Collingwood insurance trying to charge fee for not renewing? 15 July 2022 at 11:28AM in Motoring 11 replies 802 views

Pat38493

Hi - my daughter used a company called Collingwood for learner driver insurance.

She passed her test around the time that the year of insurance would have been finished.

As far as I am concerned, I assumed that like any other car insurance, if I don't need the insurance any more, I just don't pay to renew it - job done.

However this Collingwood keep calling her stating that she has to pay them £25 because she passed her test (and obviously taken insurance with another company) and therefore it costs £25 to "cancel" the insurance.

This seems crazy to me but is this a valid business practice? 

tightauldgit

I think you need to be clear on what is being asked - are they asking for an admin fee to cancel the insurance while it is still running (in which case you might need to look at the T&Cs and see if there is such a thing mentioned) or has the insurance expired and they are charging a fee because you didn't renew? 

If the latter then that seems wrong, did it auto-renew by any chance and now you are having to cancel it?

If your insurance expired at the end of it's cover period then your relationship with that company is done.

Pat38493

tightauldgit said:

I think you need to be clear on what is being asked - are they asking for an admin fee to cancel the insurance while it is still running (in which case you might need to look at the T&Cs and see if there is such a thing mentioned) or has the insurance expired and they are charging a fee because you didn't renew? 

If the latter then that seems wrong, did it auto-renew by any chance and now you are having to cancel it?

If your insurance expired at the end of it's cover period then your relationship with that company is done.

I think they are saying that because she passed her test before the policy was finished, then she is obliged in the T&C to cancel the policy and therefore there is an admin fee.  I have little doubt that if I check the T&C it will be in there that they can do this - it just seemed like a sharp practice to me as I've never encountered this before with a car insurance company that they try to charge me money because I don't need the policy anymore.

Sandtree

Pat38493 said:

 if I don't need the insurance any more, I just don't pay to renew it - job done.

No, that results in your policy being cancelled for non-payment or fraud (no intent to pay). 

Its not clear if you are really saying the fee was to cancel the policy on the day she passed as they dont cover people with a full driving license or if its renewed because you ignored it and so its a cancellation of the new policy.

The main thing you want to avoid is them voiding her policy for non-payment as that has to be declared for life. 

Herzlos

As soon as she passed, her learner insurance became invalid. 
You presumably didn't upgrade her policy to a full one, so they are charging you a cancellation fee for ceasing the now invalid policy. 

That this happened at the end of the policy is irrelevant. It's in the contract someone agreed to, so just pay it.

If you don't, it could impact her insurance prospects forever and debt collection will drive the cost through the roof

tightauldgit

Pat38493 said:

tightauldgit said:

I think you need to be clear on what is being asked - are they asking for an admin fee to cancel the insurance while it is still running (in which case you might need to look at the T&Cs and see if there is such a thing mentioned) or has the insurance expired and they are charging a fee because you didn't renew? 

If the latter then that seems wrong, did it auto-renew by any chance and now you are having to cancel it?

If your insurance expired at the end of it's cover period then your relationship with that company is done.

I think they are saying that because she passed her test before the policy was finished, then she is obliged in the T&C to cancel the policy and therefore there is an admin fee.  I have little doubt that if I check the T&C it will be in there that they can do this - it just seemed like a sharp practice to me as I've never encountered this before with a car insurance company that they try to charge me money because I don't need the policy anymore.

Sounds like you should just pay the £25 then - it's a change of circumstances and if it's in the T&Cs then you probably owe it. 

Admin fees for making changes on your insurance are not unusual.

lemondrops69

Learner insurance has to be cancelled once the person passes their test. The admin fee will be in the T&C's, just because you didnt read them doesnt mean its sharp practice it just means you never read the T&C's 

squeaky19

Given that every learner driver would be expected to pass in the 12 month period how is it not "sharp practice" to bury in the T's and C's that "we will charge you £35 for an entirely foreseeable event", and if it happens after month 8 you will get no refund on the unused insurance?

Car_54

squeaky19 said:

Given that every learner driver would be expected to pass in the 12 month period how is it not "sharp practice" to bury in the T's and C's that "we will charge you £35 for an entirely foreseeable event", and if it happens after month 8 you will get no refund on the unused insurance?

The pass rate for the driving test has consistently been around 46% for many years, so statistically a learner is "expected" to fail, not pass. The same applies if he/she manages to fit in a second test within the policy year.

Flight3287462

squeaky19 said:

Given that every learner driver would be expected to pass in the 12 month period how is it not "sharp practice" to bury in the T's and C's that "we will charge you £35 for an entirely foreseeable event", and if it happens after month 8 you will get no refund on the unused insurance?

Why are you spamming lots of old threads.  I knew what we were signing up to when I took my daughters policy out.  She passed her test 5 months (3 of which there were no tests due to Covid and getting a date was nigh on impossible).

DullGreyGuy

squeaky19 said:

Given that every learner driver would be expected to pass in the 12 month period how is it not "sharp practice" to bury in the T's and C's that "we will charge you £35 for an entirely foreseeable event", and if it happens after month 8 you will get no refund on the unused insurance?

You should talk to my aunt then who took 25 years to pass her test if every learner driver passes within 12 months.

Is it their sharp practice or the buyer's ignorance? If you believe you will almost certainly need to cancel the policy mid term shouldnt you be thinking you need to check the cancellation terms before buying?? Its no different to if you are insuring your car that you'll be selling/not replacing in 6 months or booking a holiday which you think you may need to cancel... you check before you buy!