Help with car insurance

Niggy_G

Not sure where this thread quite belongs...but here I go anyway...

Yesterday my girlfriend received some mail from her parents house who live several 100 miles away. One of which was a renewal for car insurance from Hastings Direct stating that you don't need to contact us as you paid last time by DD and so if you don't contact us we'll presume you agree to this renewal price and take it from your account.

The next letter said 'Thank you for you instruction' (however there was no instruction) to renew the policy for car insurance. Over £400 has been taken from her account however we had already arranged alternative (and much cheaper) cover.
The unwanted Hastings cover is currently approaching one month’s existence. I think we could cancel the next 11 months cover and get that money back (anyone confirm this?) but where do we stand in getting all of this money back?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

lisyloo

but where do we stand in getting all of this money back?

Depends on what you originally signed up to.

If you genuinely did agree to an ongoing payment then you should have cancelled it (both with the insurer and bank) if you wanted to cancel.

You would need to check your original paperwork, which I presume you still have as it was only a little while ago.

If you agreed to it and just forgot to cancel or didn't fully realise what you signed up to then I'm afraid that your responsibility and you'll have to take any charges on the chin.

Niggy_G

OK i'll try and get hold of the original docs, which are probably at her parents house.

Cheers

lisyloo

If she trusts her parents then she should ask them to open any mail.
If she doesn't she should pay for Royal mail re-direction.

jimbo_the_jetset

You can cancel a policy within 14 days of starting one, although not sure about renewals. I've just started a new policy and had to select the option not for them to automatically re-new the policy after 12 months.

You can of course cancel the policy anytime and get a pro-rata refund for the remaining period.

iceicebaby

Why is the mail going to her parents address for her car insurance ? Surely it should go to the address where the car is kept (ie where she lives) Is the insurance at her parents address when the car isnt kept there?

jonesMUFCforever

jimbo_the_jetset wrote: »

You can cancel a policy within 14 days of starting one, although not sure about renewals. I've just started a new policy and had to select the option not for them to automatically re-new the policy after 12 months.

You can of course cancel the policy anytime and get a pro-rata refund for the remaining period.

Take care. Insurance companies have found a new ruse to keep money from you - administration fees for cancelling a policy early.

Niggy_G

Cheers for everyones help. They have agreed to refund the money if we fax a few documents and return their insurance certificate.

Wyndham

ejones999 wrote: »

Take care. Insurance companies have found a new ruse to keep money from you - administration fees for cancelling a policy early.

It's not new, it's been the case for as long as I can remember, and was the case when I worked for Royal SunAlliance (which I did between 1993 and 2000).

I'd advise the OP to contact the insurance company immediately and tell them you don't want or need the policy. They should refund most if not all of the premium.

However, I'd echo what others have said, you should check post, and you should also have checked your bank account/credit card and seen the payment go....

darich

It may not be a new policy but I'm fairly certain they'll deduct some sort fo charge from the premium being returned.
If they didn't you could effectively get 14days free insurance by starting the policy then cancelling it later.
You have a cooling off period for a lot of things but I wouldn't be surprised at all if there was a charge for cancelling.

raskazz

They will refund the whole premium if you send in proof that the car has been insured elsewhere since the renewal date. One of the few things Hastings are reasonable with.