Charged £77 to cancel car insurance

prince_percy

Hello everyone

I don't know if i'm on the right board but i just wanted to post as i'm so angry at being charged just to cancel my car insurance policy.

I have had a policy with Budget. I got a new car and when they re quoted me it was £600 more than the best quote i had obtained before buying the car. I have now canceled the policy but they have charged me £77 including a £28 cancellation fee plus the outstanding balance for the period of cover.

I was wondering if anyone else had similar issues with insurance cancellations or if i can claim any of it back by claiming the charges are unlawful as in the bank charges

The lady i spoke to was also very rude and i feel i am now paying for something which i am not even using.

Does anyone know if i have a good case for a complaint?

Thanks

honeypop

Cancellation fees would have been included in the terms and conditions you agreed to when taking the insurance out, so they are not unlawful, you just didn't check the T&C's.

How close were you to the end of the policy? Now that you have cancelled it, you have lost out on an extra years no claim discount (assuming you didn't claim during the time covered).

foxyuk

prince_percy wrote: »

Hello everyone

I don't know if i'm on the right board but i just wanted to post as i'm so angry at being charged just to cancel my car insurance policy.

I have had a policy with Budget. I got a new car and when they re quoted me it was £600 more than the best quote i had obtained before buying the car. I have now canceled the policy but they have charged me £77 including a £28 cancellation fee plus the outstanding balance for the period of cover.

I was wondering if anyone else had similar issues with insurance cancellations or if i can claim any of it back by claiming the charges are unlawful as in the bank charges

The lady i spoke to was also very rude and i feel i am now paying for something which i am not even using.

Does anyone know if i have a good case for a complaint?

Thanks

pay by direct debit from now on and you wont experience this again...

honeypop

foxyuk wrote: »

pay by direct debit from now on and you wont experience this again...

Why not? If you cancel a policy you incur cancellation charges, no matter how you pay. You agree to pay for 12 months worth of insurance via DD, doesn't mean you can cancel it when you have had enough, you still owe what is left of the policy.

foxyuk

honeypop wrote: »

Why not? If you cancel a policy you incur cancellation charges, no matter how you pay. You agree to pay for 12 months worth of insurance via DD, doesn't mean you can cancel it when you have had enough, you still owe what is left of the policy.

no you dont just cancelled with more than... not in policy document

smaller companies earn there money this way..... checked budget website and is clear


[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Cancellation Fee[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]If you cancel more than 14 days after receiving your policy documentation you will have to pay a cancellation fee of £55.00. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Administration Fee[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]All policy amendments are subject to a £20.00 administration fee.[/FONT]

olly300

prince_percy wrote: »

I was wondering if anyone else had similar issues with insurance cancellations or if i can claim any of it back by claiming the charges are unlawful as in the bank charges

The lady i spoke to was also very rude and i feel i am now paying for something which i am not even using.

You have no case for complaint in regards to charges.

The financial ombudsman has investigated this many times and rulings can generally be summarised as:
1. as long as the charges are made clear in the contract
2. cover the adminstrative costs
the charges are fair. (Go and search the financial ombudsman website.)

BTW large companies also have high charges in their policies so it is really a case of read the small print and work out whether taking out a slightly more expensive insurance policy will actually work out cheaper for you.

RibAd

you've no case for complaint.

you had an existing policty, bought a new car, that changes your policy as the car type, etc is assumingly different from your previous existing policy car and you dont like the price.

YOu then cancel your policy. You terminated your contract with them. And yes cancelation charges are within the policy document.

ArchieB_2

foxyuk wrote: »

no you dont just cancelled with more than... not in policy document

smaller companies earn there money this way..... checked budget website and is clear


[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Cancellation Fee[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]If you cancel more than 14 days after receiving your policy documentation you will have to pay a cancellation fee of £55.00. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Administration Fee[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]All policy amendments are subject to a £20.00 administration fee.[/FONT]

More Than certainly do apply charges. Saying you don't have to pay the charges if you pay by Direct Debit is absolutely incorrect, as posted previously.

mackem1

I work for Budget so I take calls every day from people cancelling their insurance and not happy with the fee's. They are very clear in the documents and when setting up the policy (over the phone or on the internet) yet we take a lot of abuse over this.

dunstonh

pay by direct debit from now on and you wont experience this again...

Yes you will.

Car insurance is annual agreement. The fact that some allow monthly premiums doesnt matter as they are handled under a credit agreement. It is still annual. So cancellation charges will apply under annual and monthly. Indeed, they could be a tad more on a monthly one due to credit agreement.