Insurance policy nightmare!

nc11

So I'm not the one to complain, and if a mistake is made happy to pay additional premiums of ££, but unfortunately in the past 2 months I've been asked to pay additional ££££ and that is too much!

Here goes (ford focus 1.6, main driver plus 2 named of which one is 18)...

Been insured with sheilas wheels model driver, an esure broker, for a year. Renewal email sent to confirm new premium, which was £1700, £300 less than previous year. Seemed odd, but who am I to doubt my insurer clever algorithm!

On the renewal date called to find out how to get the revised certificate, and was told that is available online. Great - quick and efficient.

However.... "Mr NC, we'd need you to pay an additional £380 because of a mistake on the claims information. Hmmmm - who made the mistake? certainly not me, as I didn't provide any info for the renewal. Furthermore, you're the insurer so all the info is with you, and has been recorded on your systems. If there is a mistake, it's yours. Yes, Mr NC, it's our mistake but you need to pay the additional premium."

"Oh and one more thing - do you want your NCD bonus protected or not? Sorry - what?! I've had it for the past 10 years, do you really expect me to give that up now?! plus you've protected it last year, surely you'd need to protect it again! Yes, of course sir, but that protection will cost you another £600, so from £1700 your premium is now £2700."

That's where I got a bit concerned.... A single phone call could cost me a grand for 2 mistakes I have not made. That's unacceptable. I don't want to renew then, I called to say. "Sure Mr NC, you can cancel but you'd need to pay £40 admin charge. So you've made 2 mistakes, asked me for an additional £1000 and now want another £40? How does that work? what if you woken up the next day and decided you wanted another £1200 because of a "mistake"??"

That's not it, though. I went online, compared quotes and found Gogirl, who would ensure us for £2100.

So I called shiela's wheels to cancel. When I asked whether they match the quote I have, I was told that actually the correct premium they now want from me is £3200 (!). The explanation - insurance prices change daily.

I cancelled the policy and lodged a formal complaint.

Next.... Gogirl.

Policy has been setup through the comparison site, deposit (£460 - hefty!) paid, and a confirmation email was sent. So far, so good.

A few days after I've been asked to send copies of the driving licenses, including the paper counterpart. I did that after a few days. A couple of days after that they asked for the back of the photo licenses as well. Sure, I've sent that as well.

Here's where it gets interesting.... policy was setup on 1/12. On 16/12 I get a letter stating a 7 day cancellation notice. I called to enquire and was told that the information provided on the proposal didn't match that on the license for th 18 yr old driver. the license shows test passed on july 2014, whereas the proposal has 1/12/13. "How come, I asked? well Mr NC, you called us to setup the policy and provided the wrong info. Sorry but that's not true, I responded. Really? not only that, we called you afterwards to confirm the details. Errrm, no you didn't call me. Well, that's what our system is saying sir. I see, so if your system say I'm actually a 60 year old women, does that make it right? If you're sure I called you and you called me, prove it. Surely all calls are recorded, right?!":mad:

So let's proceed. So far, every insurer call has cost me £££. This one was no different. Due to the wrong info, the "discount" they've given me on the 18 yr old driver is taken back, so an additional £617 is owed. "you've got 2 options Mr NC -you can take the 18 yr old driver off the policy, or cancel." and of course "we are here to help".

So to summarise:

Insurer 1 - 2 admin mistakes on renewal. additional £1000 premium requested.

Insurer 2 - system captures wrong information from comparison site. additional £600 premium requested.

and that's not all..... If I cancel the policy with insurer 2, I lose the deposit because the 14 days cooling off period has lapsed.:mad::mad::mad:

So over to you guys! What can I do now to (1) find another insurer which wont make any mistakes! (2) get my deposit from insurer 2 back, and (3) complain in such a way that these cowboys stop treating their customers like ponds.

Cheers,
NC

thescouselander

I had a similar issue with an insurance company (I forget which) some years ago. Basically they had quoted me for a policy which I took up but then they called me back to charge more after their underwriter said their system had made a mistake.

I made an official complaint and eventually the company rolled over because, since I had paid, the deal was done and they had to honour it at the quoted price.

nc11

Thanks for the insight. Couple of thoughts:

1. the 1st insurer issue is a renewal, not a new policy. Does that matter?

2. Is this a known directive for the insurer to have to honour the original quote? anything formal I could quote to them?

3. the complaint you lodged - is that with the FOS?

4. How do I get the deposit back?

InsideInsurance

1) If its a renewal and they are quoting on different terms to what you had last year they have to make it clear. Have you checked your renewal notice to see if NCDP had been removed etc?

2) These sorts of things come under the general tenants of "treating customers fairly" which the FCA imposes on all regulated companies. See http://www.fca.org.uk/firms/being-regulated/meeting-your-obligations/fair-treatment-of-customers

3) Complaint must first follow the complaints process in the policy documents. If that doesnt resolve the issue or they dont give their response within 8 weeks you can then take the matter to the FOS

4) Which one?

nc11

4) Deposit from insurer 2 (gogirl) which is now asking for £600 more on their original premium, suggesting I supplied the wrong information, and lying about the facts (it was through a comparison site, not through a phone call with them, and they never called and spoken to me to verify details).

nc11

I'd like to resolve the issue with insurer 2 as there is a time-bound cancellation notice in affect.

