Can they take money without my authority?

Argyll_2

I've just returned to my own home from my parents after convalescing after an illness.

A letter was sent to me on 29th Feb from my car insurance people telling me my policy was due to expire today (oddly enough) and they would automatically renew my insurance. I've just called them to tell them not to and they have told me I should have informed them earlier and they will charge me £20 to cancel. I don't think they have the authority to take this money without my permission, am I right?

sassybooboos

i dont know if that is standard practise as my car insurance company does that as well.

raskazz

Argyll wrote: »

I don't think they have the authority to take this money without my permission, am I right?

No.

You have given them permission as when you initially signed up you would have given them continuous payment authority.

Insurers cannot win. if they had ceased your cover and your car was stolen or crashed you would no doubt be complaining that your policy was not renewed!

shelly

Argyll wrote: »

I've just returned to my own home from my parents after convalescing after an illness.

A letter was sent to me on 29th Feb from my car insurance people telling me my policy was due to expire today (oddly enough) and they would automatically renew my insurance. I've just called them to tell them not to and they have told me I should have informed them earlier and they will charge me £20 to cancel. I don't think they have the authority to take this money without my permission, am I right?

These days its normal for co's to auto renew. If you don't inform them they auto renew you.
Sorry you are in this position.

dunstonh

Its a good job they did renew as you would have been uninsured, albeit for one day, if they hadnt.

Jaxxie

Argyll wrote: »

I've just returned to my own home from my parents after convalescing after an illness.

A letter was sent to me on 29th Feb from my car insurance people telling me my policy was due to expire today (oddly enough) and they would automatically renew my insurance. I've just called them to tell them not to and they have told me I should have informed them earlier and they will charge me £20 to cancel. I don't think they have the authority to take this money without my permission, am I right?

Insurance policies normally expire at midnight on the last day of the policy & renew at 24:01 the following day. If you rang your insurers to tell them not to renew on your last day of cover, they should not be charging you for cancelling as you are still within your policy period. However, if it was the next day, they are entitled to make a pro-rata charge for the days cover they have provided you with which may well be more than £20 depending of course on your premium.

Also, it may be within your T & C's that a cancellation charge will apply at any time but that seems harsh if you cancelled on your last day.........some policies also have a 'days of grace' period where you can decide if you want to renew but if you decide not to, then you have to pay for the period of grace that has passed whilst you were making your decision.

I would suggest looking at your paperwork............

angel81uk

I'm having a similar issue at the moment. In my case I moved house shortly before my policy was due to end and didn't need the car for a while so declared it off road. As I moved I didn't receive the renewal paperwork and as far as I was concerned the policy would just expire and that would be that (I've never had an auto renewing policy in the past). A few months later I had a call from their debt collection agency asking for £76! And when I looked at my old bank statements I saw they had taken 2 further DD payments (I'd since closed that account and opened a joint account with my partner which is why it was passed on to the debt collectors).

Having had a good read of my policy it doesn't say anywhere that it will be automatically renewed, the closest it gets is some small print which says is that I authorise them to charge my account for any amounts due "including the renewal of my policy". As far as I was concerned I signed a credit agreement stating that I agreed to pay a one off inital payment followed by 11 monthly installments via direct debit. Nothing more and nothing less.

I've since made a complaint and they seem to agree that the wording isn't clear and as they can see I declared the car off road they're calling off the debt collection agency and refunding my 2 payments. I've since gone on to insure the car with another company who make it quite clear on their paperwork that the policy will be automatically renewed but they also give you the option to opt out by making a quick phone call.

robnye

Jaxxie wrote: »

Insurance policies normally expire at midnight on the last day of the policy & renew at 24:01 the following day.

not quite true,

it is down to the insurance companies discretion.

last year, policy taken out from midday, changed it this year from 3pm as i couldnt collect car until after that

Jaxxie

robnye wrote: »

Jaxxie wrote: »

Insurance policies normally expire at midnight on the last day of the policy & renew at 24:01 the following day. quote]

not quite true,

it is down to the insurance companies discretion.

last year, policy taken out from midday, changed it this year from 3pm as i couldnt collect car until after that

I agree that if there is a specific reason that the insured requires the cover to be started at a different time, the insurance company can 're-schedule'.

What I meant was that generally, if there are no requests for it to be otherwise, cover expires at midnight & starts one second later

Argyll_2

I called them to cancel and they told me they will charge me £20. I initially told them to cancel but changed my mind as I have fourteen days to cancel so I'm as well as getting some use out of the £20.

What really annoys me is their renewal price is £180 third party fire and theft but when I go on to a comparison site they are quoting me £140! They told me though that they can't give me that price as I'm an existing customer. I know there strategy is to lure you in with a cheap price and hope you just stay with them but this is taking the mickey I think.

I know there is nothing I can do about the charge but do I have grounds to complain about the amount? Surely charging me £20 for two weeks insurance is not pro-rata to how much it would cost me for the year. I know they will claim it's for admin charges but remember they are trying this with bank charges too.

For me it's the whole principle and not necessarily the money.