Friend's car insurance auto renewal, but charged on my card, any chance to refund?

John787

I was surprised to find out that I was charged £700 from a car insurance company which I have never used before. What was worse is that there another £700 charge last December as well.

In the end, I realized what happened: In December 2014, a friend arrived in the UK and would like to take a car insurance but his bank account wasn't ready at that time. So I helped to pay the premium with my debit card. However, after one year, he sold the car and left the country and I didn't authorized any further payments through my debit card. And my card was replaced earlier this year, how can the insurance company debit my card without correct CVV?

I know it is my fault that I didn't find this out last year and my friend didn't cancel the insurance properly, but is there any possibility to get my money back? Any suggestions are welcome. Thanks in advance!

DCFC79

Phone them in the morning.

They can take it as I believe a cpa is on the card.

Its down to you to check policies arent set to auto renew. If your not sure then ask the customer service rep.

forgotmyname

And the issue maybe, they shouldn't really talk to you about his policy.

Data protection?

DCFC79

Did your friend reimburse you for the policy you purchased ?

John787

We are trying to cancel this year's policy since it is within two weeks.
He said he can reimburse me last year's.
But it still makes me feel bad that the company can take my money without my consent.:mad:

zagubov

I presume you don't have car insurance yourself, as you seem unfamiliar with this common kind of pitfall. Be careful when taking out contracts for other people who won't be around to deal with how things end up.

csgohan4

be careful giving money to people, friend or not

uknick

John787 wrote: »

We are trying to cancel this year's policy since it is within two weeks.
He said he can reimburse me last year's.
But it still makes me feel bad that the company can take my money without my consent.:mad:

I think you'll find you did consent to the auto-renewal, albeit it may have been hidden in the small print when you agreed to pay the original premium.

Did you, or your friend, not get a renewal notice just prior to the original policy expiring?

John787

He moved out of UK at the end of the year. He didn't receive or ignored the renewal letter and certainly didn't get this year's letter.

I did remember when we pay the first year's policy, we make sure that the auto renewal option is unchecked.

Lily-Rose_3

zagubov wrote: »

I presume you don't have car insurance yourself, as you seem unfamiliar with this common kind of pitfall. Be careful when taking out contracts for other people who won't be around to deal with how things end up.

csgohan4 wrote: »

be careful giving money to people, friend or not

These 2 ^ :T

I'm not sure which adage is more appropriate here 'neither a borrower or a lender be' or 'friends and finances do not mix.'

Hell would freeze over before I would have done what you did, like I would never ever ever be a guarantor.

I hope you get the money back. I also wonder why they took the money when your friend no longer has the car, let alone the policy!

Funny how these things always go in favour of the company; never the customer! :mad:

rs65

John787 wrote: »

We are trying to cancel this year's policy since it is within two weeks.
He said he can reimburse me last year's.

Does he have the acknowledgment from DVLA that he is no longer the keeper of the car? If so, tell him to ask for last year's premium back too.