Automatic insurance renewal - legalities?

Daniel987

Unfortunately my mother passed away in August.

Upon inspection of her post it would appear that Saga home insurance have automatically collected home insurance renewal at an outrageous price (double what I can get it for elsewhere).

As far as I can tell all they have done is sent her a letter saying 'thanks for using us for the last year, unless you tell us otherwise we are going just auto renew'.

They then sent another letter closer the time saying 'As per our other letter we are going to auto renew within a few days'. Please tell us if this isn't what you want.

Now the problem is at the time of the first letter she was in no mental state to respond (she died a month later). At the time of the second letter the same was true.

As far as i'm aware she did not sign up to any automatic renewal scheme, she was very cautious of these as we all know it's a rip off.

Where would I stand with regards to getting the money back off these people?

Many thanks

McKneff

She would have signed a document when she first took out the insurance which would have stated facts about the auto renewal.

It isnt a rip off, it is quite legitimate and lots of insurance companies do this.

It saves an awful lot of people who forget to get their insurance renewed and when they are stopped/have an accident and find they have no insurance, 'I forgot' is no defence.

Maybe, when she was in this fragile state of mind someone should have been dealing with her mail and the situation would not have arisen.

Speak to them, you may get a refund of premiums from her death less an admin fee but otherwise, i dont think you have a leg to stand on. Ring them and see what they say. They are likely to want to see a copy of her death certificate.

forgotmyname

If she was in no mental state then you need to blame whoever was sorting her affairs.

Write to them explaining her condition and see if they will refund.

Quentin

You should be able to cancel the policy and get any refund due under the policy conditions.

If she was also insured elsewhere then explain this to them and ask for a full refund.

But if not then it is down to their goodwill. Though presumably had an incident arisen she would have been covered and could make a claim?

dunstonh

As far as I can tell all they have done is sent her a letter saying 'thanks for using us for the last year, unless you tell us otherwise we are going just auto renew'.

Quite normal and confirms it was done correctly.

They then sent another letter closer the time saying 'As per our other letter we are going to auto renew within a few days'. Please tell us if this isn't what you want.

That is good service. Well done Saga.

Now the problem is at the time of the first letter she was in no mental state to respond (she died a month later). At the time of the second letter the same was true.

So, auto-renewal was a very good thing to have then as she may have run the risk of going uninsured and a resulting total loss scenario.

As far as i'm aware she did not sign up to any automatic renewal scheme, she was very cautious of these as we all know it's a rip off.

It is not a rip off. It frustrates some people but it also helps others. She did sign up to auto renewal when she took the policy out.

Where would I stand with regards to getting the money back off these people?

Why should they give the money back?
1 - they have done no wrong
2 - they provided cover when cover was needed (assuming the executor of the estate did not arrange replacement cover themselves - if they did then there is scope under dual insurance)

I bet you would be complaining if they hadnt renewed and she suffered a total loss and you saw your inheritance wiped out.

rs65

Sounds like auto renewal has been good for her.

If she was in no mental state to accept/refuse an auto renewal then presumably she was in no mental state to shop around and take out another policy.

The alternative to auto renewal was an unpaid renewal therefore policy cancelled and leaving her uninsured.

I don't see why you have a complaint about auto renewal.


ps Sorry for your loss.

Dasa

Some companies can be a pain with auto renewal but it looks like they did nothing wrong here. Surely someone should have been dealing with her correspondence if she was ill? All you can do is contact them and explain the situation but you can't expect to get all the money back.

Torry_Quine

As others have said auto-renewal worked for her as otherwise there would have been no insurance. I would also check with them as if the house is now empty and your mother dead it may no longer be insured.