Car Insurance auto renewal with Policy Expert

smugmatt

I wanted to highlight a suspect business practise around the way Policy Expert go about auto renewals of car insurance policies. 

I received an email from them highlighting my insurance was going to run out soon including the paragraph: ‘It's quick and easy to renew your insurance. If your details and the cover you need are the same, you don't need to do anything.’ They go on to say they will take the money from my card automatically ‘in the week before your policy runs out.’ Ambiguous that they don’t give a date here - when they know when my policy runs out. 

Being a keen money saver I have already trawled through a couple of insurance broker sites to find an alternative well in advance of my renewal. I have then returned to the Polciy Expert email looking for a ‘cancel auto renew’ link. 

There isn’t one. 

So I logged into my Policy Expert portal on their website. There is a link to confirm the new insurance deal offered. 

But again, no link to cancel auto renew. 

Bear in mind I paid on my debit card so I don’t know if I can block them as easily as with a direct debit. I am going to ask my bank Monzo about this tomorrow and have taken what feels like a fairly extreme interim step of freezing my bank card (you do this within the Monzo app - and it can be undone) so Policy Expert don’t take the money without my permission.

Back to Policy Expert… no customer support links from your portal. Only after clicking through a few pages on the main website can you find a web form and tel number. 

I have filled in the web form with a simple message… ‘cancel auto renew on my policy’. (I’ve screen grabbed both the message and the message confirmed sent pages). 

Will await their response but the fact that they make it so hard to cancel auto renew is decidedly fishy in my book. 

(If you miss the auto renew message and they go through with it they will charge you £30 to cancel the policy - if you catch it within 14 days. £60 after that.)

Any one else experienced this with Policy Expert? 

eddddy

smugmatt said:

Bear in mind I paid on my debit card so I don’t know if I can block them as easily as with a direct debit. I am going to ask my bank Monzo about this tomorrow and have taken what feels like a fairly extreme interim step of freezing my bank card (you do this within the Monzo app - and it can be undone) so Policy Expert don’t take the money without my permission.

That's probably a very, very bad idea.

Typically, non-payment is not a way of preventing auto-renewal.

Instead, your policy will renew, and you will be in-debt - you will owe the insurance company the premium.

If you don't pay the premium, eventually your policy will be "cancelled for non-payment". That's a serious black-mark to have on your insurance record.

You will probably have to declare to future insurers that you've had a policy "cancelled for non-payment", which might make future insurance difficult to get, and much more expensive.
 

daveyjp

From their website.

"You can opt out of automatic renewal at any time during your policy with us. This can be done online, by using the contact us link or via live chat or, you can call or email us. You can also use the same contact methods to opt into automatic renewal."

Have you called them?

Herzlos

I cancelled a home insurance renewal with them over the phone and it was pretty painless. I don't see why it'd be any different for car insurance.

But definitely talk to them *before* it renews.

misswestwater

Old thread I know but what was the outcome? Exact same thing just happened to me - it wasn't clear from the renewal email that it would renew 10 days before end of policy and there was a lack of contact info - this is deliberate in my eyes there's no need for there not to be a contact number and opening hours on that email, or an email address! I had to eventually use a complaints email address I googled but no idea if that will work or be processed in time. Telephone line closed with no info about opening hours - again no reason for this simple info not being provided.  It's quite obvious these companies do this to trick people into renewal, it's not ethical. 

born_again

misswestwater said:

Old thread I know but what was the outcome? Exact same thing just happened to me - it wasn't clear from the renewal email that it would renew 10 days before end of policy and there was a lack of contact info - this is deliberate in my eyes there's no need for there not to be a contact number and opening hours on that email, or an email address! I had to eventually use a complaints email address I googled but no idea if that will work or be processed in time. Telephone line closed with no info about opening hours - again no reason for this simple info not being provided.  It's quite obvious these companies do this to trick people into renewal, it's not ethical. 

Given OP made only one post... I guess we will never know.

https://www.policyexpert.co.uk/contact/?product=car