14 day cooling off period full refund, except they slapped on a £49.99 fee

Beth_Paige_Black

I bought home insurance yesterday, but realised it didn't cover me for mobile phone unless I took out specific extra cover (thought personal possessions would cover it).
I cancelled straight away expecting a full refund, as it was within the 14 day cooling off period that entitles you to a full refund, but got hit with a £49.99 "set up fee".
Anyone know if this is legally allowed? The insurance company said it was in Ts&Cs, but surely this contravenes the statutory full refund within the 14 day cooling off period and so therefore is invalid as a T&C can't invalidate a law?
Have my consumer rights been railroaded?

flaneurs_lobster

Did you try to amend the coverage before cancelling? 

Insurance companies are allowed to charge an admin fee for the work done in setting up the policy (and any pro-rata premium if you were on cover) - the amount they charge will have been in the terms you agreed to.

£50 is not an unusual amount to charge.

visidigi

Beth_Paige_Black said:

I bought home insurance yesterday, but realised it didn't cover me for mobile phone unless I took out specific extra cover (thought personal possessions would cover it).
I cancelled straight away expecting a full refund, as it was within the 14 day cooling off period that entitles you to a full refund, but got hit with a £49.99 "set up fee".
Anyone know if this is legally allowed? The insurance company said it was in Ts&Cs, but surely this contravenes the statutory full refund within the 14 day cooling off period and so therefore is invalid as a T&C can't invalidate a law?
Have my consumer rights been railroaded?

When did the policy actually start vs when did you actually notify them you wished to cancel?

MyRealNameToo

Beth_Paige_Black said:

I bought home insurance yesterday, but realised it didn't cover me for mobile phone unless I took out specific extra cover (thought personal possessions would cover it).
I cancelled straight away expecting a full refund, as it was within the 14 day cooling off period that entitles you to a full refund, but got hit with a £49.99 "set up fee".
Anyone know if this is legally allowed? The insurance company said it was in Ts&Cs, but surely this contravenes the statutory full refund within the 14 day cooling off period and so therefore is invalid as a T&C can't invalidate a law?
Have my consumer rights been railroaded?

The law doesnt say you have to get a full refund

You have a statuary 14 day period during which you can cancel after that you have no right of cancelling it at all however in practice most insurers do allow you to cancel after the period has ended. 

They are allowed to charge both for time on cover and a reasonable fee for the cancellation. For simplicity for everyone the regulator accepts a flat fee that the customer can see up front rather than having some arcane calculation meaning the charges can vary from pennies to hundreds. 

The FSA, before it was split and the duty was taken over by the FCA, did ask a number of insurers of what the cost of cancellation is, out the back of that they determined that £50 was reasonably justifiable. Given we have had 15+ years of inflation to deal with there is a reasonable chance if it was reassessed today the value would have gone up not down. 

Read the policy, ask your questions etc BEFORE buying is by far the better approach. 

la531983

I had Virgin for one day, I was still charged for the first full month. Same principle.

eskbanker

Beth_Paige_Black said:

I bought home insurance yesterday, but realised it didn't cover me for mobile phone unless I took out specific extra cover (thought personal possessions would cover it).
I cancelled straight away expecting a full refund, as it was within the 14 day cooling off period that entitles you to a full refund, but got hit with a £49.99 "set up fee".
Anyone know if this is legally allowed? The insurance company said it was in Ts&Cs, but surely this contravenes the statutory full refund within the 14 day cooling off period and so therefore is invalid as a T&C can't invalidate a law?
Have my consumer rights been railroaded?

https://handbook.fca.org.uk/handbook/icobs7/icobs7s2 explains the costs that can legitimately be charged to the customer in this situation.

pinkshoes

Beth_Paige_Black said:

I bought home insurance yesterday, but realised it didn't cover me for mobile phone unless I took out specific extra cover (thought personal possessions would cover it).
I cancelled straight away expecting a full refund, as it was within the 14 day cooling off period that entitles you to a full refund, but got hit with a £49.99 "set up fee".
Anyone know if this is legally allowed? The insurance company said it was in Ts&Cs, but surely this contravenes the statutory full refund within the 14 day cooling off period and so therefore is invalid as a T&C can't invalidate a law?
Have my consumer rights been railroaded?

Do their own advertising policies state a free 14 day cooling off period? Otherwise as above a fair charge can be deducted. 

At nearly £50 it would have been cheaper to get the cost of phone insurance added on? Can you still do this?