Cancelling car ins. policy before it starts

raikky

heres the deal. my car insurance expires on the 7th July. i got my renewal through from admiral and they quoted 580 quid. i found it on the internet from octogon for 505. so i bought it. paid in full and was due to start from the 7th. i rang admiral up to cancel and they asked me how much it was from octogon and i said 480 so the nice guy put me on hold for a minute and came back and offered me a new deal for 470. i thought ok thats nice. i rang up octogon and got through very quickly actually, and said i would like to cancel my insurance policy (which doesnt start for another 5 days anyway). the lady was very nice and said ok thats fine (weird). i said will i recieve confirmation by e-mail. she said yes. so anyway, checked my creditcard its already been charged 505 pounds. i know you get a 14 day cooling off period in which you can cancel but you wqill be charged 20 pounds admin fee plus the days you have been covered. i checked their policy http://www.octagoninsurance.com/wp-content/uploads/kf_standard_tpft_010411.pdf page 2 and im not good on this stuff but i think i wont incur any fees and should get a refund.

just wondering is ti normal for companies to take payment before the policy started and anybody had any situation like this before. i always panic about insurance companies and utility companies trying to rip me off.

Tom

InsideInsurance

Yes it is normal for new business to be charged at the point of sale. Renewals are charged at the point of inception or shortly afterwards. If this were not the case then people would just buy insurance to get the certificate which they have no intention of ever paying for.

I have to say I have never seen a 4 page policy book before but certainly in that document a 20 fee is clearly not mentioned but a 50 one is . Is this really the only policy wording you have received? I suspect it is a shortened version and further admin fees may be mentioned in the full version or in the T&Cs of the purchase process.

As to Admiral, they always knock massive amounts off their renewal price if you ask them to. Normally get at least 20% off

raikky

COOLING OFF PERIOD:
Once you have entered into the insurance contract with us, you are entitled to
a period of reflection during which you may decide whether to proceed with
the purchase of the insurance contract. The duration of this cooling off period
is 14 days and commences from either:
• The day you entered into the insurance contract; or
• The day on which you receive the full terms of the insurance contract
detailing the full contractual terms, conditions and information of the
contract, whichever is the later.
Within this period you have a right to cancel the policy and receive a refund
(unless you make a total loss claim).
The refund is subject to a charge for the period of cover you receive, plus
a £20 (including IPT) administration charge, except where cover has not
commenced prior to the end of the 14 day period, in which case you would be
entitled to a full refund of the premium that you had paid.
In order to cancel a policy within this period you need to surrender your
Certificate of Motor Insurance.

that is prob just some main points of their policy. i havnt recieved anything through the post yet as i only bought it yesterday. admiral knocked 110 quid off. how many people would never even think to try and shop around or ask for more off.

InsideInsurance

raikky wrote: »

how many people would never even think to try and shop around or ask for more off.

A growing proportion are now shopping around but it is those that dont who are paying the higher premiums that fund the discounts given to those who do shop around every year