Insurer taking money after policy expired

Dangermac

TJ106 wrote: »

Thanks DM for your advice.

I do think you're missing a few points and making a few assumptions about my personal and work circumstances.

In respect of the level of our hardship, obviously you don't know our personal financial circumstances, but it should suffice to say that when you suddenly lose 560 quid unplanned from your account with only days until other fairly large sums are due out, the circumstances can easily arise that there isn't enough left to pay them and so the bank declines. That has repercussions elsewhere. Before they took the money we had enough to meet all of our needs until next being paid, suddenly I had almost nothing with payments due out.

I have been phoning the insurers almost every day now for 11 days, they keep passing me around and I never get the same person twice. I wouldn't be in this position if they were being reasonable, but almost 2 weeks after they took the money we are no closer to getting it back. They keep saying yes then not doing it. I know I'm entitled to a refund and so do they, they keep telling me so, but making excuses such as "we don't have your bank details" when I've told them three times.

Regarding "time off work", I can only call them during my working hours, their offices close at 5pm, except for sales who can't resolve the issue. Each time I call them it lasts between 20 and 40 minutes because, like most service companies, they have a queue on hold system. My employer is only tolerant so far when it comes to personal admin in work time, I have to account for my time, hence time not working when I should be.

So your assumptions and opinions about my personal circumstances are based upon what exactly?
But thankyou for the helpful comments.

I think you misunderstand my confusion.

I am not saying that £560 is not a lot of money. It is. And I'm not saying that it has not made a difference to your finances.

What I'm confused about is how it has made such an immediate and acute impact, when it's been coming out of your account for the past 6 months and you have only just noticed. That said, I respectfully agree with your comment that I dont know your circumstances.

I would suggest that:

- you speak with a manager, and very politely but firmly, demand immediate action. Be sure to let them know that you are a vulnerable customer

- You drop the FOS route (for now anyway), as this can take months to resolve.

- You drop the police/FBI contact, as this is unlikely to be a criminal matter. But again, I dont know the circumstances as you do

- You make a formal complaint to the insurer, and demand appropriate redress for the financial hardship that you have sustained.

That's what I would suggest

DM

LadyDee

It's not clear OP whether this £550 was taken in one payment last August, or whether it's £100 odd a month and you haven't noticed this until now? What premium rate numbers have you been calling? These have been banned as a single source of phone contact for some considerable time now in the UK, and all companies are required to provide standard national exchange numbers.

TJ106

Dangermac wrote: »

What I'm confused about is how it has made such an immediate and acute impact, when it's been coming out of your account for the past 6 months and you have only just noticed. That said, I respectfully agree with your comment that I dont know your circumstances.
DM

DM I didn't say anything has been coming out of my account for 6 months. I'd say you've read my post and made some assumptions. I actually said "Last week we discovered that the insurer has taken a payment of over £550 from our bank".
Just to be clear, it was one payment that was taken without any warning on 23rd January, after the policy expired 5 months ago in August. There have been no other payments, nor any correspondence during the period between last August and the payment being taken, therefore there was nothing to notice, and hence the sudden realisation of a problem. The discovery was made the day after the payment was taken when I used online banking to pay a bill and wondered why I had no money.

Takmon

TJ106 wrote: »

DM I didn't say anything has been coming out of my account for 6 months. I'd say you've read my post and made some assumptions. I actually said "Last week we discovered that the insurer has taken a payment of over £550 from our bank".
Just to be clear, it was one payment that was taken without any warning on 23rd January, after the policy expired 5 months ago in August. There have been no other payments, nor any correspondence during the period between last August and the payment being taken, therefore there was nothing to notice, and hence the sudden realisation of a problem. The discovery was made the day after the payment was taken when I used online banking to pay a bill and wondered why I had no money.

Obviously that is clearly unacceptable on their part to take money so suddenly, but you should also look into sorting out your finances so you aren't on the brink of financial ruin.

You should really look to save up an emergency fund to have some money saved up for situations where you might have a sudden big bill, late wages etc. 3 months outgoings is a good target to have minimum so then your pretty well covered no matter what happens.