Esure renewal cancellation scam?

fest0r

Esure intentionally make it difficult to cancel a policy renewal and force you to contact them so I gave them a call. After they pried for info on who I went with and how much etc. they said there was a "glitch" that charged a premium of £25 for me to cancel the renewal.

This was supposedly a system error and the most it could be "discounted" to was £5.40 which would be taken today and refunded "later". I wasn't happy about this and suggested I just cancel the Direct Debit as my current policy was fully paid. I was told this won't stop the renewal and I might receive debt recovery letters.

After asking if someone else could take a look and being put on hold, I was told it could be cancelled with a "diary lapse request" where someone would end the renewal manually at some point. I was also not happy at this so after they spoke to their manager (on hold for 5 min) it seemed to be actioned immediately and the renewal was cancelled when I looked at my account. I had been on the phone for 30min at this point so I didn't ask, but why was this not done initially?

This might be a genuine glitch but I wonder how many people this affects and what percentage don't bother with chasing up a refund. It might be a profitable "glitch".

TLDR: esure tried to charge me for cancelling a renewal, is this a new scam?

Bradden

Did you cancel the renewal before the start date? I've never had a problem doing this previously.

dunstonh

Esure intentionally make it difficult to cancel a policy renewal and force you to contact them so I gave them a call. After they pried for info on who I went with and how much etc. they said there was a "glitch" that charged a premium of £25 for me to cancel the renewal.

Cancelling if you are already in the policy is allowed an admin charge but choosing not to renew is not a cancellation and should not be charged.

Sometimes, people have accidentally said cancel the policy rather than not renew the policy and that has led to incurring a charge, as well as finishing the policy early and leaving the person uncovered.

 I wasn't happy about this and suggested I just cancel the Direct Debit as my current policy was fully paid. I was told this won't stop the renewal and I might receive debt recovery letters.

That is correct.  Cancelling the method of payment does nothing other than cancel the method of payment. Another common mistake that leads to people incurring debt.

TLDR: esure tried to charge me for cancelling a renewal, is this a new scam?

It doesn't appear to be a scam (but then most threads on MSE that make accusations of a scam end up not being one).  
It is more likely a temporary system fault or training issue with a staff member as its not an issue I have had with esure before and no other reports of issues.

fest0r

Bradden said:

Did you cancel the renewal before the start date? I've never had a problem doing this previously.

It was 26 days before the renewal. I did ask if they were accidentally cancelling my current policy and they said no. I've also not had an issue in the past, but if prices are close, I will be going for companies that don't force me to call them.

TLDR: esure tried to charge me for cancelling a renewal, is this a new scam?

It doesn't appear to be a scam (but then most threads on MSE that make accusations of a scam end up not being one).  
It is more likely a temporary system fault or training issue with a staff member as its not an issue I have had with esure before and no other reports of issues.

They tried exiting and going back in several times, but the system still applied the charge even after speaking to their manager. I agree it's more likely to be a glitch and it was a question as opposed to an accusation. I would be certain it was a glitch if it had caused a £25 credit though

dunstonh

It was 26 days before the renewal. I did ask if they were accidentally cancelling my current policy and they said no. I've also not had an issue in the past, but if prices are close, I will be going for companies that don't force me to call them.

The fact that it was 26 days before may be the problem.   Especially where monthly payments are involved.  That is very early in the renewal cycle and it may not have been possible that early.

fest0r

dunstonh said:

It was 26 days before the renewal. I did ask if they were accidentally cancelling my current policy and they said no. I've also not had an issue in the past, but if prices are close, I will be going for companies that don't force me to call them.

The fact that it was 26 days before may be the problem.   Especially where monthly payments are involved.  That is very early in the renewal cycle and it may not have been possible that early.

It's possible, but that would be another failing in their system and quite annoying that it charges me £25 instead of letting me know I can't cancel at the moment. They were also able to cancel the renewal without a charge, eventually. My current policy is fully paid and they raised the renewal 4 days ago.

The company I moved to gave me the choice at sign up if I wanted auto renewal... a year and 26 days away from renewal. I can also change this at any time with the click of a button.

dunstonh

Not trying to make excuses for them.  Just trying to understand the potential reasons.

The problem with dealing with companies that price their product and set their service standards at the cheap end of the market is that you get what you pay for.

fest0r

dunstonh said:

Not trying to make excuses for them.  Just trying to understand the potential reasons.

The problem with dealing with companies that price their product and set their service standards at the cheap end of the market is that you get what you pay for.

You might not be consciously trying to, but it certainly feels like you keep attempting to put the onus on to me. You now seem to be suggesting I shouldn't have bought cheap insurance.

Esure were not the cheapest last year and were around 30% more expensive than the cheapest quotes/companies this year. If you're suggesting I need to spend over 30% more (or anything extra) to be allowed to cancel a renewal without issues then we will have to agree to differ.

dunstonh

You might not be consciously trying to, but it certainly feels like you keep attempting to put the onus on to me. You now seem to be suggesting I shouldn't have bought cheap insurance.

That is very facebook of you.  i.e. if you are not one thing then you must be the other.  No shades of grey.

fest0r

dunstonh said:

You might not be consciously trying to, but it certainly feels like you keep attempting to put the onus on to me. You now seem to be suggesting I shouldn't have bought cheap insurance.

That is very facebook of you.  i.e. if you are not one thing then you must be the other.  No shades of grey.

I don't use facebook or have knowledge of whatever bias you seem to have towards their users so maybe you can explain what you mean? It would be much more helpful than cryptic accusations that seem (ironically) related to clarity.