Breakdown Cover - Question on position on refund

markhadley

Hi, new here, hope this is ok

I have a situation where I bought breakdown cover 6 weeks ago but due to a change in circumstances I decided to buy a new car and it comes with breakdown cover.  I therefore do not need the cover I purchased.  I called them to cancel and see if there was a refund (minus the 6 weeks)......  Turns out there is no point cancelling as I will not get any money back since its more than the 14 day cooling off.

Ok, fine, if thats the small print then fair enough

Then I thought about it......Im buying a brand new version of the car I already have.....So I have paid for a policy for the same make/model, but a 7yr old version and rather than brand new once.....the price is relevant to the age of the car.   I explained to customer services that I now have a policy which is not priced correctly for the car it covers, so I said that whilst I understand I cannot cancel the policy and get a refund, can I not get the difference in price relative to the new vehicle?  I was told there was nothing they could do.

Its not about the money, more about the principle here.........is there any reason for me to push them to refund the difference in policy cost relative to the new car?  is there any law or standards by which they should be operating within that I need to reference?

Thanks

Sandtree

Is the policy a vehicle cover or personal cover based one?

Assuming its a vehicle based policy have you actually asked them to transfer it onto the new car? Depending on the admin fees and the impact of vehicle age it may trigger a return premium or may be an additional premium

markhadley

Its a vehicle based.  Its slightly complicated - at the moment the policy is doing nothing because I have a private plate that is being registered onto my new car from my old one......at the moment the registration is not in use, but it will switch soon to the new car, so I will have to call them when I get the new car and tell them to do a vehicle lookup on the same registration and the details will refresh on the system.

I was expecting a return premium as you say...... I was told the underwriters will look at the make/model/age of the car, if the make/model remain the same and the age reduces by 7years I expect a return (minus admin fees) but they said not, nothing they can do.

I wondered if this was right, either legally or through regulations.

user1977

The value of the car doesn't make that much difference to the risk - repairs will cost the same (until you reach the respective write-off values), and more of it is probably covering damage to other vehicles/people, where the age of your car obviously doesn't affect things. Have you actually checked the difference in premiums if you were starting new policies? It may well be no more than the admin fee for a variation.

markhadley

This is recovery, not car insurance.....I expect a new car to breakdown less than a 7yr old one.... but good point about checking the premium, will do that

markhadley

yeah, its more than 1/3 cheaper...... not a lot of money to be honest but its the principle!

AdrianC

Let's put this all into context. How much was the annual premium for the breakdown cover...?

Biggus_Dickus

My son has just taken ‘vehicle’ breakdown cover out on his Vauxhall GTC with RescueMyCar;

...Homestart/Roadside assistance/Local & National assistance/recovery : £25.99...(no ‘Lost key’ cover in that price though...’key cover’ adds another £20)

He reckons it’s a cracking deal;....he might change his mind if he ever needs to call them out though...in December...at night...when it’s snowing...and 6hrs later he’s still waiting! 😁😁

 

lisyloo

markhadley said:

yeah, its more than 1/3 cheaper...... not a lot of money to be honest but its the principle!

What does your contract say about cancellation?
What does it say about amending the vehicle?

The principle is that you agreed to a contract.

Ectophile

No breakdown policy I have had over the years has had a premium dependent on the age of the car.

Have you compared the policy you have with the one that came with the car? Maybe your one is better.

markhadley

Thanks for the comments.  Im really not having a big moan, I know the small print says I cant cancel and as I said, thats absolutely fair enough, but whats interesting is that I seem to have found a grey area..... I paid £48 for breakdown cover for a 7yr old car, the company price the policy based on the age of the vehicle and other factors - they confirmed this to me -  I bought a brand new version of the same car (Make/Model identical) and cover would now be £30 - the £18 is neither here nor there - I was simply curious as to whether they should refund the difference in policy.....there is nothing in the small print to cover this situation that I can see.  I guess it's just down to their discretion really