Be Aware Be Very Aware
Discussion
Check your renewal agreements for Breakdown Cover mine has just come back and it has nearly doubled in cost, and they AUTOMATICALLY TAKE IT out of your account if you don't get in touch, also make it very difficult to get it refunded,
I have just called mine and they have put the premium back down to last years price, Is this not called a CON / SCAM
I have just called mine and they have put the premium back down to last years price, Is this not called a CON / SCAM
Benny Saltstein said:
Its the same with all insurance products. They're relying on people's laziness and loyalty counts for nothing.
This,AA renewal just came through with my amazing "25% off so you won't bother ringing up us " offer with the money due out in 2 days.One phone call to them, and its reduced by another 55 quid. They simply take us all for lazy idiots.Been discussed many times. Insurance , breakdown cover etc with automatic renewals and price hikes after the first year. Its been this way for years.
Easy to avoid, pay for insurance or breakdown cover up front with a credit or debit card instead of monthly installments. No auto renewal that way and they write to you instead. Funny that since I've been doing this (about 5 years) the written renewal offers for insurance have been the same or lower than the amount paid for the last year. In fact my car insurance renewals have been lower each year for the last 2 years !
Easy to avoid, pay for insurance or breakdown cover up front with a credit or debit card instead of monthly installments. No auto renewal that way and they write to you instead. Funny that since I've been doing this (about 5 years) the written renewal offers for insurance have been the same or lower than the amount paid for the last year. In fact my car insurance renewals have been lower each year for the last 2 years !
I cancelled the auto renewal well before the renewal date and went with another firm. Didn't stop the [insert well known breakdown, not the BB] taking the full annual payment on the renewal date and taking 27 days to repay the 200+ whatever it was. Don't remember setting up a direct debit with them as I paid the full fee up front initially and considerably less than the second years premium. Came off the card.
Edited by jmorgan on Thursday 30th August 10:38
Ozzie Osmond said:
Not so. What's being discussed here is automatic, annual single payment renewal. Sharp practice IMO.
SO how does that work then ? for the last 5 years I've always paid my insurance premium by single payment either debit card or credit card as I got fed up with the auto renewals. Since doing this there are no auto renewals and they always write to me telling me its about to expire. And I have insurance with 3 different companies (plus others over the period).ETA: aha sorry this about breakdown cover, I derailed it onto insurance.... in that case I wouldnt know, I use my tesco clubcard points to get my RAC every year so never pay for it.
Ok, it works the same way for both breakdown and insurance so your point is fair. Insurance goes along the lines,
They slip some small print in which you don't notice when you first buy the insurance and then write a year later saying "Your insurance is due for remenewal on 6 September and we are willing to renew it at a premium of £XXX which will be collected from your debit/credit card number xxxx xxxx xxxx within 7 days after 6 September. Don't forget to tell us if anything has changed, including any accidents or prosecutions. Your new certificate whill be sent to after renewal".
On the breakdown service I end up phoning every year and get a big discount (about 25%) for the sake of one quick phone call.
They slip some small print in which you don't notice when you first buy the insurance and then write a year later saying "Your insurance is due for remenewal on 6 September and we are willing to renew it at a premium of £XXX which will be collected from your debit/credit card number xxxx xxxx xxxx within 7 days after 6 September. Don't forget to tell us if anything has changed, including any accidents or prosecutions. Your new certificate whill be sent to after renewal".
On the breakdown service I end up phoning every year and get a big discount (about 25%) for the sake of one quick phone call.
jmorgan said:
I cancelled the auto renewal well before the renewal date and went with another firm. Didn't stop the [insert well known breakdown, not the BB] taking the full annual payment on the renewal date and taking 27 days to repay the 200+ whatever it was. Don't remember setting up a direct debit with them as I paid the full fee up front initially and considerably less than the second years premium. Came off the card.
Surprised the eu haven't ruled auto renewals illegal. It's a form of legalised theft IMHO. They would say its in thier t &c's, but how hard it is to find those t&c's if its all done online is hard to say. Edited by jmorgan on Thursday 30th August 10:38
Ozzie Osmond said:
Dodsy said:
pay for insurance or breakdown cover up front with a credit or debit card instead of monthly installments. No auto renewal that way and they write to you instead.
