Two windscreen policies and hassle with autowindscreens

[Deleted User]

Had an old car with no windscreen cover so I paid for this separately with MarkerStudy insurance.

Then I changed the car, got fully comp insurance for new car which included windscreen cover. I also phoned markerstudy and changed cover details.

Anyway, windscreen cracked. Noticed that markerstudy policy was £60 excess but new fully comp insurance (AGEAS) was £75 so I phoned markerstudy to claim from them.

autowindscreens came, showed him docs etc Had problems with payment and ended up doing it over the phone. Agreed to £60.

Checked statement £75 debited. Got in touch with autowindscreens.

They're now saying markerstudy are telling them Im not insured with them (not sure whats happened there) but they checked motor insurance DB and saw that I was with Ageas so claimed off them! (and so excess is £75).

Not impressed. If there was an issue with the insurance on the day they should have sorted this then. I never authorised:-

1. £75 to be taken. Only £60 as agreed on the day.
2. Them to claim off Ageas in the first place. I gave the docs for markerstudy to the fitter on the day!

What can I do about it?

neilmcl

At the end of the day you've created the confusion by having 2 policies running on the same car, you can't then be surprised if it goes a bit wrong. Put it down to experience, there's little you can do now.

InsideInsurance

Ancillary insurances often have clauses that they do not provide cover if a primary policy exists that also provides cover and so the Comprehensive cover would be the one that you needed to claim off of.

As to the monies, you need to see what, if anything, you signed or were given. Often they advise they will retain card numbers and charge the remainder due to the card if your insurer declines to cover the amount (eg if the policy had been cancelled etc).

[Deleted User]

InsideInsurance wrote: »

Ancillary insurances often have clauses that they do not provide cover if a primary policy exists that also provides cover and so the Comprehensive cover would be the one that you needed to claim off of.

As to the monies, you need to see what, if anything, you signed or were given. Often they advise they will retain card numbers and charge the remainder due to the card if your insurer declines to cover the amount (eg if the policy had been cancelled etc).

who decides what is primary policy?

Nothing signed. £60 was decided. They took £75.

ElkyElky

[quote=[Deleted User];62833987]who decides what is primary policy?

Nothing signed. £60 was decided. They took £75.[/QUOTE]

Have you called them to see if they are able to claim from the other policy? You may also want to mention the fact that you didn't authorise a debit of £75 and thus you consider this as a fraudulent transaction.

[Deleted User]

ElkyElky wrote: »

Have you called them to see if they are able to claim from the other policy? You may also want to mention the fact that you didn't authorise a debit of £75 and thus you consider this as a fraudulent transaction.

Yes. I did mention to them that if there was an issue it should have been sorted at the time rather than take an auauthorised amount and carry on because they didnt want to sort it out.

After all, I gave them the policy details when I had the work done. They went and found my other policy, charged me £75 and billed the other insurers without my permission.

InsideInsurance

[quote=[Deleted User];62833987]who decides what is primary policy?[/QUOTE]

An ancillary policy will explicitly state in its wording that it is such. If it doesnt then both are primary.

You would need to cross check each policy and what their terms are for the case of dual insurance.

[Deleted User]

All sorted out now. When I pointed out to autowindscreens that I did not even authorise £75 only £60 and by presenting them with the markerstudy I was authorising this insurance claim.

To be honest, the guy who turned up to do it was probably the thickest bloke I've ever met. I think he just did the work, then autowindscreens couldnt be bothered, found the policy themselves and charged £75. Rather than sort it out at the time.

Amazingly, since I kicked off, they're now refunding £15 and say they're claiming off markerstudy instead. Strange that :-)

InsideInsurance

You just need to be very careful of how far they got with the claim against your other policy otherwise CUE may record 2 windscreen claims for the incident which will probably cause you problems in the future.

[Deleted User]

InsideInsurance wrote: »

You just need to be very careful of how far they got with the claim against your other policy otherwise CUE may record 2 windscreen claims for the incident which will probably cause you problems in the future.

Good point. Will check that. Its wrong though that someone can make a claim on your policy without your permission though.

InsideInsurance

[quote=[Deleted User];62853136]Its wrong though that someone can make a claim on your policy without your permission though.[/QUOTE]

Obviously this is a slightly different circumstances but it certainly isnt wrong overall otherwise everyone could prevent a third party from claiming from them by simply not giving permission for their insurer to deal with it.