MCE cancelled my insurance

topper19590

Hi looking for any help or advice on behalf of my son , a hard working lad who through no fault of his own had his car insurance cancelled by MCE after paying the deposit and 6 payments amounting to just under 2000 pound . The payments were made via a continuous payment request on his bank card , unfortunately this was compromised by online fraud ( HSBC ) resulting in initially a new card being issued then the cancellation of his account and a new one set up. He was assured his regular payment would still be made in the change over period. This didn’t happen and his 7th payment was missed ( there are only 8 ) he worked continuously over December and Jan on call outs and was unaware this payment had failed . On the 10 of this month he received an email stating the policy was cancelled, despite what MCE state he received no warnings or requests for payment , I believe him because had he been unable to pay it he’d have asked me to help which would not have been an issue . He is now left with an uninsured vehicle , has paid 80% of a policy that should have ran till May 2021 and MCE say all he can do is take a new policy out with them , they are both the credit supplier and insurer , not only that I feel they will pursue him for the final payment , I was under the impression companies were to be a bit more relaxed in their approach to financial issues at the minute ? any helpful advice would be gratefully accepted 

AdrianC

So how long did that failed payment go "unnoticed"?

If 7 payments were £2k, they must have been ~£300 each. That's not a figure that somebody of the kind of age to have a £2.5k premium is going to fail to notice, especially in the aftermath of a card fraud when anybody sane is watching their account like a hawk.

They will definitely have sent the notifications. If he failed to check his email spam folder, that's not the insurer's problem.

topper19590

AdrianC said:

So how long did that failed payment go "unnoticed"?

If 7 payments were £2k, they must have been ~£300 each. That's not a figure that somebody of the kind of age to have a £2.5k premium is going to fail to notice, especially in the aftermath of a card fraud when anybody sane is watching their account like a hawk.

They will definitely have sent the notifications. If he failed to check his email spam folder, that's not the insurer's problem.

Thanks that’s very helpful 

topper19590

Having searched a few forums and reviews re MCE this is a regular pattern , people having had no written notification of cancellations , my sons online banking was suspended as a result of a fraud which turns out was from USA , he was unable to go to his bank to check he works six days 12 hr shifts , no bank card , still waiting , I was hoping for any helpful advice not criticism of his banking methods but I suppose that what comes of forums 

AdrianC

You haven't answered when the failed payment should have left his account...

bartelbe

topper19590 said:

Having searched a few forums and reviews re MCE this is a regular pattern , people having had no written notification of cancellations , my sons online banking was suspended as a result of a fraud which turns out was from USA , he was unable to go to his bank to check he works six days 12 hr shifts , no bank card , still waiting , I was hoping for any helpful advice not criticism of his banking methods but I suppose that what comes of forums 

The problem is your excuses don't sound very plausible. Even if your son doesn't have online banking, doesn't he check his bank statements? Was he working 24 hours 7 days a week?

He might be able to go the financial ombudsman about the banks actions over the fraud or the lack of notice from the insurance company, assuming there was no notification of the cancellation of the policy. However that will take at least 5 months. The other options are contact a newspaper, if they are interested or try contacting the twitter feed/someone senior in either the insurance company or the bank.

However I am afraid that all of that might fail and son may have just learnt an expensive lesson about the importance of reading bank statements.

topper19590

HSBC insisted he attended his own branch to report the matter , action fraud weren’t interested , he works in York 6am 6pm and on call , his banks in Durham , my nephew also an hsbc customer was subject to a similar fraud whilst living in Spain , he had to travel to Edinburgh ( his branch ) to manage  and deal with the incident , he had no access to his account whatsoever once stopped and relied on his parents sending money via a top up cc until he was allowed to leave and return to U.K. there are obvious failings in HSBC’s  system re dealing with account fraud however, my point wasn’t to get into a debate about personal banking habits etc , it was to ask or find out if anyone had a similar experience regarding MCE  and how they dealt with it , or if there was anyway around it ,  criticising someone’s accounting ability or lack of it doesn’t help anybody really. 

DUTR

topper19590 said:

AdrianC said:

So how long did that failed payment go "unnoticed"?

