Charged for not telling Admiral Car Insurance I won't be renewing

mdc11

My girlfriend and I are currently involved in a dispute with Admiral over a £25.00 charge for not renewing our insurance.


The facts are as follows:
1) The policy was not a Direct Debit with automatic renewal, just 12 months paid up front.
2) We received an email 10 days prior to the policy expiry date that cover would cease from 28/08/14. This email made no reference to a need to notify Admiral that we would not renew, only to make payment details if we would like cover to continue after this date
3) A letter dated 28/08 was received confirming cover cancelled and saying a payment of £25.00 needed to be made as part of them cancelling our policy.
4) The contract had not been cancelled it simply expired. General Condition 4 of their Terms & Conditions only mentions the word Cancel and at no point mentions the term 'renew'


Surely after a pre-paid 12 month contract expires that is the end of it?


Further to this an additional payment of £20 is being requested for late payment of the original sum. My girlfriend is the main policy holder and has been out of the country on business for several weeks so only became aware of any of this on 22/09.


Any advice appreciated.

dunstonh

2) We received an email 10 days prior to the policy expiry date that cover would cease from 28/08/14. This email made no reference to a need to notify Admiral that we would not renew, only to make payment details if we would like cover to continue after this date

What did the renewal letter say? Last time I had an Admiral policy, it stated what to do next in the renewal letter.

3) A letter dated 28/08 was received confirming cover cancelled and saying a payment of £25.00 needed to be made as part of them cancelling our policy.

Something triggered a cancellation (which is different to not renewing). Can you think of any reason why Admiral would cancel the policy on that date?

Any advice appreciated.

What have Admiral said when this has been raised with them?
Specifically, why was it cancelled?

InsideInsurance

mdc11 wrote: »

Surely after a pre-paid 12 month contract expires that is the end of it?

No, they normally auto renew for the following 12 months. The fact you didnt need a loan from the insurer for the premiums is irrelevant.

You need to get your renewal invitation which will have been sent to you and read exactly what it says about the renewal. It'll either say you need to contact them to renew it or it'll say you need to do nothing and it will automatically renew.

Ultimately you also need to speak to them to see why the insurance was cancelled by them and then declare this to your new insurers (for all classes of insurance)

mdc11

Presumably this auto-renew is buried somewhere in the small print of the original agreement as well? Otherwise how do they skirt around acceptance of the contract?


The renewal letter stated nothing would need to be done if our documents we're ok, but does nothing to describe what constitutes 'ok'.

mdc11

Just seen the renewal letter - it does state that they would automatically renew the policy (acceptance a key part of contract law though?). If they're viewing it as Cancellation rather than non-renewal it is because we did not contact them to pay for a further years insurance. Old policy expired at midnight on 27/08, they sent us an email on 18/08 (after renewal letter) stating that unless they received payment 'the insurance provided will be cancelled on 28/08'. We haven't raised this as yet with Admiral, because my girlfriend who the letters was addressed to has been in the USA on business and only returned home yesterday

mdc11

As the two responses have kindly pointed out -


The first email does state they will renew the policy automatically. The subsequent email from 18/08 however, would to anyone not of a legal disposition give the impression that the policy would be finished with should we not make the renewal payment, and does not make clear reference to any additional charges that would be due at this point.


It does refer back to their General T&C's which mentions a charge for cancellation, but I imagine the majority of lay people would view this as expiry as opposed to cancellation in the circumstances

Mrs_pbradley936

Since it states that it would be renewed automatically, I would think that the onus is on the policy holder to say that a renewal is not required. Usually because you have found a better quote or have sold the car. If there is only a couple of weeks on the insurance after selling no point in looking for a refund.

InsideInsurance

mdc11 wrote: »

Presumably this auto-renew is buried somewhere in the small print of the original agreement as well? Otherwise how do they skirt around acceptance of the contract?


The renewal letter stated nothing would need to be done if our documents we're ok, but does nothing to describe what constitutes 'ok'.

Yes, its in the T&Cs presented at the point of purchase or read out if done over the phone. Its also how they get to keep your payment details to do the reoccurring payment.

Unless you contact us we will automatically apply for your renewal premium from the card details we have on file, shortly after your renewal date. This is to make sure there is no interruption in your insurance cover

I have never seen the Admiral renewal emails, I had paper letters when I was with them, but both their letters and all other insurers I;ve been with make it very clear that doing nothing results in a renewal. For example there is http://www.mccannco.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/INSURANCEs3.png which has it big and bold as the first line "we will automatically renew you"

InsideInsurance

mdc11 wrote: »

Old policy expired at midnight on 27/08, they sent us an email on 18/08 (after renewal letter) stating that unless they received payment 'the insurance provided will be cancelled on 28/08'

So they are saying it will be cancelled the day after the old policy has expired which means that it will be renewed

Whilst I agree the difference between cancellation and lapse may not be well understood by people the sequencing of dates and therefore its consequence should be.

Your bigger issue than £25 fee is you've now had insurance cancelled for non-payment which must be declared to all future insurers for life. Some may take sympathy on you but many will simply decline to quote going forward.

I am confused by the comment that she was in the USA. How was other insurance arranged if she isnt about and you arent "authorised" to deal with her affairs? Assuming you did buy insurance in her absence it then seems odd to say you couldnt open her insurance letters.

mdc11

She had taken up a new policy with a separate insurer prior to the expiry date, after which all correspondence from Admiral was sent via letter and she was out of the UK when these letters were received.

Surely there must be a way around the non payment issue as I can't imagine this is a particularly unusual occurrence

InsideInsurance

mdc11 wrote: »

She had taken up a new policy with a separate insurer prior to the expiry date, after which all correspondence from Admiral was sent via letter and she was out of the UK when these letters were received.

Surely there must be a way around the non payment issue as I can't imagine this is a particularly unusual occurrence

You didnt tell her that coming up to her renewal shes suddenly received a couple of letters from her current insurer? You say the email also said it would auto renew, wasnt she checking her email either?

The way around it is to speak to admiral and if needs be log a complaint about the auto renewal giving a copy of the new policy to confirm you were insured elsewhere and hope that they allow the fee to be waived and confirm no insurer cancellation will be noted against her.