Cancelling a pay monthly car insurance policy?

[devnull]

Hi All,

Here's the situation:

Currently have a policy on the merc with Direct Line - all fine, have done for years.
Potentially may get a second car for occassional weekend use (yup, an MX5)
Looking round for quotes, found Admiral multicar policy to be very reasonably priced.

If I were to ring direct line to cancel a policy I pay for monthly, what should I expect? Admin charge of a certain amount and no further monthly payments taken? Or something worse like paying off the whole policy? Tried looking at the small print and it's all pretty contradictory and doesn't seem to describe the cancelling of monthly policies.

Thanks for any advice

[DanGPR]

Yeah usually you just stop your monthly payments and get a £50 admin charge or something.

At worst , you could just cancel your direct debit, then they will just cancel your insurance. I would really try and avoid this though, as other insurers in the future, won't look on it kindly.

[XVar]

Direct Line Website said:

If you cancel after those 14 days have passed, we will return any premium less a charge for the number of days for which cover has been given and an administration fee of up to £26.50 (including Insurance Premium Tax where applicable) as shown in your schedule. We will not refund any premium if you have made a claim or if one has been made against you during the period of cover. Please return the certificate of motor insurance.

Where a policy is being paid by instalments there may be an outstanding balance to be settled following cancellation. If a claim has been made the full annual premium normally remains payable following cancellation. (There are several alternatives to cancellation that may apply including substituting the vehicle on cover, reducing the level of cover and suspending the policy). Should you have any queries please contact our Customer Hotline on 0845 246 8706

http://www.directline.com/motor/faq_car_general.ht...

[devnull]

XVar said:

http://www.directline.com/motor/faq_car_general.ht...

Thanks - makes sense.

So in summary - if you haven't claimed on the insurance, then it'll be admin fee + no more payments.
If you have claimed, then it's up to you to pay off the insurance - makes sense as you have 'used' the product.

I wouldn't go down the route of just cancelling payments as it opens you up to debt collections, CCJs, etc.

[davepoth]

devnull said:

Thanks - makes sense.

So in summary - if you haven't claimed on the insurance, then it'll be admin fee + no more payments.
If you have claimed, then it's up to you to pay off the insurance - makes sense as you have 'used' the product.

I wouldn't go down the route of just cancelling payments as it opens you up to debt collections, CCJs, etc.

that's about the long and the short of it. Quite flexible really, which I guess is why it costs more.

[deadtom]

i cancelled my monthly payment policy not long ago.

I cancelled mine not long before a monthly payment was due to come out, so i had to pay that before they would send me my proof of no claims. I had to send back the insurance cover note with a short letter saying cancel this policy please.
I was also told that if I informed them that the reason i was cancelling was that they had refused to insure me on the car i was getting, rather than me just moving to someone cheaper, (it was a policy with quinn direct that i was cancelling, and they dont insure young drivers on cars over 200bhp) then i wouldnt have to pay the admin fee, which was nice.

[Rollcage]

It doesn't say it is worked out on a straight line pro-rata basis though - I'd want to see the schedule before confirming it, as usually there is a weighting biased against early cancellation.

[sday12]

In my experience it has been cheaper to stay with the initial insurer after admin fees, non pro rata refunds.

Ask for a figure from Direct Line, compare with Admiral with cancel costs, see if it's worth it.

Don't just cancel, they could, potentially, chase you for any outstanding.


Oh, and if it helps, Admiral have the worst customer service in the industry.

[Dogwatch]

Very often it is actually a yearly renewal paid up front by a finance co on your behalf, leaving you to pay off the debt by monthly instalments.
If this is the case then the lender (which may be another arm of the insurer) will be after you for the balance which it has paid out and you still owe it.

Oh, and the Admin Costs......