Contents Insurance - Cancellation charge

theweehighlander

Hi everyone, I wondered if somebody could possibly offer me some advice.

A few weeks ago I took out a new contents insurance policy online from a company called Budget, and gave them my bank details to pay the full year in one go.

The following week I got a letter saying there was a problem processing payment from my bank and therefore, the policy didnt go through and was being cancelled. I took another one out with AA instead, thinking that was it settled with Budget (as it was a no started).

Today however I got a letter saying I owe them £45 cancellation fee!!! They say iv 10 days to pay or they will put a £20 charge onto the amount and send it to debt collectors.

What can I do? Can they legally do this? I think its slightly unfair that because THEY couldnt take payment they cancelled my policy and are now charging me £45 for it. Id call and reinstate it if I hadnt just taken another policy out with AA, who will probably charge me now if I try cancel that one!

I also cant get the policy T&Cs to check any details regarding cancellation from their website as my account on their website is also now closed.

dunstonh

You are a in a bit of a sticky one here.

The insurance is one thing. They payment is another. Depending on the wording of that original letter, you should have gone back to them to deal with payment. By ignoring it and going elsewhere you have left yourself open to this. However, I do stress that it does depend on what the original letter actually said.

I suggest you contact their complaints department and put your complaint across and see if they will back down. The complaints team have the remit to do all sorts of things the normal service line will not. So, dont waste time on the service line. Get through to complaints.