Cancelled direct debit - they cancelled my policy!!! HELP???!

dawneee

Hey...please say someone can help...

I have recently changed jobs and i am now being paid weekly instead of 1st every month, so i needed to spread my outgoings over the month.

SO...I decided 2 days before my insurance was due to come out that instead of having my car insurance bounce i would cancel the direct debit, call them the following day tell them whats happened and pay in full then the week after for this month and set up direct debit for the 2nd week of every month in future.

No no no! Not with Swinton!! They cancelled my policy immediately! (im insured till next weds) So now theyre saying not only do i owe them £750 for the rest of the year of my policy they cancelled but i have to start a whole new policy which will be another £140 a month!!!!!!!!

(My policy is high because i had accident 2years ago, but i think ridiculously high seeing as i am 27 and i drive a 2004 peugeot 1.4!!!)

Some one please tell me theres a way out of paying the price of 2 x policies!!!!

Quentin

You need to try and get them to reinstate the original policy as otherwise you now have a cancelled policy on your record.

You have to disclose this for evermore when applying for insurance.

Most off the peg insurers won't quote you, meaning you have to use specialist insurers who will accept "difficult" to insure clients.

As you have discovered, these are expensive policies!

(Them asking you to pay the full 12 months of your cancelled policy seems a lot. Read the policy conditions on what happens regarding any refund of premium on cancellation and take it up with them if they are breaking the ts & cs)

dawneee

Thanks for your reply.

They are point blank refusing to re-instate the policy, i am so angry! It is a genuine reason, and if i had just let it bounce and paid the following week i wouldnt have had this so whats the difference?! So unfair!!!

Quentin

Whenever it "bounced" they would have taken this line!

Make sure they have stuck to the ts + cs, and if not set about a "complaint".

You can escalate this to the ombudsman if you feel that they have been unfair to you, but this os a long drawn out process, and won't help your immediate problem.

Do get them to itemise this £750 they are saying they want as this does seem excessive!

dawneee

I have had my insurance bounce with them on previous occasion and they gave me 2 weeks to pay and were fine about it so me being an idiot ASSUMED it would be the same.

thanks for your help though

exel1966

Rule 1 - Never assume !

A large percentage of uninsured vehicles on roads are used by people who have set up insurance using DD's, then cancelled them as soon as they've received the Insurance Certificate. It's a ploy to obtain the certificate in case they get stopped so it appears on the surface that they do have insurance, but in fact have not paid all/much for it.

Maybe they think that's exactly what you were trying to do especially as you've had problems in the past.

jonesMUFCforever

So not a first time offence then?

Did you think that they would not keep records - sorry no excuses here - you have no insurance - please don't drive until you set up a new policy.

dawneee

Errr sorry, it bounced once previously...not a regular occurance! I have been insured with this company for 7 years im hardly going to try to con them now am i??

FYI i still have insurance i am not stupid!

Pound

Swinton are a broker so you will need to look at the T&C for your insurer. Your previous insurer may have had different T&Cs about missed payments and your current might consider a missed direct debit to be cancellation of the policy and not offer refunds for cancelled policies.

vaio

Pound wrote: »

....... your current might consider a missed direct debit to be cancellation of the policy and not offer refunds for cancelled policies.

Indeed, but I'm sure the FOS will soon put them straight if they try and avoid refunding cancelled policies.

More generally.......

Either either insurance is monthly contract so if you don't pay then you don't get but there are no cancellation costs etc or

It's an annual policy financed by a loan (often with a different company) which you then pay back in monthly instalments in which case the insurers have been paid for a years cover which should continue and you have defaulted on the loan agreement which can be pursued through the normal channels just like any other loan default.

If I took out a bank loan to buy insurance or a TV then if I default on the loan the bank can't cancel the policy or repossess the TV and I struggle to see why Swintons can.

Maybe a better analogy is hire purchase in which case the arrangement should be subject to the HP rules rather than "at the drop of a hat" like in this case

Sounds like another branch to be looked at when a government eventually develops the balls to do a root & branch overhaul of the financial services industry

mikey72

vaio wrote: »

Indeed, but I'm sure the FOS will soon put them straight if they try and avoid refunding cancelled policies.

More generally.......

Either either insurance is monthly contract so if you don't pay then you don't get but there are no cancellation costs etc or

It's an annual policy financed by a loan (often with a different company) which you then pay back in monthly instalments in which case the insurers have been paid for a years cover which should continue and you have defaulted on the loan agreement which can be pursued through the normal channels just like any other loan default.

If I took out a bank loan to buy insurance or a TV then if I default on the loan the bank can't cancel the policy or repossess the TV and I struggle to see why Swintons can.

Maybe a better analogy is hire purchase in which case the arrangement should be subject to the HP rules rather than "at the drop of a hat" like in this case

Sounds like another branch to be looked at when a government eventually develops the balls to do a root & branch overhaul of the financial services industry

I doubt they can cancel without going through the procedure in the t&c's which would include notifying you beforehand.
Not the same day.

You need to push to get the policy reinstated, I would send a written complaint to Swintons, followed up to the FOS.