Urgent advice please......been ripped off

Boudica

Hi all. Sorry this is a bit wordy but it's a bit complex and I need to explain properly cos I intend to nail these to the wall

I had car insurance with its4me.co.uk for 9 months. I changed my car back in March 07 so I cancelled my direct debit with them and also advised my bank who closed it and I also closed it online.

its4me.co.uk sent me a letter requesting £30 "admin fee". I said I would pay the "admin fee" when I received my notification of no claims bonus for my other insurance company. This was back in March.

I've since had gastric flu so my eye has been off the ball for a while.

I checked my direct debits and bank accounts today and I found a new direct debit payment for a company called Close Brothers who I do not have any knowledge of at all, although the amount been paid is the same as my old car insurance premium.

I checked with my bank and they have traced the Close Brothers originator code back to its4me.co.uk and they have removed £54 out of my account :mad: The bank have confirmed that the 2 companies have been using 2 separate reference numbers but the same originator code.

I need some advice on the best way to proceed. These people have effectivley stolen £54 off me and I intend to nail them good and proper. I'm going to write to them demanding my money back, my notification of no claims bonus (which i'm still waiting for after a month) and something for the inconveience of them putting my account into the red.

Any ideas folks? Do I contact Trading Standards, Watchdog, the Police. Theft is theft, no matter the amount. Plus, they have my bank details. The bank has cancelled the direct debit but say that it isn't fraud to them as I originated the original payments to its4me.co.uk.

Help please. Thanks

Becles

Ring the bank and tell them the direct debit is unauthorised. Under the Direct Debit rules, you will get your money back instantly, rather that chasing the insurance company.

You wouldn't get a no claims bonus for 9 months, as they tend to be issued after a full year.

The £30 admin fee seems standard so you will have to pay that. I've just had to pay a £25 admin fee for changing my car during my policy with my insurer.

Searcher

I may have this completetly wrong but:
I'm guessing that because you are paying by direct debit that you are paying the premium in monthly installments. If that's the case then you can't simply stop paying by cancelling the DD. You have purchased a years insurance are spreading the cost of the policy over 12 months it isn't a pay as you go scheme where as you lose the cover if you stop paying.
If you had paid up front as a lot of people do then you wouldnt have had the option of cancelling the payment in which case you'd have had to cancel the policy and look for a refund of the unused months which in all honesty would have been minus an admin fee, which also means that you don't have the right to withold the payment untl you get your no claims proof.
I've got the feeling that as you didn't actually cancel the policy (or if you did you didn't mention it) then they are perfectly within their rightd to reinstate the DD.
I could be way off the ball here and if I am then I apologise but thats the way I see things

iceicebaby

The policy will not be cancelled till you have paid the admin fee to close off the policy. You will not receive the no claims bonus until the policy is cancelled therefore you have to pay the admin fee to get you no claims.

Did you tell them you wanted to cancel or did you just cancel the dd? If you cancel the dd they dont know why you have done it. They dont know if its because you want to cancel the policy or because you have had a problem with your bank for example.

If you have not had a complete years cover with then then they will not give you a years no claims anyway.

Boudica

Hi All. Thanks for replying

I was paying the insurance by monthly direct debit and I didn't simply stop paying them. I phoned to explain that the car they were insuring had been scrapped and that I had purchased a new veichcle. Could they match the new quote I had been given. They couldn't so I stopped the insurance because I no longer had the car that I was paying for.

What they have done is used the same originator code but changed the reference and name of company to take the unauthorised payment. The £30 "admin fee" was to be paid by cheque or via the phone as per their terms and conditions.

I have 7 years no claims bonus and I am entitled to the certificate proving that so that I can send it to my new insurance company. This is standard procedure. The policy was also paid over 10 months as opposed to 12.

The fact that the reference and company name has been changed is surely theft. I have not authorised this payment in any way shape or form, and its4me.co.uk have not written to tell me about any company name change or that they have re-activated a direct debit that has been closed from their side, my side and the banks side.

Hope this is clearer.

advent1122

Just go to the bank, say it was unauthorised and it will be refunded in about 18 seconds.
The bank will then chase them up and hmmmm "nail them to the wall".
Dont give yourself high blood pressure for no reason.

iceicebaby

In that case then you can go to the bank and ask them to indemnify the payment under the direct debit gaurantee

Boudica

Hi Peeps

Thanks for all the advice. I had another word with the bank and they informed me that it would take them 14 days minimum to get my money back

I asked why and was given a load of **^$$£%* from them. They are going to carry on and contact them, but i've also done a letter that I will be sending on Tuesday to the insurance company. It seems as though it'll be quicker to do it myself, plus i'll also know that it has been done. I'm also writing to my bank to complain about the service i've received and will be changing accounts. If they're not going to treat me, the customer, with respect then i'll go elsewhere.

To cap the whole thing, my new insurance company Sheilas Wheels, took 2 months premiums out of my account on the same day. I am not a happy bunny as i'm now nearly £150 down for this months budget. Asked when i'll get my money back from Sheilas Wheels I was informed that it "might be in next Thursday":mad: No bloody good to me as their mistake has messed up my entire budget.

One thing i've learned is that next time i'll pay the whole premium. It's cheaper anyway. So long as I get my cash back for my little Dublin break, i'll be happy. They nicked my Guiness money.......not good:eek:

Still, all will be sorted i'm sure. It's the principle of the thing. Where I used to work I dealt with millions of pounds each week and could not make a mistake. I don't mind if someone messes up, it's the excuses that really wind me up.

Johnathan95

If you have been paying by monthly instalments, you will probably find that you are paying a finance company ie.Close Brothers. Few insurance companies actually except premium payments by instalment.

Your broker should have advised you you were entering a finance agreement whereby the finance company would pay the full premium and you would pay the finance company a fixed monthly instalment.

This would typically be over 10 months as it falls within the life of the insurance to provide security for the financier. Although you may have cancelled your insurance, you would still be liable for the loan as this is a seperate agreement.