Car Insurance Cancellation

lilyofvalley

Applied for car insurance Friday, was sped through the phone call and agreed to the product. This was my first time applying for insurance.

Monday I rang to cancel as after looking at small print I noticed there was discrepancies in what was recorded by broker, 'commuting' only, was unhappy with the millege limit and minor errors of information I had not stated. On the phone to Adrian Flux I was told I will have to pay a cancellation charge, they have issued a par-refund half of what I paid as a 'black box' has been dispatched apparently. Another reason I opted out. No information on this was give either in the written terms or link to insurance provider Groupama. I have to send it back to claim the rest of monies owed. Surely this is them with-holding my money as 'security?'

Writing a letter, fighting for a full refund and no cancellation fee regardless of it being declared or not. Conflicting information between documents and what has been said. Learnt my lesson on insurance brokers... but £30 quid or so for a hurried 20mins on the phone and 3 emails?! This amount well exceeds their losses, I refuse to pay it.

ICOBS7.1.1-

1. A consumer has a right to cancel, without penalty and without giving any reason, within:

(1) 30 days for a contract of insurance which is, or has elements of, a pure protection contract or payment protection contract; or

(2) 14 days for any other contract of insurance or distance contract.


ICOBS 7.2.2- Payment for the service provided before cancellation

(2) The amount payable must not:

(2)(b) in any case be such that it could be construed as a penalty.


Advice please on what ground I have to stand on, if any due to 'conditions,' legislations/regulations to refer to... bit troubled as from what I'm reading I can't refer to the Distance Selling Regulation as insurance is a financial service and I need to know what leverage I have here in this scenario. Would I be able to claim back postage for the black box seeing as I've cancelled the insurance?

The Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000

Information required prior to the conclusion of the contract

7.—(1) Subject to paragraph (4), in good time prior to the conclusion of the contract the supplier shall—

(c)inform the consumer that the cost of returning any such substitute goods to the supplier in the event of cancellation by the consumer would be met by the supplier.

Do I need to write any letters to the broker or insurance provider to clarify further that I want this 'contract' cancelled? Seeing as the black box is in the mail? Not sure whether to trust my word being honored despite having recieved email confirming cancellation and part-refund so far. All new to this

dunstonh

You will see from the regulations you have posted that they are allowed to charge both a cancellation/administration charge and for time on cover. As long as the cancellation charge is consistent with their published terms then you have no real grounds for challenging it as they are allowed.

but £30 quid or so for a hurried 20mins on the phone and 3 emails?

£30 seems quite reasonable. You have created work in setting up and in cancelling it. The Ombudsman only has one published case in its publication and that was £50 and they went with the insurer saying that was fair. it was about 6 years ago now as well.

Captain_Shambolic

Seems fair if I'm honest. I wouldn't be surprised at them refusing a full refund until they get the black box back, I don't know how much they cost a company but if they gave a full refund and someone didn't give the black box back, then they are out of pocket as an insurer.

Regarding the cancellation charge £30 is less than I've seen a lot of companies charge, if it's in the T&C's of your contract, there's not a lot that can be done.