4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[Reikiranf]

My YD got a quote for car insurance on Wednesday, accepted it and paid a £300 deposit, then last night the company phoned and said that the quote was wrong and said it will cost her nearly £400 more than the original quote

 

YD has since found much cheaper insurance and tried to cancel the other policy and the company have told her that they will charge her £45 for cancelling the policy and refunding the deposit

 

So what we'd like to know can they legally do this? as from our point of view they are in breach of contract for not supplying the service at the price agreed.

 

Any advice would be much appreciated, thanks.

 

Amanda

[Cinnamon]

Isn't there a cooling off peiod for insurance?

 

If not (actually,I am not sure that there is now that I have thought about it), then go to the top with this. It was their mistake in the first place.Just tell them that in light of their mistake,you are taking your custom to a company whose quotes you can trust to be correct.

 

I am sure someone clever will be along with advise on the legalities......

 

How did she pay - if it was on credit card,the card company or bank might be able to help?

[Chickendoodle]

Hi, I have worked in the insurance industry for 30 years and this does not sound right.

 

If the insurance company mis-quoted her they must refund the money without charging her anything. There is now an automatic "cooling off period" after taking out a policy and you are entitled to cancel within that period - I think that the Insurers can make an admin charge if you do this which is where they might be confusing themselves

 

The insurance industry is now governed by the FSA and there are pages and pages entitled "Treating Customers Fairly"which they are patently not doing!

 

I would suggest that your YD asks to speak to a manager and threaten to report them to the FSA if they do not refund the money in full as it was their error. Trouble is that in the call centres they have staff who work from a script and do not really understand what they should be doing or how to deal with something unusual.

 

The only get out they would have is if they are saying the premium has increased because of something that your YD failed to tell them - don't think this is the case tho looking at your post

 

Hope this helps

[Redwing]

oooh yes, threaten with the FSA - this has got us out of loads of s"Ooops, word censored!"es!

[Chickendoodle]

Just checking a motor policy for you while I am in the office. Cancelling during the cooling off period would have a charge as they would charge your YD for the cover she has had plus an admin fee. Did she actually have any cover or did this all happen before the cover started?

 

If she has had a couple of days cover then I'm afraid that they are entitled to charge for this. There is a good argument for them not charging the admin fee as it was their error but your YD should only pay a strict pro rata premium for the exact number of days she was on cover with them

 

I am in the office today until 3 if you need me to find any phone numbers for you

Edited September 11, 2009 by Guest

[Space Chick]

I could have sworn you had a legal right of 14 days to change your mind with insurance

[Chickendoodle]

Hi Space Chick you do have 14 days but you will be charged for 14 days cover otherwise you could hop around and get free cover for ever

[Space Chick]

Hi Space Chick you do have 14 days but you will be charged for 14 days cover otherwise you could hop around and get free cover for ever

 

Now that would be a cunning plan

[Falkor]

I have just rummaged around under my desk and pulled out my FSA handbook and looked it up.

 

I do investments, mortgages and personal protection etc but not cars insurance but:

 

 

I believe the fourteen day rule applies as car insurance is classed as a general insurance isn`t it?

 

http://fsahandbook.info/FSA/html/handbook/ICOBS/7/1

 

I think the bit to note is "without reason and without penalty"!

 

Hope this helps.

 

Did they say what information changed to cause the price increase?

[Falkor]

Just checking a motor policy for you while I am in the office. Cancelling during the cooling off period would have a charge as they would charge your YD for the cover she has had plus an admin fee. Did she actually have any cover or did this all happen before the cover started?

 

If she has had a couple of days cover then I'm afraid that they are entitled to charge for this. There is a good argument for them not charging the admin fee as it was their error but your YD should only pay a strict pro rata premium for the exact number of days she was on cover with them

 

I am in the office today until 3 if you need me to find any phone numbers for you

 

You could argue that the policy was invalid as the contract she agreed to was not sufficient to cover her

[Reikiranf]

Thank you all! I knew you'd come to the rescue Have forwarded link to YD along with helpline number for FSA.

