Car insurance Hastings cancellation - no refund

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Newbie
Hi
I can't find the category for this, sorry!
I cancelled my new policy with Hastings for my car 2 days after paying in full the annual amount. I received notification of my policy being cancelled on Aug 13th. My policy due date is Sept 5th. I have decided to renew with current provider as they made a better offer with more things included. Hastings says they won't return my payment (minus £20 admin) until Sept 5th apparently and quote from an operator "in case I change my mind and I want to reinstate my policy"! This is a payment of nearly £300 which I need for my current renewal policy with Churchill. Is this legal? This is my money and Hastings can't decide to retain and withhold my money for nearly a month surely??
Thank you,
I can't find the category for this, sorry!
I cancelled my new policy with Hastings for my car 2 days after paying in full the annual amount. I received notification of my policy being cancelled on Aug 13th. My policy due date is Sept 5th. I have decided to renew with current provider as they made a better offer with more things included. Hastings says they won't return my payment (minus £20 admin) until Sept 5th apparently and quote from an operator "in case I change my mind and I want to reinstate my policy"! This is a payment of nearly £300 which I need for my current renewal policy with Churchill. Is this legal? This is my money and Hastings can't decide to retain and withhold my money for nearly a month surely??
Thank you,
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I would phone Hastings and tell them that you cannot afford to pay for two lots of insurance and that you are entitled to cancel, free of charge, within the 14 day period after signing up. I had to phone them to negotiate my renewal with them last year and I found it far easier to phone them and say what I thought/wanted with my car insurance. They reduced the renewal price by £50 so I'm hoping for the same again this year, fingers crossed! I do think it's a cheek for them to charge a £20 admin fee too and I'd ask them for that back, given that the policy isn't even due to start until 5 Sept. It's always worth a try.
However in practice there is no simple and speedy way to enforce this right.
Insurers are highly regulated. You should call their customer complaint number 0333 999 8904 and hopefully speak to a better trained advisor than the previous one. Make sure to tell them that you know their obligations under CRA2015
https://www.cms-lawnow.com/ealerts/2015/10/consumer-rights-act--impact-on-the-insurance-market?cc_lang=en
Despite the main focus applying to retailers, the Act also applies to consumer insurance contracts and the insurance market should be aware of its impact...
Insurance is not expressly excluded under the Act, but the Act applies only to the extent that the service provided is not subject to separate existing legislation that provides for more extensive consumer rights than under the Act. As a result, the impact of the provisions on the supply of insurance services is likely to be limited given the extensive rights already set out in financial services legislation and the Financial Conduct Authority Rules.
As stated, and linked to in the other thread, the FCA also states that it shouldn't be unreasonably delayed however the back stop is 30 days not 14