Can Insurance Company demand payment for non-renewal?

garyd

Hi All,

Sorry if this has been raised previously but I didn't know what to look for in 'search' and am quite desperate.

My previous car insurance expired within a few weeks of my being made redundant. As I could not afford nor needed to run the car at that time I did not take up the renewal and the credit card I paid with the year berfore was cancelled.
However, the insurance company is now demanding (via debt collectors!) £90+ (almost half the years premium!!) for the two months it supposedly gave me cover for in between the expiry and commencement of a new policy with a different company.
They insist that this is their legal right even though I did not wish to accept the cover they 'offered' and advised that the policy terms and conditions state that the onus is on me to 'refuse' their renewal. They also suggested over the phone that I should have SORN my car if I had no insurance! The last comment I know to be absolute rot however I am still unemployed and feel that they should not be able to demand money for something which I did not need nor did I ask for.

Please can anyone help or advise?

Thanks in advance,

Gary.

anna42hmr

unfortunatly, if you are on a policy which is an automated renewal, they are right, the onus is on you to call them before the policy is ending to say you do not want to renew, or they will assume that you want the contract to continue.

however if you are not on an automatic renewal, then i would think that you could refuse payment and see what happens

did you get a renewal notice from them before the period ended? if so check and see what it states, if they ask you to call to renew then you have that on your side, however if it states that it will be renewed unless you tell them otherwise, i would say that the onus was on you to read the renewal notice

dunstonh

As said above, if you didnt notify them of your wish to cancel then it would have renewed and you are liable for the payment upto the point you did notify them that you wanted to cancel.

they also suggested over the phone that I should have SORN my car if I had no insurance! The last comment I know to be absolute rot

They are correct, albeit in a roundabout way rather than technically. To get a tax disc requires you to have insurance. Unless you SORN the car the DVLA will be after you for the tax as well. If the car is still on the road or public area then there will be a point in the year that you will be required to prove that you have insurance. That hasnt been at any point in the last 6 months by any chance?

garyd

Ta for the replies.

I've yet to dig out the paperwork to confirm whether it was automatically renewable however if so it is a lesson for everyone!
I have never taken out a car insurance with the intention to let it run on. I always compare my renewal price with a search (phone or internet) for the best deal annually and have yet in over 25 years of driving found my renewal to be the best deal. I just assumed. So I was sort of suckered but should have known better!:o

The other point is how can they charge me virtually half the premium for two months cover? Is this reasonable too?
I really thought they would be sympathetic to my current financial position. Another lesson!

dunstonh, FYI my car tax is current and has always been from new whether by 6 or 12 months AND it was garaged for the period mentioned.

Cheers.

lisyloo

Hi Gary,

I have never taken out a car insurance with the intention to let it run on.

But did that match the contract you took out?
It sounds like despite your intentions that you took a continual policy.
It's an easy mistake to make but unfortunately in this day and age you need to examine the small print a bit more. There should also have been a renewal letter which also made it clear.

The other point is how can they charge me virtually half the premium for two months cover? Is this reasonable too?

I'm guessing that this probably includes includes an admin fee for cancellation.
Again it's probably in your contract.
The only way to fight against this is to make sure you are happy with the contract up front.

I really thought they would be sympathetic to my current financial position.

Sorry but in business sympathy is in the dictionary between s**t and syph**is.

On the SORN situation, if you car is taxed then you do not need to fill out a SORN.
It may have been worthwhile cashing in the tax disc 2 months ago and filling out a SORN (you get any complete months back minus an admin fee).
You only need a SORN if your vehicle is untaxed, so I agree that they were wrong.
Your vehicle does need to be insured on the road but if it's in your garage then that's OK.
Be aware though that you can't just not tax it (when it runs out) and put it in the garage, you MUST fill out a SORN if you are not getting tax. I would also advise spending 70p on recorded delivery or at the very least getting a free proof of posting. Sometimes things like this get "lost in the post" and to my mind 70p is a small price to pay occassionally to avoid a lot of hassle.