Insurer hasn’t taken payment, but sent out documents...
Discussion
Looking for a bit of advice:
My wife renewed her policy with Directline a couple of weeks ago over the ‘phone; she’s had all the documents/paperwork sent through the post.
However... Muggins here paid for it on a credit card, but no money has been taken yet.
In short: does a Certificate of Motor Insurance guarantee that a car is insured, even if the insurer hasn’t taken payment? Is a 2 week+ wait normal? I’ve never experienced one before... Is there any chance the vehicle is now uninsured?
Thanks
My wife renewed her policy with Directline a couple of weeks ago over the ‘phone; she’s had all the documents/paperwork sent through the post.
However... Muggins here paid for it on a credit card, but no money has been taken yet.
In short: does a Certificate of Motor Insurance guarantee that a car is insured, even if the insurer hasn’t taken payment? Is a 2 week+ wait normal? I’ve never experienced one before... Is there any chance the vehicle is now uninsured?
Thanks
Check online at askMID regularly which doesn't prove insurance but is likely to give you some advance warning about getting stopped by the police for not having it.
I bought something 6 months ago that doesn't seem to have come off my credit card yet, despite it being authorised via chip and pin (and I have the receipt). No idea what happened and can't do much about it now as it was in Gibraltar and I have no plans to go back anytime soon.
I bought something 6 months ago that doesn't seem to have come off my credit card yet, despite it being authorised via chip and pin (and I have the receipt). No idea what happened and can't do much about it now as it was in Gibraltar and I have no plans to go back anytime soon.
Edited by syl on Saturday 15th August 16:15
I allowed mine to auto renew this year as my renewal quote was as good as any of the comparison sites were giving me. The renewal quote said it would auto renew if I did nothing, my certificate subsequently came through and the MID said I was insured when I checked a few days after the renewal date, but the company took almost two weeks to take my money.
bobsavage789 said:
Thanks all.
I checked on the MID checker and it appears to be insured. I guess they’re just taking their time with actually taking payment...
Does it not take a few weeks for a credit card payment to show ? Mine only ever appear on the following months statement bit I don't do online so maybe that is different.I checked on the MID checker and it appears to be insured. I guess they’re just taking their time with actually taking payment...
Monkeylegend said:
Does it not take a few weeks for a credit card payment to show ? Mine only ever appear on the following months statement bit I don't do online so maybe that is different.
That’s what I thought, but every other credit card purchase I make shows up in the ‘available balance’ bit of my account; not this one...Check if it is under 'pending payments' - these are allowed a week for the seller (Direct Line here) to collect, otherwise the bank lets them fall away and they are effectively cancelled.
I had the same problem with DL but in reverse - they set up the pending payment then told me I had no policy. It does now sound right that they said every transaction is set up as pending and will remain so until collected - so they gave me their word this one would not be collected and sure enough, 7 days later it just fell away.
Petrol stations and hotels often do this - flag a pending payment (as it can be adjusted too) and then let it fall away once you have been a good boy and paid your bill(s).
I had the same problem with DL but in reverse - they set up the pending payment then told me I had no policy. It does now sound right that they said every transaction is set up as pending and will remain so until collected - so they gave me their word this one would not be collected and sure enough, 7 days later it just fell away.
Petrol stations and hotels often do this - flag a pending payment (as it can be adjusted too) and then let it fall away once you have been a good boy and paid your bill(s).
bobsavage789 said:
Looking for a bit of advice:
My wife renewed her policy with Directline a couple of weeks ago over the ‘phone; she’s had all the documents/paperwork sent through the post.
However... Muggins here paid for it on a credit card, but no money has been taken yet.
In short: does a Certificate of Motor Insurance guarantee that a car is insured, even if the insurer hasn’t taken payment? Is a 2 week+ wait normal? I’ve never experienced one before... Is there any chance the vehicle is now uninsured?
Thanks
If you have a certificate of motor insurance you are insured. If the insurance company don't want you to pay for it that's their fault.My wife renewed her policy with Directline a couple of weeks ago over the ‘phone; she’s had all the documents/paperwork sent through the post.
However... Muggins here paid for it on a credit card, but no money has been taken yet.
In short: does a Certificate of Motor Insurance guarantee that a car is insured, even if the insurer hasn’t taken payment? Is a 2 week+ wait normal? I’ve never experienced one before... Is there any chance the vehicle is now uninsured?
