Insurance cancellation woes

[pits]

Right I am looking for some advice if I could please.
Basically I took out an insurance policy for my bike, I applied my two years no claims bonus I had earned, no problems there, so I thought.

I have just spoken with them to check that they had received my documents, to be told one years no claims isn't valid, so I questioned this.
So I earned one years NCD over 12 months with the original company, and then 3/4 through that I bought another bike and insured that with another company, 12 months later I have 2 years no claims, regardless of how you look at it, I have 2 years no claims, I am on my 3rd year of riding and haven't claimed in 2 separate years.

But no apparently my first years NCD isn't valid, and even though I didn't claim on it, and the policy ran to the end, the insurance company have two bits of paper, one ending in 2011 saying 1 years ncd, one ending in 2012 saying 1 years ncd, but they wont honour it.

So I asked about canceling the policy, and it would cost me £112 to cancel, after 1 month, it would cost me an extra £51 to keep the policy going but my dealings with this company this time around has been utterly soured and they will have no more money off me as I already paid £20 more to go with them when I couldn't buy my first policy due to a systems crash with my chosen provider.


Either way annoyed is not the word, how can they suddenly decide that 2 years no claims is one years no claims and then try to extort more money out of me and try to screw me over.

£112 to cancel the policy one month in, because they wont accept my 2 years no claims, which I have earned, over 2 years, by not claiming.

Where the FLUX I stand with this?

[TheTurbonator]

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications...

ETA: Try to get everything from this point on in writing, before making the complaint.

Edited by TheTurbonator on Wednesday 13th June 16:41

[mmm-five]

Just for clarification...

1) Bike A was insured for 1 year or 2?
2) Bike B was bought 3/4 of the way through the 1st year, and was insured in parallel with Bike A or to replace Bike A?
3) Is Bike A still insured under another policy?

If Bike A is still being used/insured on a separate policy, then that policy is using the 2 years NCB, and Bike B's policy only has 1 year's NCB.

[ralphrj]

mmm-five said:

Just for clarification...

1) Bike A was insured for 1 year or 2?
2) Bike B was bought 3/4 of the way through the 1st year, and was insured in parallel with Bike A or to replace Bike A?
3) Is Bike A still insured under another policy?

If Bike A is still being used/insured on a separate policy, then that policy is using the 2 years NCB, and Bike B's policy only has 1 year's NCB.

^^This

You need to clarify what the situation was with the 2 policies - did you have 2 bikes at the same time?

From what you have written it doesn't sound as if you have 2 years no claims.

[spats]

Nothing to add but I feel your pain.

I got flux'd about myself and cancelled at a cost, only to find the reason they didnt email my rewneal through was its been attached to another persons account. Ive just received their renewal details through.

Honestly what the flux is going on. Get onto the industry regulator as has been said above, dont let them get away with it.

[Deva Link]

For the puposes of no claim discount you only have 1 year no claims.

[hornetrider]

So, in effect you ran two policies side by side, for less than 24 months, and added the NCD together? You can't combine NCD in that way.

Clarification needed though... as I understand it:

Month 0: Bike 1 insured
Month 9: Bike 2 insured
Month 12: 1yr NCD earned bike 1
Month 21: 1yr NCD earned bike 2

... Where are we now in terms of months elapsed?

[Odie]

Deva Link said:

For the puposes of no claim discount you only have 1 year no claims.

I think he has 2x1 years no claims, they are not concurrent.

Otherwise you could insure 10 cars at the same time and claim to have 10years no claims.

[Deva Link]

Odie said:

Deva Link said:

For the puposes of no claim discount you only have 1 year no claims.

I think he has 2x1 years no claims, they are not concurrent.

Otherwise you could insure 10 cars at the same time and claim to have 10years no claims.

So I'm right then? For the puposes of no claim discount he has 1 year no claims.

[gazza285]

I read it as he had one bike insured for one year and nine months, then bought another bike and then insured that for 12 months, so nothing running at the same time, hence one year NCD from the 21 month policy and the second year from the 12 months policy. Insured for two years and nine months, to be told that this is only worth one year of NCD does seem a little unfair.

[Fish981]

gazza285 said:

I read it as he had one bike insured for one year and nine months, then bought another bike and then insured that for 12 months, so nothing running at the same time, hence one year NCD from the 21 month policy and the second year from the 12 months policy. Insured for two years and nine months, to be told that this is only worth one year of NCD does seem a little unfair.

I think your first bit is wrong, 1st bike was only insured for 9 months before another bike was bought.

[TheTurbonator]

I've just re-read it and I'd have to agree that by the sounds of it he ran two polices at the same time, which as said doesn't earn you 2 years no claims. If you could, you could get 10 policies in 1 year all at the same time and then say you have 10 years no claims.

OP said:

So I earned one years NCD over 12 months with the original company, and then 3/4 through that I bought another bike and insured that with another company...

It sounds like he bought a new bike with a new insurance policy, 3/4 the way through and existing policy but instead of cancelling the old policy he just kept it running.

Sorry to say it OP but that doesn't earn you two years NCD.

