Car Insurance Article Discussion

bern494

Hi
My niece who just has had a baby had her car pinched and wrecked by drunken thugs on Saturday. The car was taken away and put in a compound by the police. They say its a write off.

She has contacted the insurance company (Swinton Ins Brokers) and informed them but they have told her she has to pay the rest of the years premium of £1000, she has already paid 2 months off at 93.00 per month.

She is now without a car which is in the compound and has been told that she needs to pay £250 to get out and the fee goes up the longer it stays in there. She has to still pay the insurance payment,

What is going on here! Would like to hear from anybody to help her or offer any advice.
I have told to stop the insurance payment and leave the car where it is...and seek legal aid Am I right?
She is heartbroken
regards
Bern

Scottie_Bob

I was hoping someone here might be able to help me out with an issue in canceling my car insurance.

I took out a policy with Hastings Direct because they were the cheapest for the area I was living in at the time. I knew I was going to be moving in two months, so even though I know the premium was going to go up massively (moving from Cambridge to Birmingham), I had checked the cancellation charges and knew I was going to be charged £45. What I didn't know, though, was that there was a sliding scale of refund as well (and there was nothing on any documentation I was given during the signing up process online). The first thing I got through about the other charge was on the back of my schedule when I received all my documentation....

Anyway, I called up Hastings and they said that due to my new address, they wouldn't be able to underwrite my insurance. Surely, then, I shouldn't have to be liable for paying out even more in cancellation fees (which I only found out about after they sent the documents out!) if they're unwilling to underwrite the insurance? I argued with a woman today for 10 minutes about it but was told there was nothing they could do. I had, however, forgotten to tell her that Hastings wouldn't insure me at my new address anyway, so I had no choice but to cancel.

So overall, as the result of me canceling, for two months cover I pay £200, nearly 50% of my annual premium... Disgusting.
Any suggestions or help here?

Thanks in advance.

kaiser051

hi everyone im in need of some advice
my car insurance is due up soon,i had 2,ten month bonus accelerator policies with elephant
then i switched to sainsburys who reconised the two ten month policies as 2 years no claims bonus
i then had two 1 2month policies with sainsburys which means now i have 4 years ncb
problem is sainsburys are to expensive now and thus on trying various other insurers they fail to reconise i have 4 years ncb
because i have only driven for 2 years + 10 months + 10 months even though i have officially 4 years ncb according to my renewal letter i just recieved from sainsburys,
this makes abig difference i have found when entering i have 3years ncb and 4 years ncb around a hundred pound difference,
the question is am i doing anything wrong or illegal if i just do a online qoute and put that i have 4 years ncb?
if they want proof i can send them my latest renewal letter from sainsburys which states i have 4 years ncb even though when i mentioned i to insurers on phone they tell me they will give me only 3 yrs ncb as 2 of the policies consisted only of 10 months
any help gladly apreciated thank you

Quentin

If your proof says 4 years then that will be accepted as 4 years.

Quentin

Scottie_Bob wrote: »

Anyway, I called up Hastings and they said that due to my new address, they wouldn't be able to underwrite my insurance. Surely, then, I shouldn't have to be liable for paying out even more in cancellation fees.......

Who's fault is it you have changed your address?

You entered a 12 month agreement with them, and it's you who wants to make unacceptable changes! Were it the other way round (ie the insurer wanting to change the deal part way through), things would be different and then you would have an argument if they also wanted to charge cancellation fees.

But as it is you are stuck with them contractually.

Quentin

bern494 wrote: »

She has contacted the insurance company (Swinton Ins Brokers) and informed them but they have told her she has to pay the rest of the years premium of £1000, she has already paid 2 months off at 93.00 per month..............
I have told to stop the insurance payment and leave the car where it is...

The insurer is correct, if you make any claim, then the full year's premium must be paid.

Stopping the payment won't help matters, as they will just pursue her for it, and non payment could end up with a black mark on her credit file and separate problems getting insurance in future.

Scottie_Bob

Quentin wrote: »

Who's fault is it you have changed your address?

You entered a 12 month agreement with them, and it's you who wants to make unacceptable changes! Were it the other way round (ie the insurer wanting to change the deal part way through), things would be different and then you would have an argument if they also wanted to charge cancellation fees.

But as it is you are stuck with them contractually.

Um, thanks for the (sympathetic?) reply. I changed my address for a flat that came up which would stop me doing a FOUR hour commute, and I had to take it, but whatever, I can't imagine that'll wash with you.

My point was more that the sliding scale charges weren't given to me until I actually bought the insurance... If I had known them, I wouldn't have taken it out in the first place and that since they won't insure me at my new address (since it's in the centre of Birmingham), I have no choice but to cancel.

Quentin

Scottie_Bob wrote: »

My point was more that the sliding scale charges weren't given to me until I actually bought the insurance... If I had known them, I wouldn't have taken it out in the first place.

You were asking for advice, rather than making a point!

When you buy on line you do have the opportunity to find out about the policy:

For full details concerning cancellation and charges, please refer to your policy booklet (which we make available to view, print or download via the link to Important Documents when we provide your online quotation).

The sliding scale charges are the norm - if you end up cancelling mid term, it works out more expensive pro rata than sticking to the original agreement.

crazyterrier2000

kaiser051 wrote: »

hi everyone im in need of some advice
my car insurance is due up soon,i had 2,ten month bonus accelerator policies with elephant
then i switched to sainsburys who reconised the two ten month policies as 2 years no claims bonus
i then had two 1 2month policies with sainsburys which means now i have 4 years ncb
problem is sainsburys are to expensive now and thus on trying various other insurers they fail to reconise i have 4 years ncb
because i have only driven for 2 years + 10 months + 10 months even though i have officially 4 years ncb according to my renewal letter i just recieved from sainsburys,
this makes abig difference i have found when entering i have 3years ncb and 4 years ncb around a hundred pound difference,
the question is am i doing anything wrong or illegal if i just do a online qoute and put that i have 4 years ncb?
if they want proof i can send them my latest renewal letter from sainsburys which states i have 4 years ncb even though when i mentioned i to insurers on phone they tell me they will give me only 3 yrs ncb as 2 of the policies consisted only of 10 months
any help gladly apreciated thank you

should be 4 years ncb, experience tells me your case can be interpreted differently by different people, and different companies.

crazyterrier2000

Scottie_Bob wrote: »

I was hoping someone here might be able to help me out with an issue in canceling my car insurance.

I took out a policy with Hastings Direct because they were the cheapest for the area I was living in at the time. I knew I was going to be moving in two months, so even though I know the premium was going to go up massively (moving from Cambridge to Birmingham), I had checked the cancellation charges and knew I was going to be charged £45. What I didn't know, though, was that there was a sliding scale of refund as well (and there was nothing on any documentation I was given during the signing up process online). The first thing I got through about the other charge was on the back of my schedule when I received all my documentation....

Anyway, I called up Hastings and they said that due to my new address, they wouldn't be able to underwrite my insurance. Surely, then, I shouldn't have to be liable for paying out even more in cancellation fees (which I only found out about after they sent the documents out!) if they're unwilling to underwrite the insurance? I argued with a woman today for 10 minutes about it but was told there was nothing they could do. I had, however, forgotten to tell her that Hastings wouldn't insure me at my new address anyway, so I had no choice but to cancel.

So overall, as the result of me canceling, for two months cover I pay £200, nearly 50% of my annual premium... Disgusting.
Any suggestions or help here?

Thanks in advance.

You will have to pay and put it down as lesson learned unfortunatley, insurance companies cover there angles.