Cancelling insurance after a 3rd party claim

hermum

Hi, I had my car written off a few weeks ago, the other driver's insurance admitted liability & I received the money to buy another. My insurance company handled the claim. I had been insured by them for a little over 2 weeks.
I was paying the premiums monthly, with a £50 deposit & £26 paid 14 days into the policy.
Went out & bought another car, called my insurance company to advise them of new car & was told that the annual premium would increase by £120, I queried this with the agent, (the written off car was 1.8i petrol new one 2l diesel & before looking at it all the comparison sites came up as more or less the same costs) I was told that the new cost went on that days price & I'd chosen to change my car part way through the policy, and that day the costs were higher.
I said to insure it, as I'd bought the car but that I would be looking for a cheaper quote when I got home, I was advised of there being a £50 cancellation fee.
Drove home, called up again, just in case there had been a mistake & was told by another agent that it was correct, I again said that comparison sites were coming out much less & he suggested that if I could get it for much less, taking into account the £50 cancellation fee, it would be best to do that.
So, took another policy out the next morning & cancelled the original one online.
I had a message stating "Based on the current policy information, you have no more payments left to make on this policy in the current period of insurance".
Then a couple of days later I received a letter saying the I owe nearly £300. When I called, the agent suggested that it was because I'd had a previous claim that I hadn't told them about when I put in the quote, I asked what claim & if I hadn't told them how did they know about it.
Then he wasn't sure so would ask a manager & call me back.
It turns out that because I made a claim, despite it not being against my policy I am liable for the whole years premiums, it is apparently in the t&c's that I ticked when buying online.
Surely I should have been advised of this by the 2 agents when I queried the jump in price rather than just being told of the £50 cancellation fee. I also got the message saying that no more payments were due.
I am more than confused, I still have a couple of days to cancel the 2nd policy if I have to pay the original insurer but the difference in costs is huge, inc charges for paying monthly, the original co wants £460 & the second is £300.
The price on comparison sites on the day made my original ins co even cheaper than the one I took out, so I don't understand why they want so much more.
I'm pretty sure that there is no way of winning against an insurance company but would welcome advice from anyone who has been in this situation please, or knows about insurance.
Thank you

dacouch

You did make a claim from your policy though as you state your Insurer paid the claim

hermum

that they will claim back from the 3rd party
Surely their 2 agents should have reminded me of the t&c's not tell me I would need to pay the £50 cancellation

dacouch

hermum wrote: »

that they will claim back from the 3rd party
Surely their 2 agents should have reminded me of the t&c's not tell me I would need to pay the £50 cancellation

They may claim it back from the other party but currently have not so you have a claim on your policy.

They should have advised you of the claim affecting cancellation, this may be worth a complaint but there's no guarantee it will work.

Bear in mind you should be aware of the claim affecting the cancellation as it's in the policy conditions that technically you should read.

Here's the Ombudsman view on cancellations after a claim.

"17. outstanding premium instalments or premium refunds

Most motor insurance policies are yearly contracts – so the full premium is payable even if the vehicle is written off during the year. If the consumer paid the yearly premium upfront, they will not receive any refund. Or if the consumer was paying the yearly premium by monthly instalments, they must still pay the outstanding instalments after the vehicle is written off.

When an insurer declares a vehicle a write-off, we expect it to offer a consumer the option of bringing a replacement vehicle onto the insurance policy so that the remainder of the policy term can be used. Depending on the make and model of the replacement vehicle, an additional premium may be required by the insurer. This should be calculated on a pro rata basis for the remainder of the policy term."

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/technical_notes/motor-valuation.html

They mistakenly informed you, whether the Ombudsman would feel they should waive all costs apart from the £50 you won't know until you go to the Ombudsman. The Ombudsman may just award you some money for compensation eg £50 to £100 but still make you pay the other costs.

Bear in mind the Ombudsman is very very very slow

hermum

Thanks for that, it's just so annoying that if I bought the insurance that day through a comparison site it would be under £300 inc all the additional costs for paying monthly but they are allowed to charge me so much extra when the accident wasn't my fault, my car was parked & had been for 36 hours before some plonker smashed into it. It seems I'm being penalised for someone else's bad driving.
If I had gone through the other drivers insurance, would I have still had to stay or pay for the other insurance do you know please?

Quentin

Next time you are involved in a claim where there is no dispute and a third party is liable, then don't claim off your own policy but claim directly from the third party which will avoid these problems.

All insurers won't refund you any premium if you cancel after making a claim, and cancelling usually triggers cancellation fees to pay.

hermum

The cancellation fee of £50 I swallowed as I was still saving myself over £100 from the inflated price they quoted, it's the having to pay the full years insurance, at the inflated cost I can't afford.
It now means that I have to sell the car & yet still pay out for insurance on it.

dacouch

hermum wrote: »

Thanks for that, it's just so annoying that if I bought the insurance that day through a comparison site it would be under £300 inc all the additional costs for paying monthly but they are allowed to charge me so much extra when the accident wasn't my fault, my car was parked & had been for 36 hours before some plonker smashed into it. It seems I'm being penalised for someone else's bad driving.
If I had gone through the other drivers insurance, would I have still had to stay or pay for the other insurance do you know please?

Did you declare the claim as being "Fault" to your new Insurer as technically that's what it is classed as until your Insurer recovers their outlay.

If you don't have protected no claims bonus your no claims bonus proof will normally show a reduced amount (Until they recover their outlay) which when you send it to your new insurers can cause problems

hermum

It wasn't a new insurer, I'd been with them a couple of weeks when the accident happened, the other party's insurer admitted liability.
It was when I replaced the car my insurers upped the premium by loads, as that was the price as of that day.
Other than on the written t&c's, (guess you should always print off & refer to the t&c's on a daily basis until you understand it all,) nobody advised me that there would be the full years premium to pay as well as the £50 cancellation fee. Had I been at fault, I could understand that but as they will claim back what they paid me & no doubt a huge admin fee from the other insurer it seems really wrong.
After an accident if you let your own insurance company handle the claim, they can charge you whatever they like for the rest of the year & you have to pay it.
So always best to go through the 3rd party insurance in a no fault claim.
Another very expensive life lesson.
On the new insurance, sorry I went off track there, I put down that there had been an accident and the date & would have said that it was a no fault as the other co had admitted liability. Looks like from your response that is also wrong.

tomtontom

hermum wrote: »

The cancellation fee of £50 I swallowed as I was still saving myself over £100 from the inflated price they quoted, it's the having to pay the full years insurance, at the inflated cost I can't afford.
It now means that I have to sell the car & yet still pay out for insurance on it.

Surely you do not need to sell the car due to a relatively small increase?

Quentin

hermum wrote: »

.......On the new insurance, sorry I went off track there, I put down that there had been an accident and the date & would have said that it was a no fault as the other co had admitted liability. Looks like from your response that is also wrong.

You need to explain to your current insurer that your claim remains open, and (unless you have actually got your NCD proof from your previous insurer following the cancellation) that your NCD may be reduced pending the conclusion of the claim by your old insurer.

If you still owe your old insurer any money, then be aware that they may not issue you your NCD proof until the account is settled, which may mean problems with the new insurer.