off. Many insurers count windscreen damage as enough to refuse a refund, which doesn't even affect ncd, and can be a small percentage of the premium paid initially.
Is it fair to pay £3600, claim for £200 in the first month, and get no refund for the remaining 11?
Mutiple claims, unlimited in the year are allowed, so why is a refund worked on one strike and you're out?

dunstonh

But, to take that to the other extreme, if you take the cover for 12 months, and cancel claim free in month 11, you should be due a complete refund of the full year, as no claim has been made

Not sure how you get that as you are buying a service and the service has been provided. So no refund would be due.

vaio

Yep, I agree.

And by the same token, in both my examples above, the service isn't being provided for the 11 months so a refund should be due

motinter

Thanks for all the advice.

I have paid the amount, the annoying thing was paying the cancellation fee which they would not refund. Had I known, I would have let the contract run out for the remaining 6 months.

dunstonh

And by the same token, in both my examples above, the service isn't being provided for the 11 months so a refund should be due

The service is to provide insurance of said vehicle should it suffer a claim in the policy year. It did so job done.

vaio

yep, and if by cancelling I remove the risk of a claim in months 2 to 12 then the service isn't provided in those months so I should get a refund.

mikey72

dunstonh wrote: »

The service is to provide insurance of said vehicle should it suffer a claim in the policy year. It did so job done.

It isn't.
The service is to provide ongoing cover for muliple and unlimited claims in the 12 months. The fact one claim has been made in month one doesn't invalidate any claim made in month 2, or month 3, and no further premium would be expected to be paid to keep the policy in force.