How to cancel PC world "whatever happens" insurance

reddevildanni

Hi, i bought a laptop from PC world over 2 years ago & i stupidly signed up to their £8.49 "Whatever happens" insurance which is debited out of my bank each month. I don't want it or need it & i've wanted to cancel it for ages but i'm not sure how to? I don't have any paper work with any numbers on or anything. Could i just go into the bank & get the direct debit stopped?

Thanks!

rs65

From their website

If you pay monthly, you can cancel within 14 days of purchase by calling us on 0844 561 1234. Providing the service has not been used we’ll give you a refund on any payment made. After this period you can cancel at any time by calling us on 0844 561 1234, but please note that if you do this you will not receive a refund. If you have bought a 2, 3 or 5 year term and are not completely satisfied, you can cancel it within 45 days of purchase. Please call us on 0844 561 1234 and if you haven’t used the service we’ll give you a full refund. If you want to cancel your agreement after 45 days from purchase you’ll be entitled to a pro rata refund.

You may also give notice of your intention to cancel your agreement by writing to us at:

Knowhow Customer Services, PO Box 1686, Sheffield, S2 5YB, England.

Quentin

Stopping the dd won't cancel the policy.

PC World should be able to give you an address if google fails you.

Make sure they confirm your instructions to cancel back to you in writing.

huckster

When I had this years ago, there was a telephone number to call to cancel. It just took 2 minutes to cancel.

SuperHan

Cancelling the DD will cancel the policy. You'll get a letter a few weeks later asking if you want to reinstate. Ignore the letter, and the policy will be cancelled.

My OH works for Currys/PC World and we have cancelled countless policies this way!

dacouch

Sorry to be a pedant but it's not an Insurance Policy, PC World sell "Service Plans" to avoid Insurance Premium Tax, being regulated by the FSA, the FSCS and the Ombudsman.

They use a complicated off shore system to do the above, with the money to pay "claims" being paid into a trust fund of which there's no guarantee that should the proverbial hit the fan it could afford to pay out to everyone.

SuperHan

dacouch wrote: »

Sorry to be a pedant but it's not an Insurance Policy, PC World sell "Service Plans" to avoid Insurance Premium Tax, being regulated by the FSA, the FSCS and the Ombudsman.

They use a complicated off shore system to do the above, with the money to pay "claims" being paid into a trust fund of which there's no guarantee that should the proverbial hit the fan it could afford to pay out to everyone.

Somewhat true.

It's not an insurance, but it's not just cleverly worded to avoid taxes... It doesn't cover loss/theft, and simply guarantees a working laptop for the life of the policy, thus is not an insurance.

And the chances of there not being enough in this fund is pretty slim. The guarantee is underwritten by another company, and as you will see with Comet, there is a huge surplus of funds in that company compared to the number of warranties. It's a handy way for companies to squirrel money away securely in case they do go under.

But the not an insurance thing is why you're able to cancel the DD and forget about the policy.

spacey2012

It is basically a policy that charges you for your statutory rights.

HappyMJ

spacey2012 wrote: »

It is basically a policy that charges you for your statutory rights.

It covers a little extra but yes basically not worth it.

dacouch

SuperHan wrote: »

Somewhat true.

It's not an insurance, but it's not just cleverly worded to avoid taxes... It doesn't cover loss/theft, and simply guarantees a working laptop for the life of the policy, thus is not an insurance.

And the chances of there not being enough in this fund is pretty slim. The guarantee is underwritten by another company, and as you will see with Comet, there is a huge surplus of funds in that company compared to the number of warranties. It's a handy way for companies to squirrel money away securely in case they do go under.

But the not an insurance thing is why you're able to cancel the DD and forget about the policy.

An Insurance is a policy that for a private individual Giuarantees that a valid claim will be paid in full and should the Insurance company become insolvent the FSCS will pay 90% of your claim with no limit.

Currys purposely have set their "Service Plans" up in a complicated way with off shore trusts to ensure they're not Insurance policies to avoid the extra costs and protections. They've been taken to court by the government at least once who tried to prove it was similar to insurance and liable for Insurance Premium Tax. Currys won the case due to the complex way they deliberately set their system up.

There are plenty of warranties that offer similar cover to Currys which are actually backed by an Insurer so a warranty can be backed by an Insurer.

By not being Insurance backed, Currys do not need to be regulated by the FSA which saves them a lot of money, means Currys and their staff are not regulated in how they sell the cover and they do not have the FSA ensuring they have very high levels of liquid assets to ensure they can pay their claims. http://www.fsa.gov.uk/doing/regulated/tcf

By not being Insurance backed Currys do not have to pay into the FSCS which is the fund that guarantees claims payments up to 90% should a UK Insurer go bankrupt. http://www.fscs.org.uk/what-we-cover/eligibility-rules/compensation-limits/insurance-limits/

They're not members of the Financial Services Ombudsman who are an independent arbiter for disputes between Insurers and customers. The FOS have a reputation for looking at a disputes on what is fair and are slanted towards customers.

They pay no Insurance Premium Tax which is levied at 6% on General Insurance and 20% on warranties. It should be noted that the 20% rate was introduced on Travel Insurance and Warranties due to (Certain) Travel Agents and Electronics Retailers avoiding the VAT on the goods by inflating the cost of the Travel Insurance or Warranties to reduce the VAT element on goods.

The requirements on Insurers to ensure they have sufficient funds at all times in the UK are incredibly strict with Insurers being required to have enormous ring fenced funds to pay current and future claims taking into account disaster scenarios.

Currys pay some of the money they receive from their overpriced "Service Plans" into an off shore trust which is in no way regulated but has trustees to ensure it has enough. They do not have anywhere near the checks on how this is done as an Insurer.

If Currys returns go down they can reduce the amount they pay into the fund or if they go bankrupt they will stop paying into the fund totally.

It should not be forgotten the retailers that have gone bankrupt / into administration in recent history eg Comet, Woolworths, Jessops etc etc.

The reasons Currys set the complicated off shore system is to maximise their profits and avoid paying the relevant Insurance Premium Tax. As a result of this their customers lose the protections from the FSA, FSCS and Ombudsman and the government do not receive the tax they would on an Insurance Policy.

The chances of Currys WhateverHappens not being paid are directly connected to whether Currys remain solvent. The chances of them not being able to pay a claim are relatively small but are far far higher than an Insurer not being able to pay and should the Insurer not being able to pay the FSCS would step in.

The above is why Whateverhappens is not an Insurance policy.

It's not "Underwritten by another company" as it's not an Insurance and they cannot 100% "simply guarantees a working laptop for the life of the policy". The service plan is in effect provided by another company / trust who should they not have enough to pay claims will just fold in the same way any other company would do and that will be it. You're reliant on Currys wanting the whatever happens to continue and Currys having the funds to keep it afloat.

civic1

The cover isn't worth the paper it's written on! Been paying mine for the past 4 years! My laptop suffered accidental damage in November and Currys/PCWorld claim it's not covered under the agreement! If I had of saved the premium instead of wasting it on their so called cover then I would be able to afford to buy a brand new laptop!