Not so. What's being discussed here is automatic, annual single payment renewal. Sharp practice IMO.This is standard fare for insurance.
You should change insurers every year. The reason that some companies delcare "we guarentee to beat your renewal" is because they all can. They don't say "we guarentee to beat any new offer". The first year of any car insurance is given at a cheap rate to get your business. Once they have you they count on most people not being hassled with changing the following year so they automatically send out your documents and carry on with payment unless you cancel it. I imagine it's the same with the breakdown cover. They'll give you a good rate for the first year.
I've just changed mine. Renewal quote of £617 with swiftcover. It's a 325 not an M3! I went with a like for like elsewhere at £401. No doubt it will be near £600 next year so I'll change companies again. It's a hassle but worth the saving.
You should change insurers every year. The reason that some companies delcare "we guarentee to beat your renewal" is because they all can. They don't say "we guarentee to beat any new offer". The first year of any car insurance is given at a cheap rate to get your business. Once they have you they count on most people not being hassled with changing the following year so they automatically send out your documents and carry on with payment unless you cancel it. I imagine it's the same with the breakdown cover. They'll give you a good rate for the first year.
I've just changed mine. Renewal quote of £617 with swiftcover. It's a 325 not an M3! I went with a like for like elsewhere at £401. No doubt it will be near £600 next year so I'll change companies again. It's a hassle but worth the saving.
I go through the same rigmarole every year:-
- Call UK's 4th emergency service
- Get competitively priced cover, they say very fast on the phone you are signing up to auto renewals blah blah
- Await auto renewal info to appear on my online banking config page
- Cancel said auto renewal with my bank
- Get letter from 4th emergency service saying "auto renewal is better for you, more convenient blah blah"
- Ignore letter until one for actual renewal arrive, premium hiked by 50% from last year
- Repeat from one above
I will bet the renewals has some software which predicts how much they can get away with based on various factors they have harvested about us, like age, income, whether retired and previous form for querying the price, which in turn generates a price they think you wont query which is at least some percentage higher than last years.
I find it best to ring them or change from RAC to AA every year, had to do this anyway due to having the old 500 and the number of callouts it generated !
I find it best to ring them or change from RAC to AA every year, had to do this anyway due to having the old 500 and the number of callouts it generated !
My renewal for the RAC this year was something like £130, I did some checking and could get Green Flag for £65. I rang the RAC with the full intention of cancelling (seriously, I thought there was no way they'd match that) when the women asked why, she went away and came back a minute later meeting the Green Flag price. I nearly fell off the chair.
Steve vRS said:
I pay for our RAC cover with Tesco Clubcard vouchers. Essentially free 
(oportunity cost of not going to Alton Towers with the vouchers accepted of course).
Steve
off topic, but nice "oportunity cost" mention, takes me back to gcse economics. reminds me of my econ teacher fom the valleys with super thick welsh accent kept saying how John Maynard Keynes was a "rrrrrapant 'omosexual" lol. (oportunity cost of not going to Alton Towers with the vouchers accepted of course).Steve
I had AA Car insurance with "free" breakdown cover. Changed my car, the AA wouldn't cover my new car (the policy changed from a Megane Scenic to an M5 Touring), so I cancelled the cover. I was somewhat surprised when some 4 months later the AA took ~£86 from my bank account for another years breakdown cover.
It may well be there in the small print, but I never paid a discrete sum for the breakdown cover in the first place, so how they can think they had my permission to automatically bill me for a renewal I'll never know.
It may well be there in the small print, but I never paid a discrete sum for the breakdown cover in the first place, so how they can think they had my permission to automatically bill me for a renewal I'll never know.
MonkeyHanger said:
For Roadside assistance / At home / National recovery plus personal cover for me in any vehicle, the AA wanted £110.
I bought it via Quidco and got £60 cash back, which they paid out last week
Indeed. I've been switching between AA and RAC alternate years. Each time I'm a new customer, plus I get half if the premium back from quidco.I bought it via Quidco and got £60 cash back, which they paid out last week
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff