Hastings car Insurance problem

WhiteyCantley

On the 20/07/19 I sold my car and contacted my insurer Hastings Direct to cancel my motor insurance.
All went well and they confirmed the policy was cancelled and a £45 fee was payable. I also recieved notice online the policy was cancelled. All good......
The Hastings rep then changed attitude and became abrupt stating I owed them money because I hadn't paid my premium . I pay lump sum annually so was a bit miffed until I remembered that Hastings renewal notice was a bit steep so I went online to a comparison site and got a quote £120 cheaper. That quote was with yes Hastings! I phoned them at the time and asked why this was so and they agreed to honour the comparison site price so I renewed. I explained this to the Hastings rep and he said ' I dont think so' and put me on hold while he checked it out. Some short time during this the line went dead so I waited for them to contact me. They never did so I assumed the rep confirmed what I'd said and just didn't respond.

Time slipped by quickly and i recieved a renewal notice for the car from Hastings last week stating they would auto renew the policy using my card details used last year. I phoned them to stop that happening and explained i had cancelled on the 20/07/19 for which they confirmed it was on their records I had so they would backdate my premium refund from that date. They asked for proof of sale for which I supplied but now they say they cannot refund me because the proof of sale is conflicting. This is because I had a private plate on the car which I took off for retention and put the original plate back on. This was all done with the new owners approval as the car was being dry stored. It was all done to tie into the sale date.

To me this is just an excuse to keep the premium and now they're not responding to me when they say they will. What is the best course of action now, do I go to a solicitor and let them advise me or is there an easier route ?

Thankyou
Paul

SonOf

do I go to a solicitor

That is unnecessary and expensive.

or is there an easier route ?

You send them a complaint. They have a link on their website. It says:
We're sorry if we haven't given you the service you were expecting. Please call us on 0333 321 9677 or tell us about your complaint online so we can try and make things right.

If you'd prefer, you can write to:
Customer Relations Department,
Hastings Direct,
Conquest House,
Collington Avenue,
Bexhill-on-Sea,
East Sussex,
TN39 3LW

oscarward

SonOf wrote: »

That is unnecessary and expensive.



You send them a complaint. They have a link on their website. It says:
We're sorry if we haven't given you the service you were expecting. Please call us on 0333 321 9677 or tell us about your complaint online so we can try and make things right.

If you'd prefer, you can write to:
Customer Relations Department,
Hastings Direct,
Conquest House,
Collington Avenue,
Bexhill-on-Sea,
East Sussex,
TN39 3LW

and if you're still not happy or they reject complaint escalate to finacial ombudsman. it's free and they have teeth that work

WhiteyCantley

I wasnt sure about making a complaint to them due to their lack of willingness up to now but I will go that route first then escalate if I get nowhere.
Thanks for your help