insurance company didnt take payments

lea_nne56

hi guys!

just wondered if anyone cud offer any advice my car insurance was renewed in october 2007 at approx £419 i paid £119 upfront and a direct debit was set up to take £40 odd pound a month for the next 11 months this was done incorrectly by the insurance company & in may 2008 (6months in) they wrote to me to say the money hadnt been taken and they wanted the full amount i was never aware the money hadnt been taken! i advised i cudnt afford this and its not my fault i dont want to pay but they said they wud cancel the policy and as i needed the car i agreed to pay £80 a month for the nxt 5 months what i want to know tho is if i cancel this now am i likely to be taken to court for the amount as i can insure my car for less and pay over 12 months if i take out a new policy! surely its the companies fault not mine!! has anyone else ever experiencd this?? thanx xx:A

lea_nne56

gained?? how??

dunstonh

You were invoiced for the amount (the details told you what you should be paying) so you were fully aware of what you had to pay. So, despite their error on collecting the money (or not in this case) you still owe this money.

You are financially better off due to their error as you have had interest on the money they should have collected so you have no real grounds for complaint.

If you cancel, the insurer will void the insurance and you will lose the year of no claims. You will also have to tell your new insurer that you have had no insurance for that period and they may remove some of your no claims discount. Also, in the question that asks you "has any insurance been refused, cancelled or declined" you would have to declare that this policy was cancelled by the insurer due to non payment by you. That may put new insurers off.

Additionally, as you were paying monthly, this would have been done under a credit agreement so the insurance company can register it as a default and sell the debt on to a debt collection agency if they want to.

pborojon

dunstonh wrote: »

You were invoiced for the amount (the details told you what you should be paying) so you were fully aware of what you had to pay. So, despite their error on collecting the money (or not in this case) you still owe this money.

You are financially better off due to their error as you have had interest on the money they should have collected so you have no real grounds for complaint.

If you cancel, the insurer will void the insurance and you will lose the year of no claims. You will also have to tell your new insurer that you have had no insurance for that period and they may remove some of your no claims discount. Also, in the question that asks you "has any insurance been refused, cancelled or declined" you would have to declare that this policy was cancelled by the insurer due to non payment by you. That may put new insurers off.

Additionally, as you were paying monthly, this would have been done under a credit agreement so the insurance company can register it as a default and sell the debt on to a debt collection agency if they want to.

Hang on a sec, the insurer won't void the insurance at all. if the policy is cancelled by the policy holder she won't have to declare that she has had a policy cancelled. The insurer will take measures to collect the outstanding premium though

dunstonh

pborojon wrote: »

Hang on a sec, the insurer won't void the insurance at all. if the policy is cancelled by the policy holder she won't have to declare that she has had a policy cancelled. The insurer will take measures to collect the outstanding premium though

The insurer can choose to void the policy if it feels its the most cost effective option to them. With non payment as it currently stands the insurer has the choice.

pborojon

dunstonh wrote: »

The insurer can choose to void the policy if it feels its the most cost effective option to them. With non payment as it currently stands the insurer has the choice.

Erm no it can't

The insurer would have to give 7 day notice of cancellation.

dunstonh

pborojon wrote: »

Erm no it can't

The insurer would have to give 7 day notice of cancellation.

Yes it can. Been there and done it a few times.

They would of course notify in writing saying that if payment wasnt received by x date that they will cancel the policy from inception.