Mistake on policy when purchasing a car 6 years ago .

angrycrow

I would pay under protest to stop them cancelling the policy. Then send in a formal written complaint about their poor practice of holding you to ransom about something which has no material effect on the policy. 

If they don't respond in your favour or within 8 weeks take it to the financial ombudsman service. The fee to the insurer for FOS to review the case will be more than the admin fee even if FOS don't find in your favour. If nothing else it might make you feel a little better. 

homi

Thanks for all the comments.

After spending an hour on the phone this morning, they said that I would not incur the charge if the changes did not impact the premium price, the put in July instead of June and they said the price has gone up £8.

When I asked is this due to the changes or them getting a new quote, they said that it the rely on " Live " prices so the increase may not be due to the change but because their prices have gone up or I had bought from a comparison website.

They gave me 4 options 

Pay today £38
7 Days to decide then the £38 taken automatically from the card I made to purchase the policy
Cancel the policy - £48 
Get a new quote from them pay the additional £8 increase in premium plus the £48 cancellation fee so would be more than the adjustment fee.

Grey_Critic

How long have you spent on this since you were first informed. How much is your time worth?

I quote a minimum charge of £30 hour and 3 hours minimum. After that it doubles.

Just pay and put it down to experience.

ontheroad1970

You have no choice but to pay really.  You have to be wary of insurance companies that charge the lowest price - they are often in real terms not the cheapest.

Gycraig

Bloody hell I always just guess roughly when I answer that question, always assumed “near enough” would be good enough, that’s crazy 

homi

Gycraig said:

Bloody hell I always just guess roughly when I answer that question, always assumed “near enough” would be good enough, that’s crazy 

So did I, I put a deposit on June and paid it off in July but the log book shows.

The worrying thing is, if you contact your insurer to change it they will charge and if you don't and are in an accident, they may void the policy which will cost you a lot more.

I did ask if there was any other issues with the policy as there was only one charge for multiple changes and it was only then they questioned other things - guessing 2 months down the line they would phone up again and rinse me for another £38 . 

 

homi

ontheroad1970 said:

It's not Hastings, is it?  You know the ones advertising about simplicity?

Good guess, it was. 

400ixl

homi said:

The worrying thing is, if you contact your insurer to change it they will charge and if you don't and are in an accident, they may void the policy which will cost you a lot more.
 

They cannot use this as a reason to not pay out any claim as it has no relevance.

Been a few instances reported of similar with Hastings recently, they are clearly trying to get their profits up at the moment and one to avoid.

ontheroad1970

homi said:

ontheroad1970 said:

It's not Hastings, is it?  You know the ones advertising about simplicity?

Good guess, it was. 

They have form for it.  Plenty of reported cases of them being bar stewards to deal with on this forum alone, which makes me smile ruefully at their ads.  

homi

400ixl said:

homi said:

The worrying thing is, if you contact your insurer to change it they will charge and if you don't and are in an accident, they may void the policy which will cost you a lot more.
 

They cannot use this as a reason to not pay out any claim as it has no relevance.

Been a few instances reported of similar with Hastings recently, they are clearly trying to get their profits up at the moment and one to avoid.

The person I spoke to on the phone who said that they would take the " false" declaration into account if there was an accident, so was this incorrect?

They took the £38 charge this morning by direct debit.