Cancellation costs

dunstonh

My guess based on what you have said is that you did not tell them that you did not wish to renew when it was an auto-renewal contract.

So, they renewed it and when you did contact them, they then cancelled it and they charged you their cancellation charge.

So, in summary, it is not a charge for not renewing a policy but a charge for cancelling a policy you allowed to be renewed.

ThinkingOutLoud_2

Jaym&jac wrote: »

Again I never cancelled. They just wrote to me and said your policy is due to run out and it was going to cost me £9 to not renew. Just makes me mad that I have to pay to not renew

So I guess to reframe this - in the old days the insurer wasn't faced with comparison engines where every pound of premium was so comparable.

Now insurers are, rather like the budget airlines, they must compete hard on base price. So just as the airlines break out costs for check bag - so if you don't have one, you don't pay. Ditto - if you don't lapse your policy, you don't pay for the process or non-renewal confirmation documents...

This fee should have shown on your policy schedule and you had the original cooling off period to consider and cancel for nothing.

I get that you may not have realised this (I am not sure I'd have seen it) and it feels like a trick - but in effect this was £10 that was not in their base price (as it used to be) > but we need to figure that will be the cost to exit. Of course, if we never leave, its never costs us - or if we leave after 3 years, then the added cost per year is relatively small compared to the total premium.

And so a loyal customer does not have to co-fund the admin costs for you and others to lapse policies every year and move around.

kingstreet

At what point did you tell them you weren't renewing?

Before the renewal date, or after the renewal date?

Did this apply to an "add-on" sold with a car insurance policy, or a separately purchased policy?