Bell / Admiral car insurance scam?

caldi9

We bought a telematics car insurance from Bell. The device for the car that they sent was broken, so we notified them and shipped it back. 

Now Bell are trying to charge us twice the premium for a non-telematics car insurance and they refuse to send a working device. Seems nothing short of being a potential scam.

They don’t want to fully refund our premium either.

How can we get our money back? 

Thanks 

DullGreyGuy

When you discovered the device was broken and you called them what did they say?

caldi9

DullGreyGuy said:

When you discovered the device was broken and you called them what did they say?

Send it back to us - which we did. But they refuse to send a working device. I have never come across anything like this with insurances.

DullGreyGuy

caldi9 said:

DullGreyGuy said:

When you discovered the device was broken and you called them what did they say?

Send it back to us - which we did. But they refuse to send a working device. I have never come across anything like this with insurances.

So they said "send it back to us and we will send a new one"? In which case register a complaint referencing that call.

caldi9

Yes, but they charged twice the premium because the device wasn’t installed. Which is obviously non-sense as it was broken. They refuse the refund the full premium as well in case the insurance is terminated. Wonder what legal language would make Bell pay us back.

Ectophile

Start off with a formal complaint.  Then the Financial Ombudsman if they still don't resolve it.

Mildly_Miffed

Put some timescale on this, please...

When did the policy start?
When did you send the duff black box back?
When have you spoken to them on the telephone?

caldi9

Ectophile said:

Start off with a formal complaint.  Then the Financial Ombudsman if they still don't resolve it.

They don’t even respond. We went to the ombudsman. We may sent a letter from the lawyer. They are clearly in the wrong.

born_again

caldi9 said:

Ectophile said:

Start off with a formal complaint.  Then the Financial Ombudsman if they still don't resolve it.

They don’t even respond. We went to the ombudsman. We may sent a letter from the lawyer. They are clearly in the wrong.

You really need to add some time frame. As they have 8 weeks to respond to a complaint.

Where does "lawyer" come into this?

Mildly_Miffed

How are they "not responding"? You are telephoning them (regularly...) and holding until you can actually speak to a human, right?

Not just sending emails or online chats or whatever?

caldi9

born_again said:

caldi9 said:

Ectophile said:

Start off with a formal complaint.  Then the Financial Ombudsman if they still don't resolve it.

They don’t even respond. We went to the ombudsman. We may sent a letter from the lawyer. They are clearly in the wrong.

You really need to add some time frame. As they have 8 weeks to respond to a complaint.

Where does "lawyer" come into this?

It has been more than 8 weeks and they haven’t sent the replacement device. 

Do you think I pay twice the premium for no reason? How can there not be a lawyer involved? Ombudsman takes a long time.