Thanks
Which company is it. I will be contacting them my self. Free insurance.
You have it in writting. End off.
jondude said:
Check if it is under 'pending payments' - these are allowed a week for the seller (Direct Line here) to collect, otherwise the bank lets them fall away and they are effectively cancelled.
I had the same problem with DL but in reverse - they set up the pending payment then told me I had no policy. It does now sound right that they said every transaction is set up as pending and will remain so until collected - so they gave me their word this one would not be collected and sure enough, 7 days later it just fell away.
Petrol stations and hotels often do this - flag a pending payment (as it can be adjusted too) and then let it fall away once you have been a good boy and paid your bill(s).
Nope: nothing there! I’ll get the wife to call this week.I had the same problem with DL but in reverse - they set up the pending payment then told me I had no policy. It does now sound right that they said every transaction is set up as pending and will remain so until collected - so they gave me their word this one would not be collected and sure enough, 7 days later it just fell away.
Petrol stations and hotels often do this - flag a pending payment (as it can be adjusted too) and then let it fall away once you have been a good boy and paid your bill(s).
kestral said:
If you have a certificate of motor insurance you are insured. If the insurance company don't want you to pay for it that's their fault.
Which company is it. I will be contacting them my self. Free insurance.
You have it in writting. End off.
Can we have some of what you are smoking? A certificate hasn’t been proof of insurance for years and certainly it can be cancelled whilst the policyholder still has it. Which company is it. I will be contacting them my self. Free insurance.
You have it in writting. End off.
Edited by Mattt28 on Monday 17th August 15:15
Call them asap. Why delay proper confirmation? If their automated system throws an error up of non payment so they cancel the policy and you are not informed promptly you could be in trouble.
Few years ago I arranged insurance for my son on a Friday by phone. His name on the policy. On Monday papers arrived and he was not insured to drive the car. A clause was in there stating he was not allowed to drive, negating his name as showing ok to drive earlier in the policy document. I phoned to query and was told they made an error in the cost, too low for him. I queried why, when they saw this that we were not contacted immediately. He was driving over the weekend. I asked what would happen if he were in a collision.
They didn’t answer that but relented and confirmed the policy at the original cost. Replacement documents were correct. I am glad nothing happened over that weekend to create a dispute post event.
Few years ago I arranged insurance for my son on a Friday by phone. His name on the policy. On Monday papers arrived and he was not insured to drive the car. A clause was in there stating he was not allowed to drive, negating his name as showing ok to drive earlier in the policy document. I phoned to query and was told they made an error in the cost, too low for him. I queried why, when they saw this that we were not contacted immediately. He was driving over the weekend. I asked what would happen if he were in a collision.
They didn’t answer that but relented and confirmed the policy at the original cost. Replacement documents were correct. I am glad nothing happened over that weekend to create a dispute post event.
kestral said:
If you have a certificate of motor insurance you are insured. If the insurance company don't want you to pay for it that's their fault.
Which company is it. I will be contacting them my self. Free insurance.
You have it in writting. End off.
The problem is payment fails, the insurer claims they sent a letter giving 7 days to pay, letters gets lost in post/system and 7 days later the policy is cancelled, driver then stopped and told they aren't insured and are stuffed.Which company is it. I will be contacting them my self. Free insurance.
You have it in writting. End off.
I read it may times in forums, some insurers do the absolute minimum required and never bother phoning/texting/emailing the policyholder as well as sending a letter.
As Gareth says re poor contact from insurers, that was the crux of the incident I described above. Yes, all short term and a weekend only BUT...I go through details sent and spotted the problem. At some point they decided to put the not insured clause in and seemed to rely on me checking the papers. In my view it was a serious change as it effectively cancelled the insurance and relied on me picking this up. My “duty of care” comment to the manager I spoke to was homed in on their stepping back from contact and relying on customer checking the details (as in standard advice) to update and prevent major problems. He tried to use the short time between starting and receipt of documents as an excuse but couldn’t answer questions about the cover during that period and possible prosecution/fine/points for getting caught as uninsured.
The moral is..ALWAYS check the details straight away and query any anomalies.
The moral is..ALWAYS check the details straight away and query any anomalies.
TwigtheWonderkid said:
kestral said:
If you have a certificate of motor insurance you are insured.
This just isn't true. Many certs are sent to the policyholder as a pdf on an email. They can never be retrieved. This doesn't mean that neither you nor the insurer can cancel the policy. Bert
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