Policy cancelled by insurers

Catread1989

Right I apologise if this is long winded but here goes, I have been in financial difficulty recently due to being made redundant and having to claim universal credits (boo) and I knew my monthly payment for my insurance was due but wasn't due financial help for another week, go Skippy sent a letter about missed payment and I tried constantly to call to explain my situation and unfortunately their systems were down for a week of calling and just got someone taking a message saying someone will call me back, only once did this happen and I managed to pay what was owed but apparently my policy was now cancelled as it took too long which was not completely my fault as I had tried to contact them but they reckon there is nothing else they can do.
My issue is now this has happened my premiums are now sky high (06 corsa and £2000 for the year) I do unfortunately have 2 claims against my name, 1 which was a named driver which I've now had to basically suffer in the outcome. Does anyone possibly know if I can somehow get round having the cancellation against my name if possible as there is no way I can currently afford the quotes I have been given being unfortunately unemployed, single and with two children (proper selling myself there haha)
Any help with be gratefully appreciated xx

AdrianC

Would they have suspended or delayed the cancellation if you'd been able to speak to them and "explain"? Probably not.

How late were the payment(s) by the time the policy was cancelled?

Mercdriver

Another reason for an 0% or low APR credit card - pay the annual premium at a lower APR and then if you do get into difficulty, your insurance isn't cancelled.

agrinnall

Have you made a formal complaint to GoSkippy? If not, do that, then if you are not satisfied with the result you can escalate to the FOS.

debtdebt

Why would the insurer or the FOS uphold a complaint? The OP missed a payment, the insurer were entitled to cancel the policy.

owen_money

Mercdriver wrote: »

Another reason for an 0% or low APR credit card - pay the annual premium at a lower APR and then if you do get into difficulty, your insurance isn't cancelled.

If you can get such a card of course

agrinnall

debtdebt wrote: »

Why would the insurer or the FOS uphold a complaint? The OP missed a payment, the insurer were entitled to cancel the policy.

As you don't have the OP's paperwork in front of you you're only guessing. What harm could be done by making a formal complaint? It's better than anything you have suggested (which is nothing).

debtdebt

I don't have anything positive to suggest because in my view, there isn't anything positive to the OP's predicament.

They missed a payment so the insurers are well within their right to cancel the policy.

Payment (or consideration) is an essential part of a contract. No payment equals no goods or services (in this case the insurance).

It doesn't matter about the OP's financial difficulties. Do you think a business really cares about how unfortunate it is? No.

"Dear FOS,

Can you raise a complaint against Skippy Insurance. They cancelled my insurance when I didn't pay them".

VFR

If what the OP said is correct ...............


He did pay but a week late.
He did keep trying to contact the company.
The company know that their system was down for some time.
Surely there must be some discretion here should a "customer" try to correct a missed payment.
What would be the case should the payees bank (ie TSB) have a meltdown on payment day ?

AdrianC

VFR wrote: »

He did pay but a week late.

That's a generous interpretation.

The OP said they knew the payment was "due".
They said they weren't due any income for "another week".
They said they received a letter.
They said they tried to call for a week.

So that's a week of calling after the letter was received. How long was the payment overdue before the letter was sent?

The OP was asked ^ up there how overdue the payment was when the policy was cancelled. I suspect it's considerably longer than a week, probably nearer a month, maybe even over.

Browntoa

"systems down for a week" doesn't sound right for a major broker. I'm assuming ignored letter and thought nothing would happen