Edited by TheTurbonator on Wednesday 13th June 18:23

Edited by TheTurbonator on Wednesday 13th June 18:24

[gazza285]

Fish981 said:

gazza285 said:

I read it as he had one bike insured for one year and nine months, then bought another bike and then insured that for 12 months, so nothing running at the same time, hence one year NCD from the 21 month policy and the second year from the 12 months policy. Insured for two years and nine months, to be told that this is only worth one year of NCD does seem a little unfair.

I think your first bit is wrong, 1st bike was only insured for 9 months before another bike was bought.

My mistake, OP, you have one years no claims.

[streaky]

spats said:

Nothing to add but I feel your pain.

I got flux'd about myself and cancelled at a cost, only to find the reason they didnt email my rewneal through was its been attached to another persons account. Ive just received their renewal details through.

Honestly what the flux is going on. Get onto the industry regulator as has been said above, dont let them get away with it.

Inform the Information Commisssioner's Office of the breach of the Data Protection Act 1998.

Streaky

[Pontoneer]

My reading of the OP is that he had the first bike insured for a year , but nine months in he bought the second bike which he insured on a separate policy , allowing the insurance on the first bike to run for the full year , thus presumably earning 1year NCD . The second bike has either been insured for one year from purchase , or for 15 months making a total of two years riding ? The last part is unclear . If there was an overlap between the two policies with only a year and nine months riding then one year NCD is correct ; on the other hand if he has had a second full year riding beyond expiry of the first policy then he should have two years NCD .

Perhaps he kept insurance running on the first bike because he didn't sell it when he bought the second one .

[ferrariF50lover]

Obviously, I can't condone or suggest insurance fraud, but have you got a scanner and Photoshop? I imagine that, if you have, a 1 turns into a 2 remarkably easily...

Simon.

[Odie]

Deva Link said:

Odie said:

Deva Link said:

For the puposes of no claim discount you only have 1 year no claims.

I think he has 2x1 years no claims, they are not concurrent.

Otherwise you could insure 10 cars at the same time and claim to have 10years no claims.

So I'm right then? For the puposes of no claim discount he has 1 year no claims.

Yes, I was agreeing with you and adding further thoughts...

[Stoofa]

ferrariF50lover said:

Obviously, I can't condone or suggest insurance fraud, but have you got a scanner and Photoshop? I imagine that, if you have, a 1 turns into a 2 remarkably easily...

Simon.

And no insurance firm will actually bother checking a person's real entitlement and simply believe what is on the badly scanned and printed document?

[mmm-five]

A simple reply from the OP would clear the matter up!

WHERE ARE YOU OP?

[pits]

Sorry been epic busy.
I started riding in 2010 on CBT insured bike in Sept let it run as no point in canceling so far into it policy ended in 2011
I then bought another bike in 2011 and rode that for a year policy ended in 2012.

Whether or not I have 2 years ncd or not, I want to cancel now, because of the utterly st service I have received from these jokers, I have had problems since the get go with them.

First I got a stty letter telling me, they had recently written to me and if I didn't contact them they would cancel my policy, bemused I rang them to be told, they emailed me, I explained I wanted everything in writing not on email, and email isn't writing to me, if you write to me I expect a letter....They then told me that I would only get all the info I wanted in writing after I had answered their email, an email account I rarely check as it is my junk email for insurance and crap like that.

I asked what the problem was with the details, and basically they were accusing me of lying on my quotation trying to trip me up with questions phrased in a manner to catch one off guard.
First was, what my job was, I told them it was exactly what I said it was on the form, and the area of work is the same, like it has been for all of my quotations since I started driving, but the way they phrased it pissed me off somewhat, came across as if I was lying about my job, why the hell would I lie about my job? That is stoopid?

Then they asked me whether or not I would be commuting on the bike, even though I had a limited mileage policy and had selected SD&P, they don't know this but I have no need to ride my bike to work, I live 4 minutes away by car, or it takes me 30 minutes to get bike out, there is no point me riding my toy to work. Anyway, I confirmed that I wouldn't be as it makes no sense for me to ride to work.


When my policy finally turned up, they wanted the limited mileage declaration, no problems there, same with photocopies of licence and NCD proof, but they state I must return the questionnaire as well, which is basically, who are your other cars and house insured with, when do they end? No concern of theirs, they already had my back up with their piss poor way of doing business.



So now I am waiting for a break down of cancellation charges to be sent out, but from what I gathered on a £190 policy, I would have to pay £35 cancellation charge, I would then get £78 refund, but I would then have to pay £112 to complete cancellation....£112 cancellation fee, how the hell is that right? Their basic attitude is, either pay us £51 to keep your policy or pay us £112 to cancel, if they hadn't been utter sts before I would have stumped up the £51, but their attitude is awful and I wish for them to have no more of my money, and I am certainly not paying £112 to cancel a month old policy for £190, can fk right off.


Will be on to the FOS to get more insight into this, as this isn't right, I am not versed in the law of unfair cancellation charges, but even £35 is silly to cancel, let alone close to 4X that.