Refused vehicle change - mid term (PO)

gordiegem

My husband is insured with Post Office and on 16/07/12 we paid our 12 month premium up front in a lump sum.

6 months into the policy we need to change the vehicle and when I contacted Post Office motor insurance today to let them know about vehicle change which would be lower insurance group I was informed that the policy we have doesn't permit vehicle changes mid term. To add insult was also told I would not be getting any refund from the 12 months I paid up front despite 6 months still to run on policy.

They even had cheek to quote me for a new 12 month policy if I wish to stay with them!

Can they do this? Why am I having to pay for car insurance twice? Post Office claim it's in the small print. :mad:

Hackman_2

gordiegem wrote: »

My husband is insured with Post Office and on 16/07/12 we paid our 12 month premium up front in a lump sum.

6 months into the policy we need to change the vehicle and when I contacted Post Office motor insurance today to let them know about vehicle change which would be lower insurance group I was informed that the policy we have doesn't permit vehicle changes mid term. To add insult was also told I would not be getting any refund from the 12 months I paid up front despite 6 months still to run on policy.

They even had cheek to quote me for a new 12 month policy if I wish to stay with them!

Can they do this? Why am I having to pay for car insurance twice? Post Office claim it's in the small print. :mad:

Well is it?

marlot

has to be an unfair term.

complain to the fos

withabix

Must be covered by 'Unfair Terms & Conditions in Consumer Contracts'.

Seems you are not alone:

http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews85759.html

vaio

as above, it's not fair so complain to the insurer and if they don't see sense then escalate to the FOS.

mention that you will expect any consequential costs to be covered too, this could include additional travel costs, insurance, car hire etc

Only way it could be fair if they wouldn't offer you a quote for that particular car which you can find out easily by running a dummy quote, print it out and keep it

rev_henry

Yet another reason to avoid any BISL insurance brands.

forgotmyname

Yet another reason to be anal like me.. As one member on here suggested.

I would have got the quote to change before i started looking for another car.

I have never had a company blankly refuse to change cover though. That is terrible.
I went from a little 1L hatch to a V8 rover. OK i expected them to say no thanks. But they would have covered other cars.

A good read of the small print and a complaint, In writing.Dont phone or email.

photome

Seems unfair to me, I have never had an insurer refuse a car change mid term, I didnt realise there were insurers out there that did:eek:

colino

Can't believe they can uphold this, especialy if their risk is going down (lower value/lower group car). What would they do if your car was written off by another guilty party and the other party coughed up? Sell you another 12 month policy?

vikingaero

gordiegem wrote: »

Can they do this? Why am I having to pay for car insurance twice? Post Office claim it's in the small print. :mad:

I'd say that such a major term shouldn't be hidden in the small print and should be highlighted in 48pt font on the front of the Policy documents and therefore is grossly unfair.

I've searched on Google for a POI Car Insurance Policy Booklet but it seems that you can only download it once the Policy is purchased. There is nothing on the website for car insurance highlighting that term nor in the FAQ's

I would make a complaint the POI/BISL and then take it to the Financial Ombudsman just to pish them off. It could be that you have a jumped up admin clerk who has no idea of what they are talking about.

custardy

must admit,I've never heard of a policy doing this
might be worth calling again to ensure its not an error