B**tards!!!

ADAM001

anyone advise me on this? after deciding to change my home insurance i started searching and found a cheap policy with free travel insurance(EGG) and i phoned my current insurer(brad+bingley) and notified them i wanted to cancel i was told " no problem,when do you want it cancelled from?" to which i said immediateley and i was told that would be ok.so i cancelled and got my new policy underway, two weeks on and i have recived a letter stating that i owe them(B+B) for the remainder of the policy due to the fact there was a claim on the policy and therefore i was tied in to the full term,the claim was back in January and completed by the end of March,no mention of this was made when i called to cancel and now i have two insurance policies and B+B are insisting i cancell my insurance with EGG and pay the rest of the year to them,can they do this because it seems like they are pulling a fast one to me!!
They apologised about the fact i was not informed when i phoned but they are insisting i pay up!! help!

travel_freak

Hi there,

I don't know about your exact circumstances but can tell you about a similar thing that happened to me (although I hadn't made a claim on the policy concerned). It was my car insurance which I changed to a cheaper one and I rang the existing company to say I wanted to cancel and to find out what needed to be done and what refund I could expect from them (as I'd paid for the whole year upfront). They told me an amount and, on the basis of what they told, me I proceeded to cancel and to take up the policy with the new company. OldCo then sent me a refund short of what they'd told me on the phone and pointed to the terms and conditions of my policy. I complained by telephone and they went back to check the recorded conversation and agreed that they would pay me what I had been told I would receive in the original conversation as this was their mistake. I do sympathise with you. I'm sure that what they say is technically right and would be covered in the terms and conditions of your policy but nevertheless I do think they shd easily have been able to see on their system that you had had a claim and to warn you about the consequences of cancelling. I think it's certainly worth a letter of complaint, emphasising that you wouldn't have taken the action you did if you had been warned about the outcome. Perhaps say you think they have acted unfairly in not notifying you and you are thinking of complaining to whichever the correct ombudsman is - I find this usually helps. Good luck!

ADAM001

writing a letter( in between posting) as we speak!

daveboy

Make sure you tell them about how you didn't check the Ts & Cs properly.

Ooops, that would mean owning up to a mistake so let's blame B&B instead.

You have a case in regard to the phone call and them not mentioning it - I'd be complaining on that count. But I wouldn't expect to get out of it scot free.

Just how many people sign agreements without having a clue what the details mean? It really does amaze me how so many people blame companies when having some knowledge of the Ts & Cs would have avoided the situation.

Davidboy

Daveboy,

I cant believe your attitude sometimes, I assume you are the very sad git that sits there are reads EVERY T&C's of EVERY contract you have ever signed, it is not only a very difficult task for a non legal person as most if these things are written in non English. Perhaps you should have called yourself Mr Perfect instead of Daveboy!!!

Surely this is the idea of this site that Martin has set up in order to help people who are held to contract by these very cleverly written T&C's, don't foregt these T&C's are written by very clever laywers who are paid enormous sums to confuse and make sure the "Customer" has no chance of getting out of a deal once signed and by money grabbing Insurance companies who pray on the fact the people find reading T&Cs almost impossible.

Either put up with some constructive help or shut up, I find on other treads you have been very unhelpful and somewhat rude in your replies, I still say this site is for help of people who need it not ridicule, if you don't like that leave!!

Bossyboots

Davidboy wrote:

Daveboy,

I cant believe your attitude sometimes, I assume you are the very sad git that sits there are reads EVERY T&C's of EVERY contract you have ever signed, it is not only a very difficult task for a non legal person as most if these things are written in non English. Perhaps you should have called yourself Mr Perfect instead of Daveboy!!!

Surely this is the idea of this site that Martin has set up in order to help people who are held to contract by these very cleverly written T&C's, don't foregt these T&C's are written by very clever laywers who are paid enormous sums to confuse and make sure the "Customer" has no chance of getting out of a deal once signed and by money grabbing Insurance companies who pray on the fact the people find reading T&Cs almost impossible.

Either put up with some constructive help or shut up, I find on other treads you have been very unhelpful and somewhat rude in your replies, I still say this site is for help of people who need it not ridicule, if you don't like that leave!!

Davidboy I too am one of those sad gits who reads every line of every contract. Because of that I have been able to pull up three companies who have attempted to conduct themselves in a way inappropriate to our agreement. They are not that difficult to read and are in the main very similar so once you have familiarised yourself with them, it becomes easier next time.

I am afraid daveboy is right but perhaps he could have put it a bit more kindly. It is a standard insurance clause that if you make a claim on a policy, the whole year's policy is payable and I am at a bit of a loss to understand why you think that is unreasonable. You have asked for risk to be covered for a set price. You have made a claim against that set price and are now seeking to have the claim paid but not pay the balance of the price agreed. Basically you seem to want to have your cake and eat it.

As daveboy says, you certainly have a complaint against them for not reminding you on the 'phone that the balance of the premium was payable, but this is a customer service issue, not a legal requirement. I suspect you will get a small discount for this. If it were me, I would cancel the insurance with Egg and then ask B+B to cover those costs and the premiums you have paid out. I don't think you will get it all as this is your mistake but I am pretty sure you would be able to squeeze some of it out of them.

As for your comments about the purpose of this site, I agree that it is useful for advice and help about all manner of things, particularly contract issues. However, a T&C requiring you to meet your obligation under a contract if you invoke the terms of that contract is an entirely reasonable request in any contract, not just financial ones. I am afraid the best you can do therefore is try to get them to repay to you some of your outlay to Egg.

grumbler

ADAM001 wrote:

... i phoned my current insurer...i was told ...They apologised about the fact i was not informed when i phoned ...

I always read T&C too and I call CSs only if it is absolutely unavoidable. If I phone I make notes about time and name of the person I speak to. And then I double-check the information I got. This is the only way to do this becouse CSs are absolutely incompetent!

Posts #19-#25 in the 'Exchange Rate for Euro's ' thread are my favourite example... :rotfl:

daveonline

ADAM001 - Have you aleady cancelled your old policy ? Have you started your new policy ? Unfortunately most insurance policies - car, home etc wont give a refund if a claim is made in the current year of insurance. A simply solution would be to have your old policy reinstated. if youve aleady taken out a new policy you might have a 14 day cooling-off period.( beware of cancellation charges ) It would save you money - then shop around at the renewal date to find the best quote.

campervanman_2

Once you've exhausted the complaints procedure within the insurance company it will be well worth putting your complaint in writing to the Financial Services Ombudsman.

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumer/complaints.htm

The above link should help you!

Regards

Matt

Bossyboots

campervanman wrote:

Once you've exhausted the complaints procedure within the insurance company it will be well worth putting your complaint in writing to the Financial Services Ombudsman.

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumer/complaints.htm

The above link should help you!

Regards

Matt

Not sure this is really appropriate assuming the T&Cs are quite clear in the policy and the company have the right to assume the customer read them. It is weak customer service not to point it out, but I cannot see that FO will find anything to investigate in this case.