Hastings Direct - Took money despite not having permission

adrobinson1969

Hastings Direct were informed in advance and in writing that we did not wish to renew with Hastings Direct and that we withdraw our permission for Hastings Direct to withdraw money using any previous payment method.
Below is a summary of events, quotes are extracts from written correspondence.

09/07/218: “please do not automatically renew this policy until either myself or J give consent.”

15/07/2018 “we withdraw permission for Hastings Direct to renew the policy or take funds from any previously used payment methods.”

16/07/2018 Hastings Direct renewed the insurance policy despite being instructed not to do so.

18/07/2018: Hastings Direct stole £342.47 from the bank account belonging to J/A Robinson again despite permission being withdrawn.

Hastings Direct have a complete and utter disregard for their customers and instruction provided by their customers.

A Robinson
J Robinson

kingstreet

Written correspondence? Delivered via what method?

Do you feel they had adequate time to receive and act upon your instructions?

[Deleted User]

Sounds more like an admin error.

Give them a call and I'm sure they'll sort it.

adrobinson1969

Hi Kingstreet, sent via email with all supporting info one week before renewal date. More than adequate in my opinion.

A Robinson

agrinnall

Using terms such as "stolen" instantly set the forum against you, so don't expect a lot of sympathy. As advised in post #3, call them to get it sorted out.

dunstonh

Talk about overkill and exaggeration.

A lot of the work on renewals is put in place a number of days before the actual debit date. The workflow entry may not have passed to the correct team in time to catch the payment going through.

They will no doubt refund the money quickly and apologise when pointed out to them. Without any need to make silly statements about theft.

adrobinson1969

Firstly I can phone till I'm blue in the face. I'm the named driver and they will not accept instruction from me. J the policy holder is unwell and not in a position to call.
The policy was set up online with no human interaction, surely then it should be acceptable to cancel a renewal in the same manner.
Taking something when there is no consent, if it's not theft what is it?

A

[Deleted User]

adrobinson1969 wrote: »

Taking something when there is no consent, if it!!!8217;s not theft what is it?

We covered this in an earlier lesson.

Admin error.

adrobinson1969

OK guys, thank you for the advice (as unsympathetic as it has been).

I'll wait and see what Hastings Direct have to say in response to my last contact.

A Robinson

societys_child

I'm the named driver and they will not accept instruction from me. J the policy holder is unwell and not in a position to call

Sorry to hear the policy holder is unwell, but no insurance company should take an email instruction from a third party, and cancel a payment which would leave the policy holder uninsured!

eddddy

adrobinson1969 wrote: »

09/07/218: “please do not automatically renew this policy until either myself or J give consent.”

So it sounds like the email came from you - when they had already told you that they would not accept instructions from you relating to your wife's policicy...

adrobinson1969 wrote: »

Firstly I can phone till I'm blue in the face. I'm the named driver and they will not accept instruction from me.

adrobinson1969 wrote: »

J the policy holder is unwell and not in a position to call.

I can see that is a difficult situation for you - but equally, insurance companies can't really take instructions from people wanting to cancel their spouse's insurance - in case it's malicious.

Maybe discuss with the insurer if there are ways of getting around this - For example, is your wife able to sign a piece of paper authorising you to talk to the insurer, or is she able to phone them just to authorise them to deal with you?