Insurance cancellation

[14-7]

After a quick bit of advice here please folks.

I used a comparison website for my car insurance due next month and finally got a good price of £540 for the year. Followed the link to the insurers website and duly checked details were correct and then paid for the policy online.

I then get a phone call from said insurer wanting to confirm details which I thought a bit odd. Anyway, they had an old postcode of mine for some reason (presume something to do with the comparison website) but the screen I checked had my correct address when I paid, they had my mileage down as 2000 less but then my partner down as doing 2000 miles a year which he claimed wouldn't affect the quote and the chap on the phone couldn't get his head around the fact I didn't have to pay an excess to get my windscreen replaced as it was covered by my old insurers. The price of my vehicle had miraculously dropped from the £35000 I'd put in down to £22000 on their system as well.

Then the normal, "I'll have to run it through the system again to check the price", and low and behold it jumps to £660.

I tell the chap on the phone that surely it isn't my fault the system he is looking at is showing different things to the one I checked on their own website and he just basically says it is what it is.

The long and short is that they have now charged me £55 cancellation fee for a policy which never actually started and it seems like a bit of a con and an easy way for them to make a bit of cash for doing nothing.

I am aware that insurers can charge a small amount to cover costs incurred to them but surely £55 is a bit over the top.

Can anyone advise the best course of action to try and get cash back or is it just tough luck and chalk it up to experience?

Cheers

[shouldbworking]

Had similar a month or so ago. Quoted online, person phoned up to confirm details, all exactly the same as I'd specified online, end of the conversation they say they can't offer a quote. Ridiculous.

Surely 14 day cooling off will save you here -
http://www.gocompare.com/car-insurance/administrat...

[SteveR1979]

RCIS????

[14-7]

Cheers for the replies.

The insurance companies are allowed to charge a small admin fee but nothing describes what 'small' is. more than 10% of the policy is not small in my opinion, especially for a policy that never started.

[essayer]

Chancers..

http://www.which.co.uk/money/insurance/car-insuran...

No other company charges that much for a cancellation during the cooling off period (which starts when the policy begins)

Raise a complaint then escalate to the FOS, also highlighting the fact they didn't record your details properly

Did you get an email etc confirming the details you supplied?

[14-7]

I've emailed a complaint to them detailing the discrepancies and that £55 does sound a bit excessive for a policy that had not started so I'll just see what I get back.