Caught by auto-renewal -Dual Insurance for same car

123HuggyBear

There is another post on here https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5160968/caught-by-auto-renewal-accidentally-insured-twice which i wanted to add to but as it is a few years old, I couldn't reply to it so here's my one separately.  It's here solely to provide advice for anyone who finds themselves in a similar position.

Got 2 auto renewals on my credit card statement for the same car this year. I was expecting one from Aviva, but the Sheila's Wheels emails had been going into spam.  Last year (Feb 22) I had moved from Sheila's Wheels to Aviva however even though i was sure i had cancelled the SW policy, it had auto renewed. I missed it!!!

Both charged to my credit card in Feb 22 and i didn't notice. I know, i know. How could i miss an extra £500 on my statement. My heart sunk when i realised this over a year later and i was now in a new car insurance year. 

I called Sheila's Wheels and i can honestly say it was the most pain free process I've ever had with an insurance company.  They refunded me for this years auto renewal while I was on the phone and  then said it's quite a common issue which they resolve by a dual insurance agreement between companies.  They said they would have had to pay out half each if I had made a claim in the period so they have a gentleman's agreement to refund half of their policy premium each. Straight away they authorised a 50% refund for the previous year.

I contacted Aviva and after initially being told to get lost on the chat thing, and there not being any telephone number to call, i tried a direct message on Twitter.  To my amazement, the person was up to speed with dual insurance and within 2 days 50% of their premium was authorised for refund too.

Noticed my error last Friday. Both payments refunded by Wednesday.  Neither company asked me to prove anything or send any documents so I guess they were able to verify it on some giant insurance database.

Apparently it's very common with house insurance too and probably less noticeable on a credit card statement.

Just wanted to put this out there to help anyone in the future as I could find very little.

gbhxu

Auto renewal should not be allowed.
Seems like a campaign for Martin

DullGreyGuy

gbhxu said:

Auto renewal should not be allowed.
Seems like a campaign for Martin

Autorenewal has massively driven down the number of people that drive uninsured because they've forgotten when their renewal date is... likewise people sustaining losses at home and finding their uninsured as their policy lapsed. 

The regulator actively supports it for the above reasons and its a hiding to nowhere to try and campaign to ban it... maybe make it easier to decline the renewal quote but thats as far as you'll get. 

dunstonh

gbhxu said:

Auto renewal should not be allowed.
Seems like a campaign for Martin

Auto-renewal is highly beneficial and suits the majority of people.

Martin doesn't need to campaign for the minority of silly people that don't read their renewal letters.

diystarter7

dunstonh said:

gbhxu said:

Auto renewal should not be allowed.
Seems like a campaign for Martin

Auto-renewal is highly beneficial and suits the majority of people.

Martin doesn't need to campaign for the minority of silly people that don't read their renewal letters.

Hi

Auto-renewal does not work if there is o money in the bank i the scenarios you gave, just say

However, you make a valid point about this and those that want it, want it

However, auto-renew is never for me as often you get better deals elsewhere

When i buy insurance, even though we loads of moey in our current acount, i still trble check they have taken the money as bank numbers, debit card/cc numbers can get mixed up


Thanks

diystarter7

ps - then i demand hard copies of the insurance papers - works for me

DullGreyGuy

diystarter7 said:
Auto-renewal does not work if there is o money in the bank i the scenarios you gave, just say

However, you make a valid point about this and those that want it, want it

However, auto-renew is never for me as often you get better deals elsewhere

When i buy insurance, even though we loads of moey in our current acount, i still trble check they have taken the money as bank numbers, debit card/cc numbers can get mixed up

Define "work" @diystarter7?

The policy renews first and then payment is collected second. If there is no funds then the payment bounces and so you have a policy and a debt. If you dont pay for the policy it will then get cancelled for non-payment and you have to declare that to all future insurers. 

As always, people mistake non-payment for cancellation. Your boss cant say he's let you go simply by stopping your wages nor can you cancel a service by just not paying unless the terms explicitly state so. 

diystarter7

so when is the "payment collected"?

@DullGreyGuy

DullGreyGuy

diystarter7 said:

so when is the "payment collected"?

@DullGreyGuy

Each company will have its own IT systems and processes but for the insurers and intermediaries I've worked for its immediately after renewal

diystarter7

DullGreyGuy said:

diystarter7 said:

so when is the "payment collected"?

@DullGreyGuy

Each company will have its own IT systems and processes but for the insurers and intermediaries I've worked for its immediately after renewal

So what happens if payment cant be collected because no money in the bank or the person/s have changed their cc/debit cards that were on the system, what happen then?

Are you saying in the scenrios I given you and you disagreed with the auto-renewal will work and if so, how long?

My point is clear, an autorenewal is guranteed to to reisure you as you stated but as I stated, Therefore, the best policy is, check your payments etc are up to date just like I do and therefore auto renew does not work in all cases as I initially stated

DullGreyGuy

diystarter7 said:
So what happens if payment cant be collected because no money in the bank or the person/s have changed their cc/debit cards that were on the system, what happen then?

Are you saying in the scenrios I given you and you disagreed with the auto-renewal will work and if so, how long?

My point is clear, an autorenewal is guranteed to to reisure you as you stated but as I stated, Therefore, the best policy is, check your payments etc are up to date just like I do and therefore auto renew does not work in all cases as I initially stated

Then it goes down the bad debt route in the same way as any other policy where payment fails, bounces, chargeback etc. 

As to changing your card, it depends what you mean by this, all the major card networks operate a card updater service for those using CPAs and so if you for example lose your card or have fraud on it and the number is changed for that purpose then the merchant will be given the new number to bill going forward. If you mean you ditch your Barclaycard in exchange for an AmEx then the payment will fail. 

PS. its not to "reinsure" you... reinsurance is a type of insurance that insurers buy on the policies they sell. I sell you a policy that covers you up to unlimited for bodily injury on your car insurance. I then by a XL treaty that reimburses me for any single claim over £10m or a Stop Loss that reimburses me for the aggregate of claims over £500m in a policy year. (for example)