Car Insurance Crisis! HELP!!!

olly300

Ring them up and get a complaints address from them. Don't bother talking to them on the phone as you are probably be talking to more sales staff.

Then write to them at the address you have an give your letter the title "Formal complaint".

In the letter state that their behaviour breaches the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 as well as it being clear from you cancelling the Direct Debit and them not collecting the money by other means that you did not wish to continue a contract with them, and if they try to charge you, you will be taking your complaint further.

Send the letter by recorded delivery as they may try and claim later they didn't receive it.

If they don't back off then take them to the finiancial ombudsman. Lots of insurance companies have been taken to the finiancial ombudsman under Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999.

MarkyMarkD

nadnad wrote: »

i would tell them them that they did not make it clear to you that the contract would be ongoing. obviously if this had been explained to you you would have cancelled it. you have not been trying to trick them. the fact that you got another policy elsewhere shows that you truly did not know. tell them you are going to make a formal complaint - that they did not tell you this clearly or point it out to you, they will have a strict complaints procedure, if you go on to take the complaint to the financial ombudsman it costs them money as they have to pay for it and they may not want it to go that far - at the end of the day they havent paid out any money for a claim so this far they havent lost any money. dont back down on this and go ahead with your complaint.

Failing to read the documentation you are sent, on two occasions (when the policy started, and when the renewal documents were issued), isn't a legal defence or a very convincing basis for a complaint.

"At the end of the day they haven't paid out any money for a claim so they haven't lost any money" is simply wrong logic. They have insured you. Whether you have claimed or not doesn't detract from the fact you've had a benefit.

Following this (illogical) train of thought, why not wait until the end of a year of insurance and then claim your whole premium back because "it's not cost them anything"?

arronc

MarkyMarkD wrote: »

Failing to read the documentation you are sent, on two occasions (when the policy started, and when the renewal documents were issued), isn't a legal defence or a very convincing basis for a complaint.

"At the end of the day they haven't paid out any money for a claim so they haven't lost any money" is simply wrong logic. They have insured you. Whether you have claimed or not doesn't detract from the fact you've had a benefit.

Following this (illogical) train of thought, why not wait until the end of a year of insurance and then claim your whole premium back because "it's not cost them anything"?

1. In my original documents it says nothing about them renewing my insurance for me after 12 months.

2. If I can prove I have had insurance with another company then yes I think the big company should say yes ok we won't charge you, because I was unaware I even had insurance with them so no claim would of been brought against them even if I had had an accident.

losgiganteskid

Arronc - what you need to do is merely send a recorded delivery letter to your previous INSURERS (and a copy to intermediaries RAC) - explaining their renewal quotation was too expensive and that you have obtained alternative cover elsewhere. Send them also a photo copy of your new certificate.

You will find that your previous insurer will almost certainly cancel their request to you for premium.

Whilst the automatic renewal system is sold to motorists as a benefit to them - it is more a benefit to the insurer, believe me - it has a very positive impact on renewal retention.

Because the insurer operates this way, and virtually all do, there are always going to be policyholders who vote with their feet at renewal, so the position you find yourself in is quite common - my money is on you walking away from this with a smile on your face.

MarkyMarkD

arronc wrote: »

1. In my original documents it says nothing about them renewing my insurance for me after 12 months.

2. If I can prove I have had insurance with another company then yes I think the big company should say yes ok we won't charge you, because I was unaware I even had insurance with them so no claim would of been brought against them even if I had had an accident.

1. RAC's policy wording (which is available on their website for policies which started when yours did) states that they have two payment methods:

- monthly direct debit; and
- annual direct debit.

The wording states that, if you pay by annual direct debit, "at renewal we will send you prior notification and your annual premium will be taken automatically each year on the renewal of your insurance".

Seems pretty obvious to me, that if you have agreed to pay by annual direct debit, your policy will be automatically renewed if you do nothing after they send you the renewal notice.

And the renewal notice would have said this too!

2. It's not legally up to you which insurer you choose to pay out against your claim. Insurance is a legal requirement and the fact you are insured by a particular insurer is now a matter of public record. If you were killed in an accident, say, which you caused, you wouldn't be around to say "I never meant to renew this policy so ignore it" even if you could legally do so.

nadnad

do you know what MarkyMarkD, just shush! why are you on the side of the HUGE financial institution and not on the consumer who fair enough didnt read the ENTIRE renewal document- but then it was unsolicited by him so why should he read it? he didnt ask them to send it to him they just did, many MANY people are caught out by this trick that insurance companies pull and personally I don't think its fair. I think that the insurance companies really should get some sort of definite yes or no before proceeding with a policy.

The OP is genuine in that he did not know they would continue with this - them doing so was of no benefit to him - he had his insurance elsewhere - he wasnt knowingly trying to swindle the company.

So OP make your complaint and I would bet that they will drop their request for the money in a very short space of time.

tom188

As i have said time and time before, stupidity and not reading documentation is not grounds for complaint.

MarkyMarkD

Thanks tom. And nadnad - what a ridiculous thing, to say that a renewal document is unsolicited! Have you never noticed that it is standard practice for all insurers to solicit renewal? D'oh!

Alias_Omega

I think the £110 charge is for the Time on Risk.

I would just pay the thing and be done with it. If this gets out of hand and they wont back down on it, all they have to do is take you to court. Your then in the poop, you will have court charges, bailifs knocking on the door etc.

£110 these days is no more than a few nights out.

Pay it and take it as a lesson learnt.

arronc

However in my terms and condition booklet that I got with my original insurance says nothing about them automatically renewing my insurance which the FSA say it should. Anyways forgetting that, I made a mistake I openly admit that, however I don't think I should be penalized if I could prove it was a mistake and I already have insurance, well anyway im going to make the complaint and see if it gets me anywhere, thanks for some of your advice guys, will keep you informed:beer: