AXA Motor Insurance Ombudsman

Woollywhippet

Purchased motorcycle Insurance via RAC/AXA 

Jumblebumble

Woollywhippet said:

Purchased motorcycle Insurance via RAC/AXA on comparison site. An error had occurred with the purchase date because I edited a quote from another bike and accidentally missed correcting the purchase date, hence why a date was already selected, my fault totally. I was contacted by insurer a week later to tell me this and requested £298 in addition to the £220 I had paid. I challenged the amount because I believed it was excessive. I was told it was correct and that I had been given a discount for “””owning the bike longer uninsured”””. I disagreed with this and felt I had no option but to cancel. Immediately after this phone call i went back onto the comparison site and got quotes with the corrected purchase date. RAC/ AXA quoted me £267 for new policy, as you can see there’s a huge difference to the £220+£298=£518 that they had previously requested for the amended policy. I tried  to get redress through their complaints procedure and got nowhere. 
I complained to the ombudsman and he did not uphold my complaint that, I felt I had been unfairly discriminated against and that AXA tried to overcharge/ mislead me. Ombudsman refuses to list figures in his publication as listed above. He did include my refund figure from the refunded policy which was completely irrelevant to my complaint. The ombudsman’s publication makes it look like I was not happy with any additional premium, which is not true, but i would of  happily paid the difference between £220 and £267 at the time as it was my mistake. The ombudsman also said that there was no evidence to support my claim yet he acknowledged that double charges were in the additional premium requested and should not have been. He also stated that I should not have been charged a cancellation fee but none of these irregularities were acknowledged when I complained officially to AXA. This complaint is about what AXA tried to do and fortunately for me, I was savvy enough to know it was wrong. They tried to mislead and overcharge me and I could have paid this unwittingly, is this conduct acceptable? What do you think ?

It is perfectly reasonable for AXA to take the view that they do not want disorganised customers and to charge a higher premium for them.
What outcome do you want from AXA ?

Ditzy_Mitzy

To return to the matter in hand: AXA quoted one price for the insurance, based on erroneous information given by the OP.  The OP corrected AXA who, in response, increased the quote by an unreasonable amount.  OP elected not to purchase the policy and bought insurance elsewhere at a better price.  
Well done OP, you did precisely the right thing.  What nobody can understand, however, is why on earth you wish to complain about this.  Even the ombudsman doesn't get it.  You didn't buy the overpriced insurance: end of matter.  You owe AXA nothing, AXA owes you nothing.  AXA is a private company.  You are free to contract with them, or not, as you wish.  They lost your business so have been 'punished' already.  
As it stands this is equivalent to complaining to the bus company because you would have been hit by a bus if you had chosen to walk in front of it.  You didn't, ergo nothing happened. 

tripled

Insurers often offer discounted rates through comparison sites to attract business. When they requoted you it was probably at their full rate. While it seems unfair, it is very fortunate they did not just cancel/void your insurance, as if they had, you would have found it very difficult and expensive to get insurance from any company in the future.

You've been through the ombudsman, who it seems has got you some of the cancellation fee back. This seems like a good result considering it was your mistake on the quote, however innocent (and trust me, plenty of people do these things deliberately to reduce their premium). Unless you want to risk the time and expense of taking them to court for the remainder of your cancellation fee, it's probably time to move on and take the small satisfaction of never giving them your business again.

dunstonh

It just shows how irregular an insurer can be when it comes to their pricing criteria and felt they treat me unfairly.

Nowadays, pricing is real time.  It can change multiple times in a day.   If you change a high risk underwriting question, they can not only change the pricing for the answer but also load it for concerns over your honesty.  If they are below target on business, they can drop the price to get volume and put it up again when they are back on track.  Or if they are taking on too much risk concentration in an area, they can put the price up to reduce the take up in those areas.         So, prices can move a lot.

It is not unfair. It is a commercial reality.