Can I request a refund for duplicate car insurance?

nellybaker

My son has been working abroad for the last 11months. He sold his car to a friend before he went. Today an automatic renewal notice arrived in the post, as it appears he did not cancel his insurance before he left the UK... If I can prove he sold the car and it has been insured by the new owner for the last 11 months do you think is there any chance I could get him a refund? (£450) 

Brie

It's worth a try.  A polite ask might get a partial refund.  How much the refund would be will depend, in part, on the T&Cs which are likely to list admin fees for early termination of the policy.  How far they can back date a refund will depend on proof of the sale being provided as well as their good will.  

One problem may be that it would need to be your son doing the cancellation unless there is some way for him to authorise you to act on his behalf.  I'm assuming he's still abroad and therefore ringing up the insurer might be tricky and/or expensive.

nellybaker

Thank you. I guessed they wouldn't speak to me so haven't phoned them yet, but might give it a try . Kids! 

Car_54

The insurers will probably take the view that they have still been at risk for the past 11 months. In the event that the new owner did not insure the car, your son's insurer would be responsible for third-party risks.

elsien

He should have had an email though about the renewal before it happened, giving him the new price and the opportunity to end the insurance before it renews. They tend not to do it with no notice at all.
Has he checked his emails to see what’s in there?

99iainb

Yes you can, I've done it accidentally in the past and my insurance company refunded me the money with no quibble and when I proved that I had been insured by somebody else, most surprised! It was about a year later when I discovered I'd double insured as well

sheramber

elsien said:

He should have had an email though about the renewal before it happened, giving him the new price and the opportunity to end the insurance before it renews. They tend not to do it with no notice at all.
Has he checked his emails to see what’s in there?

automatic renewal notice arrived in the post

is that not what hws been received? 

automatic renewal notice arrived in the post,

I receive a notice that my insurance will be renewed at a date in the future as it is on automatic renewal ,

DullGreyGuy

99iainb said:

Yes you can, I've done it accidentally in the past and my insurance company refunded me the money with no quibble and when I proved that I had been insured by somebody else, most surprised! It was about a year later when I discovered I'd double insured as well

That is slightly different scenario, you bought two policies. In this case the OP has only bought a single policy but has sold the vehicle. They are assuming the buyer has also purchased insurance but I imagine don't have definitive proof of it. 

nellybaker said:

My son has been working abroad for the last 11months. He sold his car to a friend before he went. Today an automatic renewal notice arrived in the post, as it appears he did not cancel his insurance before he left the UK... If I can prove he sold the car and it has been insured by the new owner for the last 11 months do you think is there any chance I could get him a refund? (£450) 

Whats the "refund" for? Your notice is sent in advance of the renewal so he'd just need to stop the renewal happening. 

If you are talking about retrospectively cancelling the last policy from the date of selling the car then there is no harm in trying. His insurers however have legally been on risk for the vehicle as the RTA insurers, though they'd have the right of recovery against your son for having allowed a non-permitted driver to use the vehicle (unfortunately most losses are not recovered in full).

What's your son's explanation for allowing the policy to run? Plenty that have come a cropper on here did so because it was cheaper to let it run to expiry than to pay the cancellation fees

jimjames

I guess it might also depend on the policy terms. If they had the option to drive other cars then they "could" have used that. I know they're abroad but from the insurance company point of view the cover was still available.

99iainb

That is slightly different scenario, you bought two policies.

One was auto renewal which slipped under my radar, the other one I bought. This whole auto renewal thing, "for our convenience", is very naughty and should be outlawed