I've drafted the following response, and would appreciate your input and suggestions for amendments. The objective is to either continue the policy without any additional premium (or a sensible uplift, e.g. 2-3%), or cancellation with a full refund.

---

Hello-

Further to the call on Dec 17th, I’d like to summarize the current status.

You assert that:-

• I have provided you with wrong information on the “proposal form”.
• I called you to arrange this policy on Dec 1s.
• You called me to confirm the details on the proposal.
• I have filled-in the date of 01/12/2013 as the date named driver 2 passed their driving test.
• You have initiated a cancellation notice due to your assertions mentioned-above.
• The deposit paid for this policy will not be refunded upon cancellation.

I confirm that:-

• I did not call you to setup this policy.
• You did not call or spoken to me to confirm the details on the proposal.
• I did not enter the date of 01/12/2013 as asserted by you.
• I did setup the policy through a comparison web-site.
• I sent you the details as requested, including driver licenses copies, etc. when requested, and within the 14 days ‘cooling off’ period.
• I provided all the details requested of me during the application phase accurately and in good faith.

Based on the details outlined above, you have not complied with any reasonable tenants set by the FCA under the “treat customers fairly” heading. Furthermore, you have made false assertions without any backing and/or proof. Such proof is clearly unavailable, as I have not taken any of the actions mentioned as your assertions 1-4.

At this point, and in order to resolve this amicably, I propose the following actions:-

• Your cancellation notice is promptly cancelled and void.
• The original premium, which has been accepted by you, and paid as required, will be reflected in the policy.
• As a one-off concession in good faith, I am prepared to consider a reasonable premium uplift. Please propose such an uplift.
• Once (and if) agreed, the additional premium will be spread across the term of the policy.

Should the above will not be acceptable or confirmed within 48 hours, I will have no choice but to cancel the policy and take additional actions, including (and not limited to), formal complaints lodged with the FOS and FCA, Sunday Times and Daily Mail reports, reverse-charge request with my credit card company, etc.

I urge you to re-consider your position as outlined by your customer service reps who’ve spoken with me on the 17th.

I look forward to your response within 48 hours.

Regards,

NC11

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stator

When a dispute like this happens it's best for you to cancel the policy and then write a complaint and if they don't refund you everything take it to the ombudsmen.

If you argue with them they might cancel your policy, and that is bad because you would have to declare you have had insurance cancelled for the rest of your life. You always want to be the one who cancels.

Are there any reputable insurers who give you a decent quote?

magpiecottage

stator wrote: »

When a dispute like this happens it's best for you to cancel the policy and then write a complaint and if they don't refund you everything take it to the ombudsmen.

If you argue with them they might cancel your policy, and that is bad because you would have to declare you have had insurance cancelled for the rest of your life. You always want to be the one who cancels.

Are there any reputable insurers who give you a decent quote?

This is bad advice.

The Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012 requires a consumer to "take reasonable care not to make a misrepresentation".

The view of FOS on this is here but essentially boils down to if the insurer did not ask the question clearly and fairly when the policy was applied for then it cannot change its mind and ask later - or if it does, it cannot then charge an additional premium if it does not like the answer.

So the best response would seem to be to remind the insurer of the Act, that you answered the questions accurately to the best of your knowledge and belief and that you therefore expect it to honour its contractual obligations.

If it removed a significant aspect of the policy (such as NCD protection) that was previously there without clearly drawing that to you attention than this would be a breach of FCA Principle 7, which says "A firm must pay due regard to the information needs of its clients, and communicate information to them in a way which is clear, fair and not misleading."

That would in itself be grounds for complaint.

nc11

Thanks Stator and magpiecottage.

You're both making very valid points, and I agree that an actionable complaint is the first step. It shows willingness to come to an agreement and both the regulator and/or FOS would see that positively if it comes to their attention.

Essentially, I now have 2 issues to deal with though:

1. I'm under a cancellation notice from gogirl (insurer 2). That needs to be dealt with, and I think - like stator - that leaving it to run is not a good thing. This is why I'm prepared to send them the note mentioned and try to extend the period required for a formal complaint.

2. Not as pressing, but insurer 1 has just offered £100 as they recognise "errors made by their admin and cust service teams".

Issue 1 is pressing, There are only 4 days left our of the 7 days of cancellation notice. I can pay the additional premium of £600 and still lodge a complaint, etc. or cancel and move on (again!!). Not sure what to do here - any advice?

Cheers,
NC

nc11

Any further input anyone?!

David_InsDef

If you 'allow' Insurer 2 to cancel the policy, this needs to be disclosed to all insurers going forward. That is of course unless they concede at a later date that they are in the wrong and rescind the cancellation - but you will still need to declare it to any new insurers up to that point.