Discussion
Advice needed please, buildings insurance was auto renewed but payment not taken due to debit card having expired, insurance was cancelled by the insurace company and are trying to charge £50 ish admin fee, can they do anything if it is not paid, money is tight right now . Please don't "flame" me, will pay if i have to but would sooner have the money for heating and eating, many thanks.
Policy was cancelled by them, they want an admin fee for the cancellation, what with looking for work totally overlooked that the card that the origional policy was paid for had expired, not going to renew with them just want to know if i have to legally pay the admin fee, technically they've cancelled something i did not take out, forgot about the auto renew, my bad, just concentrating on keeping head above water.
They also overlooked the fact the card had expired. Presume they told you and asked for new card details. If they didn't they left you with no insurance and failed to ' treat customers fairly' as the FCA exhort insurers to do
Refuse to pay it and insure elsewhere, assuming no disaster has occured in the meantime....
Refuse to pay it and insure elsewhere, assuming no disaster has occured in the meantime....
Just throwing it out there, but you may be best trying to plead to their better nature and trying to re-instate the policy.
I'm thinking along the lines of the question you're asked when getting a quote - 'have you ever had insurance voided or cancelled' - which tends to heavily load a premium if answered 'yes' to.
To my knowledge it has to be a 'yes' in perpetuity too, which could be expensive (as it's applicable to all kind of insurance)
I'm thinking along the lines of the question you're asked when getting a quote - 'have you ever had insurance voided or cancelled' - which tends to heavily load a premium if answered 'yes' to.
To my knowledge it has to be a 'yes' in perpetuity too, which could be expensive (as it's applicable to all kind of insurance)
On the question of having insurance voided or cancelled I maintain this where you have made a serious non disclosure , fraudulent claim or deliberately misrepresented a risk to insurers. In these rare cases the insurers must write to you by recorded delivery giving you 7 days notice of cancellation . I will check but am sure most if not all policy wordings still have this condition in them.
I do not consider that failed auto renewal or DDM default is a matter that should need to be disclosed. This question goes back decades, long before instalments or card payments were a thing . Like much of insurance it has not been updated to take into account current trends.Sadly many insurers now have staff who fail to understand fully the principles of insurance without thinking why the questions were asked in the first place
I do not consider that failed auto renewal or DDM default is a matter that should need to be disclosed. This question goes back decades, long before instalments or card payments were a thing . Like much of insurance it has not been updated to take into account current trends.Sadly many insurers now have staff who fail to understand fully the principles of insurance without thinking why the questions were asked in the first place
NGee said:
They didn't cancel the insurance, they just didn't renew it because the card was not valid.
How can they cancel a policy that doesn't exist!
A contract. It is shocking the level of naivety displayed on this thread. The op would have had warnings as well as stated in contract they agreed to. This is not something new.How can they cancel a policy that doesn't exist!
I’m surprised they didn’t chase you before cancelling as a card expiring isn’t totally unusual.
As they have now cancelled ( I’m assuming abinitio ie as though it never existed ) and don’t have a card to charge you from its difficult to see how you will be able to pay them ?
However I would be more concerned that potentially this could cause you issues in the future.
Not sure whether u wish to buy insurance on the house going forward but the above could impact other insurances potentially.
I think I would get in touch with them , plead a lot going on - innocent error etc - ask to reinstate from inception and give new card details.
Mention TCF ( treating customers fairly ) and then depending on outcome come back here.
On the other hand do nothing and hope no issues but I don’t see how they can make you pay £50.
As they have now cancelled ( I’m assuming abinitio ie as though it never existed ) and don’t have a card to charge you from its difficult to see how you will be able to pay them ?
However I would be more concerned that potentially this could cause you issues in the future.
Not sure whether u wish to buy insurance on the house going forward but the above could impact other insurances potentially.
I think I would get in touch with them , plead a lot going on - innocent error etc - ask to reinstate from inception and give new card details.
Mention TCF ( treating customers fairly ) and then depending on outcome come back here.
On the other hand do nothing and hope no issues but I don’t see how they can make you pay £50.
Ouroboros said:
A contract. It is shocking the level of naivety displayed on this thread. The op would have had warnings as well as stated in contract they agreed to. This is not something new.
Rubbish.The insurance is for a defined period. The ability to auto renew is a convenience offered and not a contractual right of either party.
I think it is quite reasonable these days that you could not remember who has and has not got your card details and what is up to date and not. Like others have said if there was a problem with your card then they should notify you before processing or just after and let you know.
Sounds like they are trying it on (unless there is more to this) and you need to find out if they are a member of any protective body so you can report them if needed.
Sounds like they are trying it on (unless there is more to this) and you need to find out if they are a member of any protective body so you can report them if needed.
Auto Renewal is a convenience for the insurance company, they do it so that you won't look elsewhere at renewal, it's a total racket! I always state that they must not auto renew my policy when I take it out, if they then try and auto renew I cancel and go to a new company out of principle, always saves me money anyway.
My advice on anything with a contract that comes up for renewal is to phone them, tell them you're not going to renew at the offered price and ask for a better deal, I find this works pretty much every time, except with Sky who are sharks anyway!
On the £50 charge, my step daughter had the same thing happen, she told them to do one, had her debt sold to another company who are still chasing her for the money a year later and it also affected her credit rating.
I think the best thing to do in these cases is to phone them and try and reason it out, perhaps tell them you never agreed to auto renewal so don't know why their making the charge in the first place?
My advice on anything with a contract that comes up for renewal is to phone them, tell them you're not going to renew at the offered price and ask for a better deal, I find this works pretty much every time, except with Sky who are sharks anyway!
On the £50 charge, my step daughter had the same thing happen, she told them to do one, had her debt sold to another company who are still chasing her for the money a year later and it also affected her credit rating.
I think the best thing to do in these cases is to phone them and try and reason it out, perhaps tell them you never agreed to auto renewal so don't know why their making the charge in the first place?
We're not getting the full story here.
Insurers would have emailed you informing you of cost, date of renewal and the fact it was on auto renew.
They may have sent a reminder.
On the day of renewal you would have received a card declined email/message.
You would have then received some form of communication saying that if not paid within X days then policy cancelled.
Insurers would have emailed you informing you of cost, date of renewal and the fact it was on auto renew.
They may have sent a reminder.
On the day of renewal you would have received a card declined email/message.
You would have then received some form of communication saying that if not paid within X days then policy cancelled.
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