Auto renewal

agrinnall

DCFC79 wrote: »

No way is it another misspelling scandal.

Ha ha, good one!


:rotfl:

Blue_Max

It is so easy to forget or miss autorenewal.
Would be so much fairer if the insurer do not renew unlees they receive a written consent agreeing to the new premium.

Is it possible to opt of this scheme altogether?

forgotmyname

Blue_Max wrote: »

It is so easy to forget or miss autorenewal.
Would be so much fairer if the insurer do not renew unlees they receive a written consent agreeing to the new premium.

Is it possible to opt of this scheme altogether?

Simply choose an insurer that does not auto renew. My insurer does not auto renew. Usually i wish they did.

But sometimes i can get cheaper cover elsewhere which they cannot match. The following year they are usually back to being cheap again though.

Don't like it then dont use them.

Blue_Max

Few minutes ago I had an online chat with Privilage.
Saz, the agent, was understanding helpful. He said,
"I have stopped the automatic renewal for you, so that's all been done, you will need to contact us to renew the policy when you get the renewal notice in the post".
:-)

[Deleted User]

The problem with numerous companies is that they default to auto-renew. They should default to not auto-renew but ask the customer if they require it.


As for this ultimately being a mis-selling scandal. Yep. Almost certainly a few years down the line it will be classed as such. I bet in the early days of PPI people were ridiculed for making the same assessment.

dunstonh

Blue_Max wrote: »

It is so easy to forget or miss autorenewal.
Would be so much fairer if the insurer do not renew unlees they receive a written consent agreeing to the new premium.

Is it possible to opt of this scheme altogether?

If you find it so easy to forget or miss renewal then its a good job auto-renewal exists.

As for this ultimately being a mis-selling scandal. Yep. Almost certainly a few years down the line it will be classed as such.

The FCA have no issue with it. The FOS have guidelines on how they expect it to be documented. So, how do you expect that to turn into a missale situation?

[Deleted User]

dunstonh wrote: »

If you find it so easy to forget or miss renewal then its a good job auto-renewal exists.




The FCA have no issue with it. The FOS have guidelines on how they expect it to be documented. So, how do you expect that to turn into a missale situation?

Yes, a good job. How benevolent these companies are, always having the best interests of the customer at heart (sarcasm!)


Why will it ultimately be considered mis-selling? This is just my best bet, obviously, but clearly the insurance companies are using it to their advantage. They are relying on inertia selling to boost their sales. Many customers get a bad deal because of it, and yes it's their own fault to a certain extent, but the FOS are there to 'protect customers', as they keep telling is. Ultimately I think they will be seen to be not doing this.

dunstonh

Why will it ultimately be considered mis-selling? This is just my best bet, obviously, but clearly the insurance companies are using it to their advantage.

Over 70% of people renew on the same policy. So, its something that benefits most.

The FCA issued a policy statement following a review in 2017. If firms are following that, then they cannot be misselling. For misselling to occur, a beach of rules has to exist.

but the FOS are there to 'protect customers', as they keep telling is.

The FOS is not there to protect customers in the way you suggest (or I interpret you are suggesting). They are there as an independent arbiter in complaints. They consider the FCAs rules and fairness. They should have no bias to the customer or the firm. They are not a consumer champion. The FOS have issued guidelines on auto-renewal. If the firm has followed the FCA rules and the FOS guidelines, how couldit be missold?

And auto-renewal, as much as i personally dislike it, does protect customers. For as often as we see people moan about auto-renewal on this site, we see people who didnt have auto-renewal who have been caught uninsured.

Blue_Max

'dunstonh' misinterpreted my post. Read again!

Any suggestion that autorenewal is to protect customers is naive and misleading.

The best way the customer would benefit is when the insurer inform the customer that the renewal is due so that there is little or no chance of forgetting and get caught uninsured.
Importantly, the customer will then have the option and opportunity to shop around and find the best deal going or stay with the same insurer.

The decision to purchase a product or service must always rest with the consumer.
Take the advice of MSE on not only car insurance but also on Broadband, etc.

Marvel1

petershare wrote: »

So you think that offering an existing customer a price of £36 to renew, but a new one £30, is good practice? I don’t, so let’s agree to disagree and leave it there.

No different to Virgin Media, Sky, Talk Talk etc, it's business.