Cooling off period

florence924

I purchased a car insurance policy from PBIS via the MoneySupermarket website two days ago. When the policy was emailed to me I read it and had second thoughts.  I cancelled it today but I find I’m still going to be charged a £35 cancellation fee even though I’m well within the fourteen day cooling off period and the policy doesn’t start until 7th June.  As PBIS are brokers they are allowed to do this apparently.  I think this should be made very clear on the website, where they are just listed alongside regular insurance companies.  I had assumed that the cooling off period applied to all money paid online.  Be warned!

TadleyBaggie

This is standard for just about all insurance companies, cooling off period doesn’t mean it’s free to cancel. 

Aretnap

The 14 day period is a statutory right to cancel, not a right to cancel for free. The insurer is entitled to make a reasonable charge to reflect the costs involved in setting up the policy, which can include a share of the cost of setting up the IT infrastructure and commissions paid to third parties (like MoneySupermarket), not just the salary of the particular staff member who answers the phone. 

Nearly all insurers will charge a fee for cancellation; it's not anything specific to PBIS or to brokers in general.

chrisw

You can usually read the policy document to check it's suitable before paying the premium and actually taking out the policy.

dunstonh

As PBIS are brokers they are allowed to do this apparently.

Its a myth that the cancellation rights period doesn't allow charges.  It does.

 I had assumed that the cooling off period applied to all money paid online. 

Assuming frequently leads to poor decision making.

  I think this should be made very clear on the website, where they are just listed alongside regular insurance companies.

It took me 20 second to find their terms.  here is a snippet

DullGreyGuy

florence924 said:

As PBIS are brokers they are allowed to do this apparently.  I think this should be made very clear on the website, where they are just listed alongside regular insurance companies.  I had assumed that the cooling off period applied to all money paid online. 

Brokers, insurers and other classes of intermediary are entitled to charge for cancelling during a cooling off period. Most do to avoid negative selection because otherwise they are the ones targeted by people who've had their car impounded for no insurance etc as they buy the policy, get the cert, get their car back and cancel the insurance again. 

It is made clear and why you typically have to click the "I agree" button to proceed saying you've read the policy summary etc which contains this sort of information. Brokers dont need calling out because they are no different to others. In fact what many people talk of as their insurer (eg AA) are their brokers not their insurers.

Legislation varies by the type of product/service, many items would be covered by the CCR which does give broad rights to refunds for products (services less so) but financial services are excluded as are other things... you cannot buy a bar of gold bullion, realise the price has gone down 10 days later and then return it. Assumptions can be risky things to make if you dont attempt to validate them.