Lloyds Home Insurance cancelled but they kept taking the contents insurance

redhotsalsa

I need help.

Recently my mother complained she had a lot of outgoings so wanted me to check her bank statements. I found a load of charity and insurance she wanted cancelling; however we also discovered 2 direct debits she had in fact already contacted the companies to cancel some 3 years ago.One was personal insurance, and she has decided to let that one go as she can't be sure they received her letter confirming the cancellation after phoning them.

The second was Lloyds home insurance. She called to see if they could do anything better as she had been requoted and wasn't happy. She wasn't happy with the amount so asked them to cancel the policy as she was going to move company. she took the persons name and the date - which oddly she still has a note of. When she saw the insurance was still being taken she did say to me it was a lower amount which had confused her a lot. She called and was told she only cancelled the buildings insurance and not the contents insurance which had continued to run on without notification for several years. She stated she had made it clear it was the whole policy she was cancelling.

Lloyds insist she has to claim back 50% from them and 50% from the new company. The new company insists because she has not made any claims Lloyds should refund the full amount. Lloyds disagree and as an elderly person she is vulnerable and very stressed. What is the law? What can I advise her to do and which company is correct. i wouldn't mind but Lloyds did exactly the same to me about 8 years ago. I wrote it off as it was too complicated to deal with. but this is a lot of money and she needs it.

lincroft1710

I have Lloyds Buildings Ins and Lloyds Contents Ins and they are different policies, so Lloyds may be correct in saying only one policy was cancelled.

Regarding the law, the offer of a partial refund by Lloyds could be seen as goodwill because it appears your mother did not in fact cancel the policy. Also as Lloyds send out renewal notices every year, your mother should have seen these and taken action if not required.

[Deleted User]

redhotsalsa wrote: »

I as an elderly person she is vulnerable

Be aware that, unless she can no longer look after her own every day needs she is not the medical definition of "vulnerable" which must be diagnosed by a medical professional. If she is, however, then a Power Of Attorney may be an appropriate option for you and/or other realatives.

As to the insurance, as Lincroft says above Lloyds offer is indeed goodwill only and they are under no obligation to refund anything. You found this out yourself eight years ago. Writing down a Lloyds call centre operator's name and a date is NOT evidence of what was said or, indeed, what was cancelled during that telephone conversation.

In your position, I'd take the 50% offer as Lloyds are likely to withdraw it completely if you pursue this further. Lloyds will be able to show that yearly renewal notices were sent to your mother whether she still has them or not and FOS will accept this...
You may wish to appeal to the other insurance provider, however...