MCE cancelled my insurance

AdrianC

The insurer shouldn't even be talking to you, without your son's explicit permission on each call - or in writing to deal with you ongoing.

Was the payment a continuous card authority, or direct debit?
If DD, and the account was closed, when did he give them the number of the new account?
If CCA, and the card was replaced, when did he give them the number of the new card?

Remember, he bought a 12 month policy. He chose to then take out a credit product for it, taking the total price for policy plus credit to £2,400. He has repaid £1,900 of that credit so far. The remaining £500 was due in two payments - £250 each. When he took that credit out, his paperwork would have explained to him the consequences of not paying.

He missed the payment due 20/12.
The cover was stopped on 10/1, three weeks later.
Three weeks during which he didn't once wonder how the chaos surrounding his bank account was panning out...

We haven't prejudged your son - we only have the information you give us. We know nothing more about him or his situation.

Manxman_in_exile

Sandtree said:

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.

I think I agree with this.

If the OP's son has evidence that HSBC confirmed that authorised payments would go ahead, then I'd be complaining to HSBC and I'd want them to sort out the insurance cancellation with MCE.  (ie have the cancellation voided).

In fact, the more I think about it, whenever a bank customer is a victim of the sort of fraud which results in their account being closed or transferred, surely the bank has a duty to proactively liaise with them to ensure that critical genuine payments (like insurance premiums) continue without interruption?

That's assuming the OP has the full story from their son...

Ectophile

In his situation, I would be asking the insurance company why they did not send out a notice before cancelling the policy.  If he doesn't get a good answer, escalate it to a formal complaint.

Whenever I have had any problem with a policy, the insurance company always sent out such a notice, allowing me to sort out the problem before the policy was cancelled.

born_again

topper19590 said:

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 

Totally intrigued as to what type of fraud this was?
If it was card fraud, then stopping any that is via CPA is simple. Visa have a background system that stops them, It is standard practise when card fraud is using CPA to put a block on either that retailer or the new card details being available on Visa Account Updater.
Changing account is pointless, also no need to attend his own branch, any branch will do.
I think this must have been a different type of fraud where bank suspects a mule account.

HSBC have done nothing wrong, neither it would appear have MCE.

Of course, just why you son did not contact MCE given they have a contact us form on their website & are open Mon-Fri: 8.30 am - 8.00 pm Sat: 9 am - 5 pm Sun: Closed

topper19590

1, have permission to talk to the insurance co , 
2, the contact us facility is useless I am still waiting for them 
3 HSBC insisted he attended his branch to deal with matter 
4, He is still waiting for new card and account 
5 Try ringing MCE 
6 I have identified numerous others that over the December period have had similar issues with MCE and no notifications of cancellation some where MCE’s own website failed and no payment had been taken 
7 There terms state seven days notice must be given before the policy is cancelled , no notice was given
8 In one hour tonight I have identified four people who have experienced exactly the same issue and numerous more who have received 30 pound late payment charges for a failure from MCE to actually take payment 
I’ll not add anymore to this , I am aware of the online banking issues he has had , also the fact that yes in a perfect situation he should have made sure rather than assume the payment had been made , but we aren’t perfect , I for one rarely sit and check mine.
No doubt even my findings will be questioned but hey ho you get all sorts on forums I’d Sort advice rather than criticism and suspicion to the point of him being accused of being sparse with the truth . 
Thankyou it’s been enlightening 

topper19590

Ectophile said:

In his situation, I would be asking the insurance company why they did not send out a notice before cancelling the policy.  If he doesn't get a good answer, escalate it to a formal complaint.

Whenever I have had any problem with a policy, the insurance company always sent out such a notice, allowing me to sort out the problem before the policy was cancelled.

That is our next step , their customer services have so far ignored their own call back arrangements, live chat isnt , and waiting several hours on the phone to then be passed from one to another is the norm , no notice was given , I’ve identified this is a common issue with MCE and has been more so over the past month. I’ve now the email addresses of the company in various forms so I’ll bombard them then go to ombudsman , unfortunately it doesn’t help my son who will now have to start all over again . Cheers 

topper19590

AdrianC said:

The insurer shouldn't even be talking to you, without your son's explicit permission on each call - or in writing to deal with you ongoing.

Was the payment a continuous card authority, or direct debit?
If DD, and the account was closed, when did he give them the number of the new account?
If CCA, and the card was replaced, when did he give them the number of the new card?

Remember, he bought a 12 month policy. He chose to then take out a credit product for it, taking the total price for policy plus credit to £2,400. He has repaid £1,900 of that credit so far. The remaining £500 was due in two payments - £250 each. When he took that credit out, his paperwork would have explained to him the consequences of not paying.

He missed the payment due 20/12.
The cover was stopped on 10/1, three weeks later.
Three weeks during which he didn't once wonder how the chaos surrounding his bank account was panning out...

We haven't prejudged your son - we only have the information you give us. We know nothing more about him or his situation.

Your first paragraph sums it up regarding pre judging I’m afraid 

AdrianC

So your son has managed to be in contact with the insurer enough to give them permission to deal with you on his behalf, but not enough to proactively deal with the issues arising from his banking problems...?

I'm sure you would be checking your account in the aftermath of an account fraud. Especially where you know that there's non-trivial payments due out.

You keep saying no notice was given. I presume he deals with his policy by email? And he's checked all the spam folders for anything that could have been caught? Google changed their filtering around the start of the year, and I've had quite a few "false positives" trapped. Even if there's nothing there, that doesn't mean it wasn't sent - mail providers bin mail they think is egregious spam without telling either sender or recipient.

Jumblebumble

AdrianC said:

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

Are you aware of any cases where this has been ruled on by the ombudsman ?
Its just that I think MCE may well be considered to be in breach of their duty to treat customers fairly  by not writing and if I were the OP I would certainly be complaining to the ombudsman
I would be suggesting to the ombudsman that any competent IT support specialist will be able to confirm that just because an email was sent there is no guarantee it will be received.

topper19590

Jumblebumble said:

AdrianC said:

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

Are you aware of any cases where this has been ruled on by the ombudsman ?
Its just that I think MCE may well be considered to be in breach of their duty to treat customers fairly  by not writing and if I were the OP I would certainly be complaining to the ombudsman
I would be suggesting to the ombudsman that any competent IT support specialist will be able to confirm that just because an email was sent there is no guarantee it will be received.

It turns out MCE have the highest percentage of complaints found against them than any other insurer , it is alleged that their whole payments system failed over December resulting in a lot of people receiving charges for late payment , I have now been contacted by five individuals who have had their insurance cancelled in the same manner as my son , without notice , which is a breach of there own terms , I’m awaiting a response from them although they’re already a day over there promised response time. I’m sure we will eventually have to go to the ombudsman unfortunately this doesn’t help him with the cancellation, or others in the short term , yo tell him he was free to set up another policy and take a further deposit of him is simply outstanding.