 

For some reason they had the car down as automatic and it's manual, regarding her details it's all very confusing as although she's insuring the car she doesn't own it her dad (my DH) does & he's a named driver

 

I think possibly she didn't check details thoroughly enough but all the same £45 does seem a bit steep for less than 48 hours cover!

 

Will be looking into the company as wondering if they do this on a regular basis to new customers, it sounds like a nice little earner for them not to mention possibly fraudulent

 

For those of you familiar with my "Saga" saga you may realise I'm a bit down on insurance companies at the moment

 

Thank you again

 

Amanda

[Gem_Seb]

hmm i was told when i took out car insurance for our joint car that as it was registered to my OH the insurance policy couldnt be in my name, I could only go on as a named driver and the policy holder had to be him even though I use it more often that he does.....

 

My brother has had the same with his company, his renewal has come in at a much higher price than he is paying now because they had some of his details wrong, hes point blank refusing to pay it and they have now said they will honour what he paid last year agin this year as it was their mistake!

 

Im sure you get the 14 day cooling off period as well as i had this sort of problem with my last company so i switched to a cheaper one and cancelled the other but they did charge me a fee even though i was within the sooling off period..

[Chickendoodle]

Just checking a motor policy for you while I am in the office. Cancelling during the cooling off period would have a charge as they would charge your YD for the cover she has had plus an admin fee. Did she actually have any cover or did this all happen before the cover started?

 

If she has had a couple of days cover then I'm afraid that they are entitled to charge for this. There is a good argument for them not charging the admin fee as it was their error but your YD should only pay a strict pro rata premium for the exact number of days she was on cover with them

 

I am in the office today until 3 if you need me to find any phone numbers for you

 

You could argue that the policy was invalid as the contract she agreed to was not sufficient to cover her

 

But it is motor insurance and they would have had to pay a claim if she had had an accident

[Reikiranf]

YD says she's not actually covered yet! The car is still under DH's policy but he can't put her on it hence the search for new insurance. I've googled reviews on the company and found someone else complaining how they also had their premium increased by 50% after they had accepted the policy!

 

Amanda

[mountainboarddude]

sounds very unfair to me. on the topic of insurance the cheapest quote that i have gotten so far because i am 17, male and with no no claims is £2400 and that is with quotes through search sites and over the phone from over 50 companies . doesnt look like i will be driving very soon!

[Falkor]

sounds very unfair to me. on the topic of insurance the cheapest quote that i have gotten so far because i am 17, male and with no no claims is £2400 and that is with quotes through search sites and over the phone from over 50 companies . doesnt look like i will be driving very soon!

 

are you trying to insure a Bently!!! That is very expensive!

 

YD says she's not actually covered yet! The car is still under DH's policy but he can't put her on it hence the search for new insurance. I've googled reviews on the company and found someone else complaining how they also had their premium increased by 50% after they had accepted the policy!

 

Amanda

 

 

So.....the question what do they want £45 for!? If there is no policy in place there is no cover therefore no charge surely.

 

OH has just been reading over my shoulder (he is IFA and used to be the man from the Pru) says tell your daughter to query what the £45.00 is for, ask to see their cancellation procedure notice (should make mention of the magic 14 days) and also for a copy of their complaints procedure (if requested they HAVE to issue it). Ask for all this to be sent by post. If they say the £45.00 is for cover she has had then ask for copy of the certificate and schedule.

 

I would be inclined to carry on any communication beyond that by recorded post

[Reikiranf]

When YD rang back armed with information & advice from this forum pointing out that she could get cheaper & better cover elsewhere, they reduced her excess by £200 have given her breakdown cover and courtesy car and are giving her 10 months to pay instead of 8!

 

She decided to accept that rather than lose money or have a huge battle to get it back.

 

mountainboarddude that is a horrendous amount to have to pay I hope you can get something sorted soon, to be honest & despite having been hit by an uninsured driver myself, I can see why so many people don't bother to get insurance, the guy that hit me was working as a mini cab driver & only got a £268 fine for driving without insurance I'm sure his insurance wouldn't have been that cheap!

 

 

Thank you all again for your help

 

 

Amanda

[Olly]

Glad to hear YD got a result!