Car insurance cancelled please help

scrimpingandscraping

I hope someone can help, I am in a hellish situation. I rang my car insurance this morning to change my address and remove my Ex partner after I have left an abusive relationship. I was told that there would be a £172 charge for changing this information, £50 of that being admin fees. I explained that given this price increase I would go away and look for a new policy as this made their policy uncompetitively priced. I also said I would ring for details of cancellation fees in due course. Two hours later I was rang by another person at the company 'one quote direct' and told that unless I paid £122 (they said they would waiver the admin fee) I would have my insurance cancelled, alternatively I could pay £138.02 to cancel my policy myself (I only paid them £36.21 yesterday so these two would be £172 approx and I would have no cover) the person asked me why I had removed my ex, I explained that he no longer drove the car and I had left him because of abuse. She still demanded payment and when I asked if I could have time to find a new policy she got shirty and said she was cancelling my insurance. I put the phone down, only to receive a text saying its been cancelled. I rang other insurers but they refused to quote and now I am left with no insurance, I am disabled, my son is disabled and I can't believe I am being penalised like a drunk driver for refusing to pay an extortionate amount of money to remove cover I don't need. How does him being on the policy make me a safer driver? Any advice would be appreciated as I can't be the only person this has happened to???

forgotmyname

Car insurance never makes sense. If i add an accident prone younger sister to my long clean driving record then the price goes down.

But i wont do it because she will want to drive my car and will probably crash it. So i pay more money to leave her off.

£50 admin fee is fairly standard, They give you cheaper insurance and charge for everything,

Your mistake was not paying and saying your cancelling it. You should have paid the money and then put a complaint in.

Having to declare a cancelled policy puts a lots of insurers off. I tried it on a comparison website. Lots of companies dropped off the list when you tick that box.
Dont declare it though and your not really insured.

Get back onto them and get the policy re-instated and pay them. Then stick a complaint in.

scrimpingandscraping

That's hostage holding Is there not a minimum notice period before they can cancel for non payment? I am searching through posts that say people got letters and 7 days to pay up surely two hours and a conversation with an unempathetic 'team manager' in a call centre who is trigger happy isn't 'fair treatment'

huckster

Suggest that you speak to a local brokers tomorrow. Many people get into this silly position. When Insurers ask about cancellations, it is really the cases where there has been non disclosure or some issue, where the policyholder has acted wrongly. Your cancellation is purely down to the cost of the recent amendment of the policy, which you could not afford, so the policy was cancelled.

Your local brokers should be able to arrange cover without any problem. I would suggest that you submit a formal complaint to the Insurers about the way they handled the amendment and cancellation.

rs65

scrimpingandscraping wrote: »

Is there not a minimum notice period before they can cancel for non payment?

Usually 7 days in writing - what does your policy say?

spacey2012

The part for the RTA of third party liability is ruled by case law as served 7 day notice in writing only by post.
Time for a complaint and FOS ramp up.

scrimpingandscraping

In the meantime ( while I am complaining ) do I demand they reinstate cover? Pay an extortionate amount for a new policy and send them the bill ? I am insured on two other vehicles but I am worried I should be ringing these other insurers to tell them (footman James and Liverpool group) the policy cancelled is with Allianz, am I risking getting all my policies cancelled by driving??

keith1950

do I demand they reinstate cover? Pay an extortionate amount for a new policy and send them the bill ?

You need to calm down and start thinking logically. Your main issue is that you get re-insured asap.

You should ring them up and plead with them to reinstate the policy and then pay the extra premium.

If you are successful you can then put in a complaint...however your ex was obviously statistically considered to be a safer driver so removing him would increase your premium.

You should pay whatever it takes to reinstate the policy or you will be paying massive amounts for your insurance forever....if you can actually get insured.

scrimpingandscraping

Thanks Keith, calming down is good advice, I simply don't have £172 to give them, and according to this link they have to serve me with written notice of their intention to cancel my policy (7 days in accordance with the RTA 1998) I also am trying to understand how gender-neutral insurance rules make my risk greater without my ex on the policy? He has had more accidents than me (all declared) I intend to ring them and ask to speak to the complaints dept, I will take this to the FOS and ideally I would rather pay them the £138 to cancel than remain with a company that treats customers like this.

forgotmyname

You cannot bill them for anything you pay to another company.

You simply ask them to re-instate your current policy. Complain that the person you spoke to previously was obnoxious and totally unhelpful.

Obviously they told you a lie about cancelling the policy immediately, As you are required to have adequate notice.

Then pay up and put in a formal complaint.

If your inured on other vehicles then they could use this to get out of paying a claim. You failed to notify them of a cancelled policy.

Get it re-instated and the cancellation removed.

spacey2012

Do not give them the certificate back and check here
http://ownvehicle.askmid.com/
To see if they have cancelled the insurance whilst the complaint is dealt with.
Not enough people are hailing the insurance companies to court and the worst the FSA do is tell them to go back to how it was before.