Automatic renewal failed - I have no home cover

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SabNys
SabNys Posts: 67 Forumite
in Insurance & life assurance
Here's a snippet from an email I sent to one of my daughters on 11/08/2017:
2 days after I got my postal house insurance quote from LV, I used the comparison site mentioned here:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/insurance/home-insurance

Note that MSE have their own comparison feature, which lists the "deals" that are not mentioned by the main comparison sites - for example M&S or Amazon vouchers for £60.

I accepted the best online quote from LV, which was £105 less than the LV quote in their renewal notice (almost half price) :-)

Note that my term "house insurance" includes "Contents", per Policy Summary for 2016-17.

Issue: I've just noticed that I have not received any of the following from LV

- My renewal quote starting on 15 Aug 2018

or

- Any insurance documents, which I would have received if (for example) the postal quote did not arrive, so the insurance would then be AUTOMATICALLY renewed. So, if the docs had referred to the postal quote rather than the online quote, I could have taken immediate action.

In my own defence, I'm 74.

Further info: I used the same trick a year earlier on or around 11/08/2016 to get a cheaper LV quote online, compared with the renewal quote sent by post. I phoned LV and said that I did not want to accept the postal renewal quote. I then said that I wanted to accept the online quote (comparison site). That was correctly implemented by LV.

So, for the 2017 renewal, I have a suspicion that my phone call might have resulted in something being CANCELLED, rather than simply "not accepted".

I would be grateful for any comments. I'm just waiting for the LV lines to open, so it would be nice to be armed with some opinions from anyone in advance. I was planning to ask them for a free renewal of my insurance at the same premium as 2017-18, especially since they were recommended on the MSE comparison site. They might not want to acquire a bad reputation (assuming the mistake was by LV, rather than myself).

Thanks.
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Comments

  • Skibunny40
    Skibunny40 Posts: 436 Forumite
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    So you haven't had any insurance from 15/8/17 until now?
  • SabNys
    SabNys Posts: 67 Forumite
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    Yes. And I hadn't realized that until your post. I've been assuming that all was OK for 2017-2018, but that I hadn't received this years postal quote, and that therefore it should have been renewed automatically.

    I looked more closely at the PDFs that LV provided. I see a PDF dated 15 Aug 2017, which says:
    Your home insurance has been cancelled. A refund of £232-21 will be credited back to the credit card....

    I remember seeing and filing that PDF.

    I assumed that the automatic postal renewal premium for 2016-2017 would be repaid, and replaced with the "£105 less" premium for the online quote. I think that was what they did for 2016-2017 when I phoned: they repaid the postal premium, and then took the lower online premium from my credit card. That's two separate transactions.
  • dunstonh
    dunstonh Posts: 116,371 Forumite
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    cancellation and getting a refund is different to not-renewing.

    It sounds as if the old plan was cancelled and a new one was bought. Do, remember that the providers will often run different versions of their product via different distribution channels. They may reduce cover in certain areas to knock off a few pounds to distribute it one way but increase coverage and premium for a different distribution channel that focuses more on quality. Also, product versions change over time.

    It looks like they cancelled the old version and left you to buy the new home insurance yourself based on what you have said. Not a failure of auto-renewal.
    I am an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA). The comments I make are just my opinion and are for discussion purposes only. They are not financial advice and you should not treat them as such. If you feel an area discussed may be relevant to you, then please seek advice from an Independent Financial Adviser local to you.
  • SabNys
    SabNys Posts: 67 Forumite
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    dunstonh wrote: »
    It sounds as if the old plan was cancelled and a new one was bought.

    That's what I intended to happen during the 2017 phone conversation.
    dunstonh wrote: »
    It looks like they cancelled the old version and left you to buy the new home insurance yourself

    That was my suspicion.
    But remember that during the phone conversation in 2017, I mentioned (a) that I did not want to accept the postal quote, but instead (b) I wanted to accept the online quote. The conversation was the same as for 2016.
    After the 2017 phone call, no conflicting action was taken by me. In other words, the phone call represents the final verbal agreement.
    Most of these conversations are recorded. Just for info, are they likely to access the conversation if the result might be in my favour?
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 35,242 Forumite
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    SabNys wrote: »
    Most of these conversations are recorded. Just for info, are they likely to access the conversation if the result might be in my favour?

    Most aren't.

    On the off chance they recorded yours and still have a copy after all this time, they can check it if they feel the need.
  • eddddy
    eddddy Posts: 16,440 Forumite
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    Has an incident occurred that you want to make a claim for?

    If not, couldn't you just take out new insurance today, and enjoy the money you've saved by not paying for insurance for 15 months?
  • Zorillo
    Zorillo Posts: 774 Forumite
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    From the insurer's perspective, if you phone them and tell them you want to lapse your current policy in order to take out an online quote, they're likely to expect you to go online and incept the new cover yourself.
  • Manxman_in_exile
    Manxman_in_exile Posts: 8,380 Forumite
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    I always check my insurance has renewed a couple of weeks after renewal.


    No help to you at the moment, but in future...
  • SabNys
    SabNys Posts: 67 Forumite
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    Deleted_User wrote: »
    Most aren't.

    Do you have a link to substantiate that?

    Thanks.
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 35,242 Forumite
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    No. Just years of experience in the industry.
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