Am I entitled to deposit back after cancelling Home Insurance with new insurer before it starts?

littlewren

I used a comparison site on Saturday evening to find home insurance, found one with Grove & Dean which I thought suited my needs and took it out online.  The £21 deposit appeared (pending) as soon as I'd completed the policy.  Only then did I go down their information list to see that they use Broker Direct for the insurance.  I'd never heard of them so did a search, which took me to Trust Pilot and some of the reviews were awful, saying they didn't settle claims etc.  I then spoke to a neighbour who had also had problems with them, so I decided to cancel.  Being Saturday and after hours I of course couldn't make contact with them so I had to wait until this morning.  There was no problem cancelling and I told them why, they said they would not be refunding the £21 as they had to keep that for their fees.  I told them I understood that sometimes the fee is waived as it's the cooling off period - and of course in my case I couldn't contact them any sooner as it was the weekend, but it was less than 48 hours and the policy wouldn't have started until the 11th August.  They were insistent that they had to keep the £21.  Searching on Google today it seems that you can insist on them not keeping the initial fee.  Can anyone help with this plse?  I know there is mention of the financial ombudsman too but if I can sort it another way - or if it's not possible - then I'd rather take that route as I have a lot going on at the moment.  Many thanks in advance.

Bradden

Wjhat did the terms say when signing up about cancellations?

dunstonh

Am I entitled to deposit back after cancelling Home Insurance with new insurer before it starts?

They should not charge anything in respect of the premium paid but are allowed to charge a cancellation fee as per their published terms.

I'd never heard of them so did a search, which took me to Trust Pilot and some of the reviews were awful, saying they didn't settle claims etc.

Trustpilot is not a good way to look at a provider's quality or product range.  Generally, people post negatively with insurers and rarely positively unless its  firm that tries to get people to do reviews at point of purchase rather than at point of claim.    Good reviews at point of purchase are completely pointless and distort reality.

You don't know if people moaning about claims are doing so because the firm was in the wrong or whether they just didn't cover the items being claimed for (over 80% of contents claims come under accidental damage but most people choose not to include accidental damage for example.   Someone getting refused for that could post a negative review despite it being their own fault)

There was no problem cancelling and I told them why, they said they would not be refunding the £21 as they had to keep that for their fees.

If the £21 happens to match their cancellation charge then that makes sense.     Although it seems a bit of a coincidence unless they collect that amount on purpose for scenarios just like yours.

  I told them I understood that sometimes the fee is waived as it's the cooling off period - and of course in my case I couldn't contact them any sooner as it was the weekend, but it was less than 48 hours and the policy wouldn't have started until the 11th August.  They were insistent that they had to keep the £21.

Your understanding is not quite correct.  They can only charge a premium for time on risk.  Plus their published cancellation charge.   If the policy was forward-dated to start later in the month, then the premium would be zero but they could still charge their published cancellation charge.

So, what is their published cancellation charge?

littlewren

Bradden said:

Wjhat did the terms say when signing up about cancellations?

I must admit I didn't see anything about cancellation fees.  As I did it through a comparison website, I was taken straight to Grove & Dean to make payment.

littlewren

dunstonh said:

Am I entitled to deposit back after cancelling Home Insurance with new insurer before it starts?

They should not charge anything in respect of the premium paid but are allowed to charge a cancellation fee as per their published terms.

I'd never heard of them so did a search, which took me to Trust Pilot and some of the reviews were awful, saying they didn't settle claims etc.

Trustpilot is not a good way to look at a provider's quality or product range.  Generally, people post negatively with insurers and rarely positively unless its  firm that tries to get people to do reviews at point of purchase rather than at point of claim.    Good reviews at point of purchase are completely pointless and distort reality.

You don't know if people moaning about claims are doing so because the firm was in the wrong or whether they just didn't cover the items being claimed for (over 80% of contents claims come under accidental damage but most people choose not to include accidental damage for example.   Someone getting refused for that could post a negative review despite it being their own fault)

There was no problem cancelling and I told them why, they said they would not be refunding the £21 as they had to keep that for their fees.

If the £21 happens to match their cancellation charge then that makes sense.     Although it seems a bit of a coincidence unless they collect that amount on purpose for scenarios just like yours.

  I told them I understood that sometimes the fee is waived as it's the cooling off period - and of course in my case I couldn't contact them any sooner as it was the weekend, but it was less than 48 hours and the policy wouldn't have started until the 11th August.  They were insistent that they had to keep the £21.

Your understanding is not quite correct.  They can only charge a premium for time on risk.  Plus their published cancellation charge.   If the policy was forward-dated to start later in the month, then the premium would be zero but they could still charge their published cancellation charge.

So, what is their published cancellation charge?

I didn't see what their cancellation charge was, but I assumed that as the policy hadn't started and they wouldn't arrange the documents until they had spoken to me for security that they wouldn't have done any work.

littlewren

Well, result!

I've just used Grove & Dean's online chat, not holding out much hope.  I explained the situation and I received an answer from them saying the money will be refunded to me within 2/3 days!

Thank you for your help 

dunstonh

Good result.  However, for future reference, the comparison site normally gives cancellation terms before you sign up or on the actual sign up page if it takes you to the provider.  With so much on the screen at times, it is easy to miss it but keep an eye out in future.