Car insurance cancellation fee.

BostonLilac

I recently was stung by DialDirect car insurance over an attempt to change my wife's vehicle. She had purchased a Smart for 4 and when we telephoned to register a new vehicle, we were informed that they could not give us a new quote as they could not find a code for it. We were told we would have to get quotes for a new policy. This we did and ended up with a different insurer. When we then telephoned to cancel the old policy we were hit with a £50 cancellation fee, despite objecting to this we were forced to pay in order to cancel the policy.
Is there anything we could do to re claim this do you think? As we feel we have been ripped off because they could not insure the car in the first instance.

ElefantEd

If this fee is in the T&Cs you have no chance of getting it refunded. The insurance company were happy to insure the previous car for the rest of the term; it is you that wants to make the change, not them, and they are under no obligation to insure a different car for whatever reason.

Ayr_Rage

I had the same issue a few years ago with a new model that was not on my then insurer's database and therefore had to leave.

I politely pleaded my case for waiver of the cancellation fee and a pro-rata refund of the premium and to their credit they agreed to both.

Ask nicely !

dunstonh

When we then telephoned to cancel the old policy we were hit with a £50 cancellation fee, despite objecting to this we were forced to pay in order to cancel the policy.

Often, insurers waive the cancellation charge if they cannot offer insurance on the new car.    Although there is no rule that says that they have to.      If the insurer charges the same for a cancellation charge as they do an admin charge, then technically, it is right for her to be charged.

Is there anything we could do to re claim this do you think? As we feel we have been ripped off because they could not insure the car in the first instance.

If you are not happy with an outcome then you are free to raise a complaint.

DullGreyGuy

Is the new policy also with Dial Direct but a different insurer from their panel or did you not use them as your broker this time?

If you did rebuy via them then you'd have been in a much better position if you had called before buying saying you'd like to stay with them and you could possibly get it a bit cheaper elsewhere but if they could do something about the cancellation fee then you'd stay. 

Having already purchased you've lost any negotiation position you had and if you bought elsewhere then you didn't have any to start with. Ultimately it was your choice to buy the car before making enquiries with your broker and so not unreasonable for them to charge the fees you agreed to when buying the policy.