24/7 Home Rescue still chasing £65 “cancellation fee” after I filed an official complaint with FOS

sheramber

From what I read of their terms if you cancel after having made a claim you are charged the remaining payments due until the end of the contract year. 

Presumably , that is what you are being charged as you have made a claim. 

eskbanker

Dionliu said:

user1977 said:

Are you sure it's covered by the FOS?

Yes, as it is home insurance and they also recommend customers to raise a complaint to FOS for next step.

Seems unlikely that they'd recommend escalation to FOS as such, and instead are more likely to be simply complying with their regulatory obligation to notify complainants of that option.

Okell

eskbanker said:

Dionliu said:

eskbanker said:

Just to be clear, are you asserting that they're in breach of contract and contending that this gives you the right to terminate the agreement without penalty, and, if this is the case, exactly how did you phrase this in your communications to them, i.e. was there any mention of repudiatory breach, etc?

I didn't clearly use" breach of contract" when I communicated with them but I did point out that they repeatedly refused to provide the contracted service and I was forced to paid an engineer to fix the issue.

Difficult to assess the situation without seeing all the detail but "I requested them to cancel the policy on their side" sounds much more like wording that would trigger a cancellation charge than holding them to be in breach would.  To what extent have they accepted any wrongdoing?

I'm inclined to think this ^^^ is what has happened.

Rather than asking HR to cancel the policy on their side the the OP really ought to have told them that he was holding them in breach of contract because of x, y, z and that he wanted a refund of the relevant year's payment or that he wanted them to pay the third party call out. 

Okell

Dionliu said:

Hi everyone,

I really need some advice regarding 24/7 Home Rescue and a £65 “cancellation fee” they are chasing.

Here’s the situation:

• I never cancelled my Direct Debit.

• 24/7 Home Rescue stopped providing the service and I requested them to cancel the policy on their side.

• Later they claimed I cancelled the Direct Debit (which I didn’t).

• I asked them to provide evidence of this – they have not provided anything.

• I have now submitted a formal complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), and FOS has confirmed receipt of my complaint.

• Despite that, 24/7 is still chasing me for the £65 cancellation fee and keeps sending emails/letters...

This may be how you see it, but are you sure this is what happened?

Sounds more to me like HR were in breach of their contract with you (see earlier post) and rather than raising this issue with them as a complaint you basically told them that you wanted to cancel the policy - which of course would probably incur a cancellation fee (refer to the T&Cs of your policy).

They did what you asked and cancelled the policy.

I think the question whether you or they cancelled the DD is a bit irrelevant after you told them to cancel the policy.  Even if HR cancelled the DD it seems to me that you are being charged by them for cancelling the policy, not for cancelling the DD.

TheComplaintGuy

The key point here is that 24/7 HR stopped providing the service. If a company can’t or doesn’t deliver what you’re paying for, you’re entitled to ask them to end the agreement on their side, and that’s not the same as you voluntarily cancelling the policy.

If you told them “you’re not providing the service, so please cancel it your end”, then the fee becomes questionable because cancellation charges normally apply when you choose to terminate early — not when the provider effectively fails to uphold their part of the contract.

It’s also fair to challenge any suggestion that you cancelled the Direct Debit. If they’re relying on that as justification for the fee, they should be able to evidence it, and the fact they haven’t is relevant to the FOS.

You’ve done the right thing escalating. Just make sure FOS sees the timeline clearly:

• service not being provided

• your request for them to cancel due to that

• no evidence from them regarding the DD

• continued chasing despite an open complaint

FOS will normally side with the consumer where a provider hasn’t delivered the service and then tries to charge a fee for ending the agreement.

born_again

TheComplaintGuy said:

The key point here is that 24/7 HR stopped providing the service. If a company can’t or doesn’t deliver what you’re paying for, you’re entitled to ask them to end the agreement on their side, and that’s not the same as you voluntarily cancelling the policy.

If you told them “you’re not providing the service, so please cancel it your end”, then the fee becomes questionable because cancellation charges normally apply when you choose to terminate early — not when the provider effectively fails to uphold their part of the contract.

It’s also fair to challenge any suggestion that you cancelled the Direct Debit. If they’re relying on that as justification for the fee, they should be able to evidence it, and the fact they haven’t is relevant to the FOS.

You’ve done the right thing escalating. Just make sure FOS sees the timeline clearly:

• service not being provided

• your request for them to cancel due to that

• no evidence from them regarding the DD

• continued chasing despite an open complaint

FOS will normally side with the consumer where a provider hasn’t delivered the service and then tries to charge a fee for ending the agreement.

DD has ZERO cover for this situation.

Here’s the formal bit:

The Guarantee

• The Guarantee is offered by all banks and building societies that accept instructions to pay Direct Debits

• If there are any changes to the amount, date or frequency of your Direct Debit the organisation will notify you (normally 10 working days) in advance of your account being debited or as otherwise agreed. If you request the organisation to collect a payment, confirmation of the amount and date will be given to you at the time of the request

• If an error is made in the payment of your Direct Debit, by the organisation or your bank or building society, you are entitled to a full and immediate refund of the amount paid from your bank or building society

• • If you receive a refund you are not entitled to, you must pay it back when the organisation asks you to

• You can cancel a Direct Debit at any time by simply contacting your bank or building society. Written confirmation may be required. Please also notify the organisation.

Dionliu

TheComplaintGuy said:

The key point here is that 24/7 HR stopped providing the service. If a company can’t or doesn’t deliver what you’re paying for, you’re entitled to ask them to end the agreement on their side, and that’s not the same as you voluntarily cancelling the policy.

If you told them “you’re not providing the service, so please cancel it your end”, then the fee becomes questionable because cancellation charges normally apply when you choose to terminate early — not when the provider effectively fails to uphold their part of the contract.

It’s also fair to challenge any suggestion that you cancelled the Direct Debit. If they’re relying on that as justification for the fee, they should be able to evidence it, and the fact they haven’t is relevant to the FOS.

You’ve done the right thing escalating. Just make sure FOS sees the timeline clearly:

• service not being provided

• your request for them to cancel due to that

• no evidence from them regarding the DD

• continued chasing despite an open complaint

FOS will normally side with the consumer where a provider hasn’t delivered the service and then tries to charge a fee for ending the agreement.

I completely agree with your view, and all the relevant key points have already been submitted to the FOS. Thanks.