If 7 payments were £2k, they must have been ~£300 each. That's not a figure that somebody of the kind of age to have a £2.5k premium is going to fail to notice, especially in the aftermath of a card fraud when anybody sane is watching their account like a hawk.

They will definitely have sent the notifications. If he failed to check his email spam folder, that's not the insurer's problem.

Thanks that’s very helpful 

As a reader, I do find it very helpful, I would have replied similarly , If his wages were £10 short, I'm sure he would notice, anyways no one is that busy, especially to get a parent to sort it out if they themselves are an adult, c'mon.

Sandtree

What has HSBC said about why they declined the payment after saying his regular payments would continued to be honoured? Whilst clearly your son should be monitoring his account closely following fraud I do think that HSBC have a part to play in this too as their advice appears to have been wrong.

AdrianC

I don't think we're going to find out when this missing payment was due... At a presumption, first payment was due on policy inception. We know that was May, but not when in the month.
8 payments due through the life of the policy. Monthly? Six were paid - June, July, August, September, October, November.
That would put the missing payment due December, and the OP said that the son was busy working during December.
Notification of cancellation received 10th January - was that around the expected date of the final, January payment...?

But, yes, the insurer are well within their rights to cancel for a missed payment.

No, I do not believe there is any minimum standard for notification or timescale that has to be adhered to - but I may be wrong.

Yes, if he chose to receive all policy documentation by email, then notification by email is perfectly appropriate.

No, they are not obliged to offer covid relief for an inability to pay, but that doesn't appear to be the issue here. Even at minimum wage, if he was working 72hr weeks, that's £464/wk for an 18-20yo, £590/wk for a 20-24yo, £627/wk for 25+. It's illegal for an under 18 to work more than 40hrs in a week, and I hope he's explicitly opted out of the working-time directive...
~£300 for a month's insurance premium would not be an unexpected, unbudgeted payment, 7 months into the policy.

I very much doubt any insurer will not be very explicit about the consequences of missing payments...
https://www.comparethemarket.com/car-insurance/content/missed-or-failed-payment-fees/

"What are the consequences of a missed or failed car insurance payment?

If you missed a payment or it fails to go through and you do nothing to rectify it, the consequences could be serious:

• At the very least, you could be charged late or failed payment fees. If you default on several payments you could end up paying more in administration costs
• Your insurance provider can cancel your policy on the grounds of non-payment. This means that your car is not insured, and you’re not insured to drive
• Missed payments are noted and can stay on your credit report for up to six years. This can bring down your credit score, which means you could have difficulty getting a loan, credit card or mortgage in the future
• Remember, if your policy is cancelled, whatever you do, don’t drive. It’s illegal and the penalties are high"

https://www.stepchange.org/debt-info/insurance-debts.aspx
"If you’ve fallen behind, you’ll normally be sent a default notice. This may happen very soon after you’ve missed a payment. The default notice will give you 14 days to either pay back the arrears or pay off the remainder of the agreement.  If you don’t do this within the time stated, your insurer will cancel your policy."

topper19590

Some outstanding comments on here , getting dad to help ? Have you tried ringing an insurance company recently, especially when you are supposed to be at work , I waited over an hour on three occasions to be passed around , told they had sent notifications but couldn’t prove same , I suppose the same as my son can’t prove he didn’t receive them , I still await the guaranteed call back requested on the 10th , being told by hsbc he had to attend his branch to confirm and set up new account, collect new card  , still waiting for that , only access to cash via personal attendance at bank with ID as he hasn’t yet a replacement card , assuming he had no money in account, wrong , was the account frozen then closed ?  , yes due to continuous fraudulent payments from his account Nov , Dec , the 2nd card being suspended on 16th , payment due 20th told it would be done assumed it was , it wasn’t , couldn’t access online banking as total new account to be set up , MCE no notification until cancellation, searching complaints on other forums re MCE this has happened before ,  no right minded person would lose over  1900 quid of a 2400 payment , but it appears you’ve pre judged my son and his obvious failings , thank you for your responses they’ve been enlightening