Charged for car insurance TWICE by old insurers

bohma2000

I received an email from Tesco Car Insurance recently which informed me that my bank account has been debited with £338 to renew my car insurance. I though this was strange as the last time I used Tesco for car insurance was in 2017.



On a hunch, I checked my old bank statements and lo and behold, they has charged me £341 for insurance last year. I was on holiday at the time of renewal last year and did not notice the debit on my bank statement. I was with LV last year and this year I'm with Churchill. I have not made any claims.



Will it be straightforeward to obtain a refund from Tesco or are they likely to try to hang onto the money?

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth

bohma2000 wrote: »

I received an email from Tesco Car Insurance recently which informed me that my bank account has been debited with £338 to renew my car insurance. I though this was strange as the last time I used Tesco for car insurance was in 2017.



On a hunch, I checked my old bank statements and lo and behold, they has charged me £341 for insurance last year. I was on holiday at the time of renewal last year and did not notice the debit on my bank statement. I was with LV last year and this year I'm with Churchill. I have not made any claims.



Will it be straightforeward to obtain a refund from Tesco or are they likely to try to hang onto the money?

No. You should had cancelled the insurance. Auto renew is in the T&Cs mot avoid you from not being insured. The fact that you don’t read you bank statements for over two years dies not go in your favour.

DevilsAdvocate1

bohma2000 wrote: »

I received an email from Tesco Car Insurance recently which informed me that my bank account has been debited with £338 to renew my car insurance. I though this was strange as the last time I used Tesco for car insurance was in 2017.



On a hunch, I checked my old bank statements and lo and behold, they has charged me £341 for insurance last year. I was on holiday at the time of renewal last year and did not notice the debit on my bank statement. I was with LV last year and this year I'm with Churchill. I have not made any claims.



Will it be straightforeward to obtain a refund from Tesco or are they likely to try to hang onto the money?

I think you should be able to get this year's back, especially if you do it within the first 28 days of renewal.


I would ring but ask to speak to a manager and explain that you were not aware of auto renew. Not all companies do this, so its not a legal requirement. Its more that they hope to get your money through you being lazy.



I had something similar happen a few years back. At first they refused to refund me. Then I was told that they would refund but I would be hit with a £65 admin fee. I asked them why would I take out insurance for a car I no longer owned and therefore couldn't ever claim on the policy. They went very quiet before telling me to email them with proof I no longer owned the car. I did this straight away and received a full refund.


Also, delete the direct debit so they can't take money next year.

SonOf

It is known as dual insured. You will be pleased to know that you are not the only one with poor money management. Others have done the same. And that there is a process. You provide evidence of cover for the period you were dual insured and they will look into refunding the duplication providing there have been no claims or incidents during that period.