Excessive car insurance cancellation fee
Discussion
Thoughts on this please. I took out classic car limited mileage insurance policy in July this year, cost was £180 or so. I called to cancel the policy yesterday as I'd sold the car, I was given back just £11! The car was insured for just 54 days in total. They have kept 90% of the premium for just 15% of the policy coverage! I told them that the fees and charges were punitive and excessive and threatened to complain to the ombudsman. Is this a reasonable charge?
I want to cancel a bike policy after selling it. They want me to actually pay (not just lose a refund) £109 to cancel it. I haven't got round to arguing it but it make me think they are taking advantage of recent advice that maintaining an open policy could cause problems down the line.
I'm happy to just walk away a few months into the policy as it was only £100 or so anyway but to actually pay to cancel does stick in my throat slightly.
I'm happy to just walk away a few months into the policy as it was only £100 or so anyway but to actually pay to cancel does stick in my throat slightly.
Vaud said:
What did the contract terms say?
Ummm didn't read the policy I must admit, although most financial contracts these days are worth pretty much bog all if all the PPI and other mis selling who ha's are anything to go by. I'm sure any financial Ombudsman would love to jump on an institution that was behaving in an 'excessive and punitive manner'. Not overly bothered as its hardly a kings ransom but I think an email will wing its way tomorrow to the Ombudsman. BertBert said:
Have you asked them how they came to the amount?
Bert
TBH Bert I didn't, I expressed surprise at how much it was but I was also doing a couple of other things at the time, so didn't go into it. I pinged them an email this morning asking for just that, they rather snootishly said I should have cancelled within the 14 day cooling off period. Bert
Black_mamba said:
Ummm didn't read the policy I must admit, although most financial contracts these days are worth pretty much bog all if all the PPI and other mis selling who ha's are anything to go by. I'm sure any financial Ombudsman would love to jump on an institution that was behaving in an 'excessive and punitive manner'. Not overly bothered as its hardly a kings ransom but I think an email will wing its way tomorrow to the Ombudsman.
You have to follow the insurers complaints procedure in full first, which will be published on their web site.The " didn't read the policy I must admit" comment - whilst some companies do have unfair terms, you also have certain responsibilities as a consumer. Insurance policies are written much more clearly these days.
dacouch said:
Fairly typical for classic car policies to have large cancellation fees.
They have a significant proportion of customers who buy cover at the start of summer / early spring who then cancel in Autumn / Winter
Even with a classic I only use sparingly over the summer , I don't see the point in cancelling come autumn . The car will still be insured against fire and theft whilst off the road and , should the need arise , remains available to use if a daily driver goes off the road for any reason .They have a significant proportion of customers who buy cover at the start of summer / early spring who then cancel in Autumn / Winter
Re insurers who charge cancellation fees , any time that has arisen , if I've sold the car , I just tell them to let it run until it lapses , but to record the conversation that I no longer own the car or accept any responsibility for it ; the date of transfer on the V5 would also support this , one insurer then cancelled with no fee when I said this . I've also , once , had a policy left running but with no vehicle covered , but that was an error following a withdrawn claim ( just shows you can pay to insure nothing though ! ) .
Black_mamba said:
marshalla said:
Since you quote percentages - what was the mileage allowance and how much had you used ?
3000 allowed 200 usedIf you take out a limited mileage policy, then I would expect that to be virtually non cancellable, as they have no control over the miles being spread evenly thru the year. Most UK classic car owners will use most of their miles up during a few summer months.
Black_mamba said:
Thoughts on this please. I took out classic car limited mileage insurance policy in July this year, cost was £180 or so. I called to cancel the policy yesterday as I'd sold the car, I was given back just £11! The car was insured for just 54 days in total. They have kept 90% of the premium for just 15% of the policy coverage!
How much of that £180 was policy add-ons like breakdown cover or admin fees?Black_mamba said:
Vaud said:
What did the contract terms say?
Ummm didn't read the policy I must admitTwigtheWonderkid said:
If you take out a limited mileage policy, then I would expect that to be virtually non cancellable, as they have no control over the miles being spread evenly thru the year. Most UK classic car owners will use most of their miles up during a few summer months.
ISTR this on previous flux limited mileage policies.Forums | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff