The Policy Shop threatening with debt collectors

tutkusmom

Good evening all,

I am asking for advice for my husband. In November 2012, my husband bought a small van in order to be able to do courier business with his friend.His friend worked full time and took a wage out whilst my husband only worked once or twice a week alongside his full time job and he was to receive a small profit out of it if all went well. He insured the van for business purposes with the policy shop.Both my husband and his friend was insured to drive the van. When he took out the insurance,he told the insurance company that he was going to try and see if he would make any profit through this business and if he didn't,he was going to cancel the insurance and not continue with the courier service. They assured him that it would be fine.

In March 2013 my husband cancelled the insurance on the van in writing ,sent by recorded delivery after making no profit whatsoever through this business to the point the insurance fee for the van literally came out of his pocket each month(from his full time job)meaning he ended up dishing out nearer £250 between November and March . The van was then put on ebay for sale after that.The van didn't sell(it was on ebay for 2 weeks) so my husband decided he would keep the van to commute his work place and back(it is diesel so a lot cheaper to run) so took out an insurance with another company but only for private use. His car is now on sale and the insurance will be cancelled on it at the end of next week.

In the meantime the policy shop sent a letter confirming the cancellation yet saying he now owed £750,they were writing off £500. My husband gave them a ring to find out what was going on and eventually he was told he would have to pay a cancellation fee instead which he is fine with it but they told him they would give him a ring in a couple of days time to confirm it.

They didn't call so my husband had to ring the insurance company several times but he kept getting a different figure for the cancellation fee from different people and nobody seemed to know what they were talking about and he kept getting told they would give him a ring.

He eventually talked to a lady and took her name and whenever he rang the insurance company,he requested to be put on the phone to her. On his last call to the insurance company ,she refused to speak to my husband saying she was busy but passed a message through her colleague to say they were going to pass the debt to a debt recovery company.

My husband told them they had no power to collect any money and if they wanted to take him to the court,he would be more than happy to go to the court to defend himself and they could explain the judge where the figure came from for the alleged debt.At this point they were still refusing to accept a payment for cancellation fee for whatever reason which I myself find it very odd and confusing.

The debt was passed onto a debt collection agency ( I can't remember their name now and again my husband called the insurance company to remind them they had no power to demand any money and he wasn't going to pay for something he didn't owe. That was 2 weeks ago..

Today he received another letter saying that the policy shop changed their external debt recovery company to ICB ( Insurance Collection Bureau) and the debt would be passed to them within a few days and a charge of 20% will be added to the debt.

Could anyone give us any advice or direct us to a template letter we could send both the insurance company and ICB when we receive a letter from them? What do you think we should do? I know ICB isn't a county court judgement but I don't want to get hassled with phone calls whilst my husband is at work.

Also do you think it would be wise to write a cheque for the cancellation fee( I am sure I can find out how much they charge if I go onto their website or give them a ring) and send it to them recorded delivery with another letter explaining what's been happening and send this recorded delivery?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Deleted User]

If the policy is cancelled then just ignore them. Don't give any money to debt collectors. They will give up in time.

Quentin

There are always cancellation charges to pay if you want to stop a policy mid term.

Your husband needs to check his original policy wording to see what it says about cancelling early.

Get the debt collector to itemise the charges now being chased and take it from there, but to just ignore this is poor advice!

dacouch

Deleted_User wrote: »

If the policy is cancelled then just ignore them. Don't give any money to debt collectors. They will give up in time.

That is unlikely.

Tutkusmum send the Policy Shop a letter headed "Official Complaint" and send it by recorded delivery.

Keep the letter short, concise and polite. Explain the problem and ask for a full break down of the charges and the matter to be resolved.

Point out to them their obligation to cease debt collection action whilst the complaint is being dealt with.


They have eight weeks to properly investigate the matter and report back to you.

The address to send the complaint to will be detailed on their website.

Be aware that there may be a cancellation premium and charges to pay so budget for a few hundred pounds.

Have a read of this from the Ombudsman and refer them to it but bear in mind there may be some charges you may not be able to avoid eg Legal and Breakdown premiums and cancellation fees from the Insurer and the Policy Shop and possibly the finance company who provided the Instalments.

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/ombudsman-news/54/insurance.htm

spacey2012

The question is clouded with "personal reasons" that have no bearing on the question.

Can you answer these questions.
Who signed the contract ?

What was the value of the contract for 12 months or however long in Months the contract ran for (not what you would like it to be)

How much was paid towards the contract

How much did they agree to charge for cancellation.

What does it say in the contract about cancellation fees.

Was the balance on credit (pay monthly) and if so how much per month / how many months was it over and how many months did he pay

Answer those points and someone may be able to help, the fact he made no profit is of no concern.
These are the important points.