Chased by Ardent debt collectors over car insurance

Huwphill

Hi all,

last year I took out a multi car policy with Diamond insurance and I paid for 12 months up front. I have recently had a letter explaining that they tried to debit £1500 for the coming here but were unable to. I didn't think too much about it until they sent me a letter saying my insurance had been cancelled but I owed them £150 for the cover before cancellation . I didn't accept a renewal and I didn't want it. I am now being chased by Ardent, a debt recovery outfit for the money and their expenses. They are being very persistent. I just wondered if anyone could advise me over this please? Is it a legitimate debt that I have to pay? Even though I did not request another years cover?  Apparently they sent an email saying that I didn't have to do anything if I wanted to renew but it was on an old email address that I never use and had to trawl through to find anything from them.

Thanks in advance

Huwphill

DullGreyGuy

1) Yes it is a legitimate debt

2) You need to be advising your current insurers that you've had a policy cancelled for non-payment (now and forever more)

dunstonh

 I didn't accept a renewal and I didn't want it.

What did the renewal letter say?
If it says it will automatically renew then you need to tell them that you are not accepting the renewal.  You cannot just ignore it and hope it goes away.

 I am now being chased by Ardent, a debt recovery outfit for the money and their expenses. They are being very persistent.

When you owe people or companies money and refuse to pay it, then it is normal for the tone to become more persistent.

Is it a legitimate debt that I have to pay? 

If you entered into the renewal then yes it is.

 Even though I did not request another years cover?  

But did the renewal notice tell you that you need to notify them if that is the case?

 Apparently they sent an email saying that I didn't have to do anything if I wanted to renew but it was on an old email address that I never use and had to trawl through to find anything from them.

Not their problem.    If you set up email as your primary method of communication (i.e. buying online) then they are required to use that email address unless you tell them it is not longer in use.    If you take an email address out of use, it is worth running it for a year or two after just so you ensure that anything using that old email address gets corrected.

 I just wondered if anyone could advise me over this please?

Have you informed your current insurers that you have had a previous insurer cancel the policy due to non-payment?
Have you approached the old insurer to tell them that you bought insurance elsewhere?  if so, what was their response?

TELLIT01

Also check the documentation of the policy you had with them.  There may be mention of autorenewal on that.

fimacdoodle

I had this with Admiral insurance. I’ve always trusted them, (taken over by a European firm last few years)  but now they’ve written into their contract with you that they will automatically renew the policy where it ends. I didn’t notice this. 

I went with somebody else on a better deal  like lots of other people do , so the same bunch of debt monkeys chasing that debt came after me. £150.

thankfully, I had emailed Admiral to inform them that I wasn’t renewing and was able to prove that to them. They claim they never got that email, but I had it in my sent inbox. 

Otherwise, it just seems like another moneymaking opportunity for insurance companies to keep your business, and charge you if you go elsewhere. 

Shameful imho……

Smithcom

fimacdoodle said:

I had this with Admiral insurance. I’ve always trusted them, (taken over by a European firm last few years)  but now they’ve written into their contract with you that they will automatically renew the policy where it ends. I didn’t notice this. 

I went with somebody else on a better deal  like lots of other people do , so the same bunch of debt monkeys chasing that debt came after me. £150.

thankfully, I had emailed Admiral to inform them that I wasn’t renewing and was able to prove that to them. They claim they never got that email, but I had it in my sent inbox. 

Otherwise, it just seems like another moneymaking opportunity for insurance companies to keep your business, and charge you if you go elsewhere. 

Shameful imho……

dunstonh comments above are spot-on.

The objective of the auto renewal is to:

- maintain continuity of business from the customer
- Avoid uninsured vehicles (many people forget to renew)

If you have arranged cover elsewhere, just send the previous insurer a copy and they will almost certainly give a full refund.

If you have forgotten to arrange cover elsewhere, the auto-renewal has done it's job

The aim is not to fleece customers who go elsewhere

In any event, the OP has bigger problems now, insofar as they have a potential lifetime disclosure obligation, re cancelled insurance. 

Mind you if your other posts are anything to go by, you probably don't worry too much about disclosures!!!

SC

mrboatymcboatface

fimacdoodle said:

I had this with Admiral insurance. I’ve always trusted them, (taken over by a European firm last few years)  but now they’ve written into their contract with you that they will automatically renew the policy where it ends. I didn’t notice this. 

I went with somebody else on a better deal  like lots of other people do , so the same bunch of debt monkeys chasing that debt came after me. £150.

thankfully, I had emailed Admiral to inform them that I wasn’t renewing and was able to prove that to them. They claim they never got that email, but I had it in my sent inbox. 

Otherwise, it just seems like another moneymaking opportunity for insurance companies to keep your business, and charge you if you go elsewhere. 

Shameful imho……

I had a similar issue, which was dumbfounding. It was with Admiral. I had an email saying that they couldn't get payment from my renewal of £731, previous year it was £583. So, I thought that's odd payment details hadn't changed and were enough cash in the bank. Wasn't happy with the price so I phoned and got a discount and gave my card details for payment. I get an email saying my policy had been renewed with the new £620 price. So, happy days I thought. I then got an email saying they couldn't get payment for the £731. I assumed this was the old price and that they had made a mistake, so I ignored it (should have checked with them). A few weeks later I got an email saying they were cancelling my policy and again I thought they were talking about cancelling the old price. I then get an email from Ardent saying I owed £103. The thing is I actually wanted to stay with Admiral. Phoned to say this has all been a big mistake and that the staff tooky payment details over the phone. But they kept saying I owe money, policy is cancelled and they treated me like a criminal. I was willing to pay the £620 the first time and on the call. However, the woman was so obnoxious, I decided to go elsewhere and pay their stupid debt. Now I'm annoyed I have to declare this. I should have double checked sure that's my fault, but they wouldn't even take blame for taking my payment details over the phone and not charging my card like they said they would.