Car insurance problems

JohnBoy666

Just need a bit of advice... I was renewing my car insurance end of August/beginning of september.Paid the deposit and gave my bank details for direct debit,all done over the phone.Gave them all my contact details..2 phone numbers,email etc.
7 days later,still no policy,no phone calls or emails...I thought as i hadn't heard from them that i'd failed a credit check or something,so i just did it again,with a different insurer.Loads of contact from them,got my policy,e-signed everything online,direct debit got setup..All was good.
A few days later,a direct debit appeared from the original insurers!Which i cancelled.Then,i start getting contact from them..They sent a credit agreement which i just binned,started getting text messages,phone calls etc.
Upshot is..They say they've cancelled my insurance,which as far as i'm concerned i never even had,and they're saying that i owe them £183 in line with their terms and conditions(nothing has been signed for by me with them)Now today,they've sent me their credit agreement to sign and return!
Fair enough if i have to pay the £183,but if i haven't signed physically or e-signed anything with them.is it right that i have to pay it?
Again,it's no problem if i do have to pay,i just want to know if they're just trying it on... Thank you.

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth

JohnBoy666 wrote: »

Just need a bit of advice... I was renewing my car insurance end of August/beginning of september.Paid the deposit and gave my bank details for direct debit,all done over the phone.Gave them all my contact details..2 phone numbers,email etc.
7 days later,still no policy,no phone calls or emails...I thought as i hadn't heard from them that i'd failed a credit check or something,so i just did it again,with a different insurer.Loads of contact from them,got my policy,e-signed everything online,direct debit got setup..All was good.
A few days later,a direct debit appeared from the original insurers!Which i cancelled.Then,i start getting contact from them..They sent a credit agreement which i just binned,started getting text messages,phone calls etc.
Upshot is..They say they've cancelled my insurance,which as far as i'm concerned i never even had,and they're saying that i owe them £183 in line with their terms and conditions(nothing has been signed for by me with them)Now today,they've sent me their credit agreement to sign and return!
Fair enough if i have to pay the £183,but if i haven't signed physically or e-signed anything with them.is it right that i have to pay it?
Again,it's no problem if i do have to pay,i just want to know if they're just trying it on... Thank you.

Insurance is normally on auto renewal as this prevents you from not being covered. Cancelling a Direct Debit does not cancel the agreement in force with your current provider.

As for your new provider, these days mine is done on line with no need to send forms or paperwork. If you are doing this way these days, I would expect delays and problems!

forgotmyname

You don't need to sign anything to form a contract.

You purchased it over the phone and agreed to the terms.

You may want to inform your new insurer of the cancelled policy and the fact any no claims you quoted was in use on another policy.


Puzzled as to why someone would take out another policy with another company instead of making a phone call to see why you had received nothing?

Aretnap

There's nothing magic about signatures. You enter a contract when you signal the fact that you accept its terms and agree to be bound by then. You can signal that by signing documents, with a firm handshake, by reading out your bank details over the phone, or by ticking a box on a website. There are a handful of types of contact where the law does specifically call for signatures (eg land sales), but they are very much the exception, not the rule.

So yes you entered a contract by buying the policy over the phone, and cancelling the payment didn't nullify the contract, it just put you in breach of it. You need to sort this out amicably with the insurer if you can, because as things stand you have a cancelled policy to declare to future insurers, which will be a bigger problem going forwards than the cancellation fee.

angrycrow

Next time if you are concerned your new policy has not been set up go to the Askmid site which will confirm if your car is insured.

DCFC79

As for receiving no policy from the first insurer are you sure it wasnt emailed to you ?


Why on earth did you not ring the first insurer ?
Could have saved yourself some money.
Oh and cancelling a DD doesn't cancel the contract.

MovingForwards

Or phone the original company.