Automatic renewal of insurance

Robert_Burns

My renewal letter states ,if I don't contact them they will take money from my account assuming I am renewing. This seems like sharp practice and should not be allowed. To renew a policy should take a positive act from the customer, not '' if you don't contact us we will take your money'' . My daughter has been caught out with this and the company are demanding £99 from her. Anybody got ideas how to fight this case or indeed how to put an end to this practice?
Alan

Nasqueron

If they didn't renew and you forgot about it and you were uncovered, how would your daughter have dealt with the costs of an accident and the inevitable fine and points from the police?

The letter tells you it will auto-renew. It tells you how to avoid it if you don't want to.

Daughter needs to complain in writing about the charge (include copies of proof of other insurance) then allow them time to respond, then escalate to the FOS if needed

dunstonh

This seems like sharp practice and should not be allowed.

It is though.

My daughter has been caught out with this and the company are demanding £99 from her.

How was she caught out? The letter was almost certainly clear on what she needed to do if she did not wish to renew.

Anybody got ideas how to fight this case or indeed how to put an end to this practice?

Whilst i personally do not like auto-renewal, you need to consider that most people do renew. Plus, for every person that moans about it, there are others that have benefited from it.

The FOS generally do not uphold auto-renewal complaints if the "what to do" bit is in the main bit of the letter and is in clear language. So, you are looking at a goodwill offer from the insurer complaints department.

forgotmyname

My company appear to be one of the few that do not auto renew and usually i do want to renew so to be i wished they did.

DCFC79

Robert_Burns wrote: »

My renewal letter states ,if I don't contact them they will take money from my account assuming I am renewing. This seems like sharp practice and should not be allowed. To renew a policy should take a positive act from the customer, not '' if you don't contact us we will take your money'' . My daughter has been caught out with this and the company are demanding £99 from her. Anybody got ideas how to fight this case or indeed how to put an end to this practice?
Alan

The way to fight it or deal with it is to write down yes I mean write down (no need to write it down since we live in an age where we have whats called technology digital technology) when the policy is due to end and/or the earliest date to ring up to get a cheaper renewal.

Could also make a note to get a cheaper quote say a week before the earliest date to get a renewal.

Its not hard, dont know why its such a trivial matter.


Your daughter wasnt caught out, did she forget to call up and get a cheaper price.

Im sire you could even contact them at some point to cancel the auto renewal thats in place. Auto renewal is a good option, I would rather I be covered IF I were to forget it was due, Id make sure I ring up when its next up for renewal.

Aretnap

As wel as having a clear reminder about th auto-renewal in the renewal letter, you'll have agreed to it when you originally took the policy out, albeit possibly in much smaller print.

Overall it probably beneits the consumer. If you're organised enough to remember your renewal date and act in time then having to phone up and cancel is a pretty minor inconvenience in the grand scheme of things. However if you're NOT organised enough to remember it's better to have your cover auto-renew and possibly pay a little more than you could have found by shopping around than it is to risk being left uninsured. Especially if it's critical insurance like car or home insurance.

I certainly wished tha my breakdown cover had auto-renewed a couple of years ago when I mislaid my renewal notice, then broke down a few days after it had expired...

£99 does sound on the high side for a cancellation charge though, unless it includes a significant amount of time on cover. How long had it been running, and did your daughter have alternative insurance in place?

Robert_Burns

alternative cover was in place. i think the price included a months cover as she failed to contact them. I think this maybe a common error as people search for a new policy,then fail to cancel the previous policy, which after all ,you have not asked to renew. The company also were unable to withdraw money from her account, which I would have thought would give them some doubt that she wanted the policy. Thanks Alan

spadoosh

Robert_Burns wrote: »

alternative cover was in place. i think the price included a months cover as she failed to contact them. I think this maybe a common error as people search for a new policy,then fail to cancel the previous policy, which after all ,you have not asked to renew. The company also were unable to withdraw money from her account, which I would have thought would give them some doubt that she wanted the policy. Thanks Alan

Its a catch 22. They dont auto renew and someone has an accident thinking its auto renewed with very bad consequences. The consequence to your daughter is a few months premium. The consequence to someone uninsured could be a legal bill for millions.

Dont think ive ever been insured by a company that didnt auto renew.

I imagine in response to the bold bit they thought that your daughter didnt have enough money in that account to pay for it. You cant expect someone to speculate as to why there wasnt enough money in an account that had agreements in place to take the money.

Tell your daughter to read things properly and act in a timely fashion to things like this as to avoid it in future.

Might be worth asking her about VED and MOT.



ETA this is also common practice among a lot of bills. When your mortgage deal ends you get put on SVR (normally a bit more expensive) When your sky contract ends you get put on the full package (can double the cost) when your gas/elec deals end you get put on a standard tariff. This shouldnt be that new to you?

takman

Robert_Burns wrote: »

alternative cover was in place. i think the price included a months cover as she failed to contact them. I think this maybe a common error as people search for a new policy,then fail to cancel the previous policy, which after all ,you have not asked to renew. The company also were unable to withdraw money from her account, which I would have thought would give them some doubt that she wanted the policy. Thanks Alan

Whenever I shop around that always involves ringing the existing insurer and giving them a chance to meet the best price. It has never happened for me but has for other people I know so it's always worth it, if they don't match it then you can cancel in the same call.

But considering that she had 12 months to cancel thehenhehrhe auto renewal then you can't blame anyone but your daughter for not doing it. On my last year's policy I had to ring them to take the policy out, as I was already on the phone to them I cancelled the auto renewal and the continuous payment authority they had on my card.