Cancelled car insurance

Helpp

Hey, I'm currently stressing out on the situation I'm in because I can't ring my insurance provider with it being easter bank holiday, so I thought I'd create an account here to get some help and advice in the meantime.

I recently returned from on holiday to find a letter informing me that my car insurance providers were cancelling my car insurance policy for missing a direct debit payment. This payment was taken on the 28th March 2017 when there were insufficient funds to be taken from my account.

I have had my car insured with this same company since the 29th January 2016. During this time my direct debit payments have always been taken on the 1st of each month. Furthermore, until this most recent payment, they have always been paid on time.

On the 26th January 2017 at approximately 6pm (I could probably find the exact time), I called my insurance providers customer service helpline. I made the call because on the auto renewal letter I had received it indicated that my car insurance policy would automatically renew on the 28th January. During this phone call I asked the advisor who I was speaking with if I could continue to make my payments on the 1st of each month. The advisor informed me that since I had previously had a plan in place for my payments to come out on the 1st, I would not have to pay a direct debit arrangement fee. Thereafter, he told me that my next payment would be taken on the 1st March and each subsequent date afterwards.

However, having checked my bank statements I can see this to not be the case. The payment that was meant to be taken on the 1st March was in fact taken on the 28th February. Given that I am paid on the last working day of each month, I had enough funds in my account to cover this payment, but not the payment the following month.

I suppose what I am basically asking is, do I have reasonable grounds for getting my policy reinstated, or am I knackered for stupidly not checking the date my payments came out and wrongly assuming the advisor who I was speaking to had done his job?

Thank you to everyone in advance.

dacouch

Yes you do have grounds for having the policy reinstated, the Insurers will however resist this as it is difficult for them admin wise.

I would recommend you give them a call and be as polite as possible and refer them to the agreement you made on the phone and ask them to listen to the call.

Ask them to suspend the cancellation until the call has been listened to.

If this does not work come back for more advice

Helpp

Thank you for putting me slightly more at ease dacouch. Just having looked at their extremely poor customer service reviews online I'm really worried they're going to try deny having ever received the call.

FutureGirl

When you renewed, and got the new policy documents, what payment date was stipulated on that? If it was 1st, then you should be able to get the policy re-instated no problem. If it says 28th, then you might have a little more of a battle.

Log an official complaint with the insurer, tell them that on the call on X date at x time when you renewed you specifically asked for the payments to continue on 1st month - and ask them to listen to the call (they can do this).

I can't see how they would cancel the policy after just 1 failed payment though. Usually they'd try again after a few days and, given April 1st was a Saturday, they should have been able to take the DD on Friday 31st.

paddyandstumpy

I thought the D/D guarantee meant the company had to represent after a failed collection, then send written request for payment, then cancellation?

I'm sure I've been told in the past too that conditional cancellation letters aren't allowed any more, and a client has to be given a request to pay then a notice of intended cancellation?

Quentin

paddyandstumpy wrote: »

I thought the D/D guarantee meant the company had to represent after a failed collection,........

No.

The DD guarantee protects the customer against the merchant abusing the DD by using it to collect unexpected/unauthorised etc amounts from customers.

It doesn't allow customers second chances following any default

Helpp

I cannot recall having ever received any policy documents FutureGirl. I'm sure I probably did but if I had noticed that the payment date was the 28th I'd have given them a call straight away. Few lessons have been learnt mind.

Anyway, I gave them a call today. The first advisor I spoke to said there was no record of me having ever made a call. I was adamant that I made a call on the 26th January and so the advisor said that they would have a look into it and give me a call back tomorrow. Thinking I better be safe I downloaded some software that enables you to view deleted call history and it showed that I made the call at 19:32 on the 26th.

I gave them a call back with the exact time that I made the call and was told by the next advisor that that was the exact time they had on record so I was clearly trying to be fobbed off when the first advisor told me they had no record of the call haha.

Helpp

Actually, having thought, the policy documents I did receive were basically just the renewal letter saying that my policy was due to be renewed on the 28th. To which I rang them and asked for the payments to be taken on the 1st as they had been previously.

FutureGirl

Helpp wrote: »

Actually, having thought, the policy documents I did receive were basically just the renewal letter saying that my policy was due to be renewed on the 28th. To which I rang them and asked for the payments to be taken on the 1st as they had been previously.

Yes, you then would have received policy documents for the new policy year. (The policy doesn't continue, it's a new policy just with the same policy number).

Helpp

Ah fair enough, I must have missed that then. Still it seems really harsh to cancel the policy after one failed payment. If they'd have tried to take the payment again a few days later it would have came out no problem.

paparossco

Excuse me if I state the obvious but don't use the car until this is sorted and you have the documents or you run the risk of being stopped by the police.