Car Insurance Cancellation Question

DayBird

Hi,

My first post, so I apologise if there is any etiquette I have missed with regards to posting! I'm a bit 'phobic' of phone calls at times, and just want to be prepared and informed before I make any. If I know where I stand, I can usually deal with it better but I find talking to insurers a bit intimidating as I've never really spoken to a friendly insurance company yet.

Currently, I'm with Hastings Direct. I (stupidly) allowed my insurance to renew with them for another year, despite having looked and found I could be insured a bit cheaper. It just slipped my mind during a really busy and challenging month for me.

Currently I'm paying £79 monthly; my insurance renewed and increased in November 2015. I have used comparison sites, and know I could be paying £68 a month; not much difference but enough! I know I could make a small saving, even with the cancellation fee, and can clearly reduce the monthly outgoing there.

However, the comparison sites always present Hastings as my best and cheapest provider. The £68 a month is still with them.

I would like to know firstly, can (and should) I call and highlight that I'm paying £79 when opening a new policy with them is cheaper. Would they reduce it (if I am in a position to haggle) or am I stuck with it once I'm paying it?

Secondly, can I cancel with Hastings...and open a new policy via comparison websites with the same policy and with Hastings? I recognise that these prices are probably for new customers. I don't wish to rush into cancelling if I can negotiate the price, using the £68 a month find as my argument.

I'm a bit new and naive. I haven't had a friendly conversation with their customer services team before and don't want to be made to feel stupid by asking them about cancelling and opening a new policy or asking for a reduction in my current price having entered into a renewal policy with them.

Thanks for any responses in advance!

marlot

If it's within 14 days you can normally cancel without charge.

Otherwise, by the time you pay the cancellation fees you're not going to save much (if anything) - so just a lesson for next year.

rudekid48

marlot wrote: »

If it's within 14 days you can normally cancel without charge.

Otherwise, by the time you pay the cancellation fees you're not going to save much (if anything) - so just a lesson for next year.

No. The 14 day "cooling off" period is just a right to cancel, it does not mean you get 14 days free insurance. You will still get charged, it may just be that certain add ons are only refundable within the 14 days and the cancellation charge may be lower but it is definitely not free.

forgotmyname

Cancellation fee and charges for time on cover may cost more than your £11 a month potential saving.

And then your insurance renewal will move to now. Mines also up and it can be a PITA at this time of year, a few years back we had some bad snow and my insurance company were closed due to the weather.

They made it in one day and i managed to speak to them, during the call it started snowing again and they were told to finish the calls they were on and they could leave when done.

Its a rare thing but it happens.

EdGasket

"Secondly, can I cancel with Hastings...and open a new policy via comparison websites with the same policy and with Hastings? I recognise that these prices are probably for new customers."

I am also interested in this as the renewal I get is always higher than an online quote from the same insurer. I pointed this out once to Liverpool Victoria but they wouldn't budge on price so I didn't renew and instead took out a new policy with them saving around 15%. The only difference was that I got a different policy number and another set of paper documents through the post.

Now it is getting more difficult to get an online quote from the same company because they are recognising that you are an existing customer and refusing to quote online unless you change some detail like your date of birth slightly.

Hastings_Direct_company_representative

Hi DayBird,

Thanks for choosing Hastings, I hope we can ensure your stay with us this year will keep you happy with our service. Just to clarify, within 14 days we are able to renew with a web quote you might have and after that we're still able to cancel and set up a new policy. We'll waive the cancellation fee if you're staying with us, too.

Just so you know, we also have a new LiveChat service whereby you can do this all online chatting to our team so if you prefer that way, have a look here: http://!!!!!!/Ukamg I hope this helps, and I hope you have a safe and enjoyable year driving on cover with us.

Kind regards,

Joe