Forgot to cancel my DD car insurance when i sold car!

[robbocop33]

So,after checking my partners bank account i realised there were still payments coming out for a car we sold,in October 2021! :-)I just clean forgot to cancel it so i have immediately cancelled the DD,should i get the year's money back dated?It's Halifax,they're being,ahem,a bit awkward about this!

[Captain_Morgan]

No

[alscar]

Ignoring the fact the insurance company should also have noticed earlier , I would have thought a reasonably brief email to them should see a full refund.
If you get no joy from phoning then send said email to their complaints dept.

[crankedup5]

I did forget to cancel my annual insurance payment and when the penny dropped I phoned the Insurance broker. They arranged for a refund from the Insurance Company if I produced the evidence of the sale of the car. They also said they would make every effort to get refund back to date of sale. Try your Insurance Company for refund.

[wpa1975]

You forgot to cancel the policy, I cannot see how this is the insurance companies fault

[mikey_b]

alscar said:

Ignoring the fact the insurance company should also have noticed earlier , I would have thought a reasonably brief email to them should see a full refund.
If you get no joy from phoning then send said email to their complaints dept.

How could the insurance company have noticed earlier? If OP didn't tell them, by what mechanism should they have found out?

[alscar]

The fact that no policy was in place and that it was in fact cancelled ?

[alscar]

Mikey , actually reading the OP post I can see where I might have erred !
If the OPalso forgot to cancel the Insurance itself then I’d say no chance of getting money back.

[vikingaero]

Buy the car back and crash it to teach the Insurance Company a lesson!

[KungFuPanda]

Another worry would be that the purchaser of the vehicle didn't insure it, crashed the car and then the OP's insurer would be on the hook as RTA insurer or Article 75 insurer and the OP could have to pay them back their outlay. Very unlikely but it has happened in the past.

[VeeReihenmotor6]

Cancel the DD now to prevent any further payments. Contact the insurer, email is probably better and attach any proof of sale documentation you have and explain the situation.

At best the insurer will refund you on goodwill but realistically they don't need to send anything back to you.

That said I had a colleague at work who had been paying mobile phone insurance for 8 years that he forgot to cancel (I know, I laughed too) however he managed to get it all back after writing to them. His was a little different as he said he could not remember signing up for the insurance and asked them to prove that he did.

[alscar]

As per my post I misread this part although in my pathetic defence thought the OP was talking about forgetting to just cancel the DD from the Bank and not the Policy itself.
Which is obviously far worse.

[Ziplobb]

Did you call them or email them to cancel when you sold the car ? if you did and can prove that I would say you are entitled to a refund and maybe a refund from your bank under the direct debit indemnity scheme. If you did not do that the its your fault and not theirs and so its only fair that ypu have paid because they are still administering your policy. Cancel the direct debit ow though AND call them to cancel the policy though.

[Chucklehead]

it has been nearly two decades since i worked in insurance, but back then you could "cancel from inception" if you could demonstrate why. A short, simple letter telling them you sold the car, when, and with the proof you'll have from the DVLA should probably suffice.

[RazerSauber]

Proving you sold the vehicle with the little slip the DVLA send you should coerce them into giving you a refund but by no means do they have to, as far as I know.

[Durzel]

Is it a good idea generally speaking to cancel the DD out from under a company who has every right to continue taking payments (i.e. if the policy hasn't been formally cancelled)?

Seems the obvious thing to do is get in touch with the insurers, get the policy cancelled, then get them to cancel the DD (or do it yourself after you've made them aware of your error) and then negotiate the refund after that?

[DanL]

Ziplobb said:

Did you call them or email them to cancel when you sold the car ? if you did and can prove that I would say you are entitled to a refund and maybe a refund from your bank under the direct debit indemnity scheme. If you did not do that the its your fault and not theirs and so its only fair that ypu have paid because they are still administering your policy. Cancel the direct debit ow though AND call them to cancel the policy though.

This, but mostly replying to see what the outcome is when the OP comes back to update us…

[8IKERDAVE]

You may well do, it's certainly worth a shot.

I noticed recently I'd been paying home insurance on a property I sold in April 2021 until now. I called them, explained and they have refunded everything paid from the date I moved out.

[porterpainter]

Durzel said:

Is it a good idea generally speaking to cancel the DD out from under a company who has every right to continue taking payments (i.e. if the policy hasn't been formally cancelled)?

Seems the obvious thing to do is get in touch with the insurers, get the policy cancelled, then get them to cancel the DD (or do it yourself after you've made them aware of your error) and then negotiate the refund after that?

This.

If you just cancel the DD, the insurer would assume in the first instance that the policy was still required but just unpaid, so they’d follow up for payment and if you don’t pay then they will cancel your policy and possible chase you for the debt.

If an insurer cancels your policy (rather than the policyholder doing it) then you would need to declare this on future insurance policies which will likely lead to higher premiums!

You need to tell your insurer if you no longer require cover!

[swisstoni]

I can see both sides of this. Clearly it was an oversight on the Op’s side.
But the insurers have been bearing a risk for all that time as far as they were aware.

It depends how friendly they are feeling I suppose.