Cancelling Car Insurance

flip_lmb

Hi folks, long time lurker here hoping you can help me with a quick question regarding cancelling my car insurance.

I've just traded my car in for a van. My car was insured with Quotemehappy, paid in full (annually) and expires in January (approx 5 months). I was hoping to transfer the policy over, but it looks like Quotemehappy doesn't cover vans. Being an online only site it's nigh on impossible to find a human to speak to. The only option available is to cancel with a £56 charge! I'm not fussed about losing whatever claims I've accrued (as I've already got 10+ years), but a £56 charge for them to no longer have to cover me is a bit steep. If I was paying monthly I could almost understand it.

So my question is should I just leave the policy alone and let it expire (which obviously costs me nothing) or bite the bullet and cancel?

Thanks in advance
Phil

Car_54

Not cancelling could cost you a lot, if the vehicle is otherwise uninsured and involved in an accident. Quotemehappy would have to meet any claim and would reclaim the costs from you.

facade

Possibly there is a small refund that will offset the admin fee.


You do have to wonder at the mentality of insurers, if it is true (rather than hearsay) that they would be liable for hundreds of thousands of pounds in the event of an accident (with little chance of recovery except at £10 a week or something), you'd think they would be pleased they had a "get out of jail free card" and let you cancel for nothing, rather than encourage people to keep quiet and hope for the best by charging you for doing them a favour.

Ant555

flip_lmb wrote: »

So my question is should I just leave the policy alone and let it expire (which obviously costs me nothing) or bite the bullet and cancel?

If you leave the existing policy in place then you cant normally use your NCB to claim a discount on another policy.

I had an overlap of around a month when replacing a car and the new insurer were happy to accept my NCB in this situation as it was 1 month (I rang them, call centre person spoke to a supervisor and I got confirmation by email)

Hope this helps.

Bigphil1474

OP, is the charge in addition to any refund? If you've paid for 12 months, and cancel now, they may mean that you get a part refund minus the charge. You should then be quids in rather than leaving it. As above, you'd need to cancel to use your NCB on the new insurance anyway.

DoaM

If £56 is their admin charge then you agreed to that when you took out the policy. Your policy premium should be refunded pro-rata; example:

Annual = £240
Cancel with 5 months remaining - refund = (5 / 12) * 240 = £100
Cancellation charge = £56
Balance refunded to you = £44

flip_lmb

Hi folks, thanks for the good advice. The end of the story is that I cancelled (with the £56 charge) but got £72 back. Still don't agree with the charge, but ended up on the deal so moving on

paddyandstumpy

flip_lmb wrote: »

Hi folks, thanks for the good advice. The end of the story is that I cancelled (with the £56 charge) but got £72 back. Still don't agree with the charge, but ended up on the deal so moving on

If you're not happy with the charges an insurer makes then take out a policy with an insurer who doesn't charge fees.

I presume you read what you purchased when you bought the policy, so you only have yourself to blame.

And if you didn't read what you were buying, you still only have yourself to blame.

You chose an insurer who charges fees to those who create the work.

Indout96

flip_lmb wrote: »

Hi folks, thanks for the good advice. The end of the story is that I cancelled (with the £56 charge) but got £72 back. Still don't agree with the charge, but ended up on the deal so moving on

There should not be a cancelation charge as they cancelled the policy by refusing the change of vehicle (as they are allowed to do) unless things have changed massively since I did my BIBA exams they are not allowed to charge you for their refusal to cover your new vehicle.

paddyandstumpy

Indout96 wrote: »

There should not be a cancelation charge as they cancelled the policy by refusing the change of vehicle (as they are allowed to do) unless things have changed massively since I did my BIBA exams they are not allowed to charge you for their refusal to cover your new vehicle.

But it's the insured, not the insurer; that changes the risk.

PP12

I bought car insurance from WiseDriving and they need to install a black box for the car, I have tried to make an appointment but each time this was not successful, now they forced me to cancel my insurance and charged me about £100 for the insurance I had with them, they have a very bad review on Google or Trustpilot as well as other sites, what do you think I should do.