Another Insurance Cancellation query
Discussion
Trying to help a friend who is in a fair bit of financial distress at the moment.
Formal 7 days notice of cancellation of insurance policy (dated 7th April), received 12th April, but not opened until Saturday 13th April, 6pm after work. (Now I know this won’t have been the first letter received about the issue, but it’s too late to do anything about that and I’ve made my thoughts clear on how stupid that has been!)
I get a call Saturday evening asking for help.
Letter states if remainder of policy paid by midnight Saturday, insurance will continue as normal. I offer to pay if there is some way to do this through the ‘my account’ portal for Admiral (customer services number now closed) – there is no option to pay online.
Aware of how bad a cancelled policy can be, the letter also states that ‘Alternatively, you can cancel your insurance policy at any point before 14/4/2024’. I tell him this is probably the best option for now and we’ll sort something new. Again, through the ‘my account’ portal, when the cancel policy option was selected, it said they were unable to process the request and to contact them.
Called them Sunday morning and basically told too late, policy has been cancelled, you owe us £xxx.
A few questions please: -
1. I assume a cancelled policy for non-payment is declarable when asked ‘have you ever had a policy cancelled’ – correct?
2. If that’s the case, is there any mileage in trying to fight it by way of not being able to cancel it himself? I’ve had a look at the policy booklet and under cancelling your insurance, it says you can do it through ‘my account’.
Or is it simply a case of ‘you’ve been incredibly stupid and now learned a very expensive lesson’!
I’d rather not pile on the pressure, but if that’s the way it is, then so be it.
Formal 7 days notice of cancellation of insurance policy (dated 7th April), received 12th April, but not opened until Saturday 13th April, 6pm after work. (Now I know this won’t have been the first letter received about the issue, but it’s too late to do anything about that and I’ve made my thoughts clear on how stupid that has been!)
I get a call Saturday evening asking for help.
Letter states if remainder of policy paid by midnight Saturday, insurance will continue as normal. I offer to pay if there is some way to do this through the ‘my account’ portal for Admiral (customer services number now closed) – there is no option to pay online.
Aware of how bad a cancelled policy can be, the letter also states that ‘Alternatively, you can cancel your insurance policy at any point before 14/4/2024’. I tell him this is probably the best option for now and we’ll sort something new. Again, through the ‘my account’ portal, when the cancel policy option was selected, it said they were unable to process the request and to contact them.
Called them Sunday morning and basically told too late, policy has been cancelled, you owe us £xxx.
A few questions please: -
1. I assume a cancelled policy for non-payment is declarable when asked ‘have you ever had a policy cancelled’ – correct?
2. If that’s the case, is there any mileage in trying to fight it by way of not being able to cancel it himself? I’ve had a look at the policy booklet and under cancelling your insurance, it says you can do it through ‘my account’.
Or is it simply a case of ‘you’ve been incredibly stupid and now learned a very expensive lesson’!
I’d rather not pile on the pressure, but if that’s the way it is, then so be it.
Thanks for the replies so far. Not looking good!
This is what the policy booklet states in relation to cancellation: -
4. Cancelling your policy
You cancel your policy via:
'Alternatively, you can cancel your insurance policy at any point before 14/04/2024'
Leads me to believe he should have been able to cancel the policy through the 'my account' portal on Saturday night.
Probably clutching at straws though!
alscar said:
I think the words" my account " mean just that ie its not your account or someone else's but irrespective I don't see how this could be grounds to cancel the cancellation.
I think the references to 'my account' definitely relate to the online portal to manage the insurance account.This is what the policy booklet states in relation to cancellation: -
4. Cancelling your policy
You cancel your policy via:
- My Account
- Contacting our Customer Loyalty team
- Writing to us at: (address)
'Alternatively, you can cancel your insurance policy at any point before 14/04/2024'
Leads me to believe he should have been able to cancel the policy through the 'my account' portal on Saturday night.
Probably clutching at straws though!
BertBert said:
Completely clutching at straws in a legal sense I'm afraid. That's not a contractual obligation to provide a specific method of cancelling. It might add a tiny bit of weasling weight if he phones up and grovels to pay if they can re-instate it, but I doubt it.
Not arguing and I agree it's clutching at straws. Looks like it will just have to go down as a lesson learnt!But interested in the bit of your quote I've highlighted. If the policy book you're told to read when taking out the insurance doesn't form part of the contract, where would you find such contractual obligations?
Forester1965 said:
If you weren't able to cancel before the date because of an issue with their portal and the lines were closed, I would have thought they'd be open to recording client cancellation rather than their own.
That was my hope, but looks like he's on a hiding to nothing.I've just logged on to my own admiral portal (I have a van insured with them). There is a button there that says thinking of leaving?
When you click that is says -
'We’re sorry, some changes may not be available through MyAccount just yet. We are working on bringing them to you in the near future."
But interestingly, my (van) policy booklet doesn't list 'My Account' as a way you can cancel.
Just to update: -
A couple of emails yielded nothing but 'computer says no' type of reply's.
Then a phone call to the complaints number arguing that for a policy that was taken out and paid for on-line without ever talking to anyone & the policy documents to state that you can cancel the policy through the 'my account' portal, it is reasonable to assume that on-line cancellation should be possible. This along with the wording in the letter that it could be cancelled at any point before the 14th made it unfair that his cancellation was not accepted on the evening of the 13th.
They have now recorded it as customer cancellation.
He's a good guy, normally sensible and I think realises that the ostrich position mentioned up the thread is not good. Now has a new policy paid up front that will at least take a little pressure off.
A couple of emails yielded nothing but 'computer says no' type of reply's.
Then a phone call to the complaints number arguing that for a policy that was taken out and paid for on-line without ever talking to anyone & the policy documents to state that you can cancel the policy through the 'my account' portal, it is reasonable to assume that on-line cancellation should be possible. This along with the wording in the letter that it could be cancelled at any point before the 14th made it unfair that his cancellation was not accepted on the evening of the 13th.
They have now recorded it as customer cancellation.
He's a good guy, normally sensible and I think realises that the ostrich position mentioned up the thread is not good. Now has a new policy paid up front that will at least take a little pressure off.
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