Car insurance law

[maldini32]

I took out a new car insurance policy on the 24th of june, i now wanna cancel it as their decided to icrease the premium a few days ago. Ive told them i wanna leave ive already paid £120 as my first payment (im on dd). I phoned up to cancel but they are telling me that i would need to pay them £220 plus 15% commission and its fairly obvious they are taking the absolute piss.
The company is broker king and i got the policy from gocompare.

I need some advice as to where i stand regarding the cancellation, do i legally have to pay that or are they just a cowboy company taking me for a ride. If they wer'nt such twats id just pay them the monies, i got through to the call centre i asked to speak to a supervisor 'unfortunately sir there is no supervisor'

Absolute f**n joke!

Help me ppl!

[byronkincaid]

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/

[StuartHopkin]

When you first accepted the policy this was probably in the terms and conditions.
Probs pretty standard as they now wont get paid their full commision on the insurance.

[maldini32]

cheers byron, thats the one.

Yeah stu been going through terms and conditions looks like im fucked.

Its the way they were with me on the phone that really wound me up, i was thinking of leaving them that just outta spite think ill just pay them the extra and try not to contact them again.

[boldie]

I thought the cooling down period was about 14 days or something but surely that's not relevant here? You bought something for a certain price and now, within days of buying it, they go "ohno, pay us more money".

I am fairly sure they can't do that and, unless they really are cowboys, am I wrong in thinking there's more to it than that?

 I have never heard of an insurance company upping their rates within days...especially as you sign up for a year at a certain rate.

Correct me if I'm wrong.

[maldini32]

http://www.taagl.com/termsandconditions/brokerking.pdf

Go down to cancellations and its there. FML

[boldie]

http://www.taagl.com/termsandconditions/brokerking.pdf

Go down to cancellations and its there. FML

yeah, and that makes sense and you can't argue with that BUT, they upped their rates, you said? Why did they do that? and surely that invalidates the cancellation fee, especially as the cool down period would have to start again? (unless they told you they were upping their rates and you said "Yeah OK")

[pokerfan]

http://www.taagl.com/termsandconditions/brokerking.pdf

Go down to cancellations and its there. FML

yeah, and that makes sense and you can't argue with that BUT, they upped their rates, you said? Why did they do that? and surely that invalidates the cancellation fee, especially as the cool down period would have to start again? (unless they told you they were upping their rates and you said "Yeah OK")

Looks like this is your only chance, why exactly has it gone up? Could they be in breach of the original agreement for putting it up?

[doubleup]

http://www.taagl.com/termsandconditions/brokerking.pdf

Go down to cancellations and its there. FML

yeah, and that makes sense and you can't argue with that BUT, they upped their rates, you said? Why did they do that? and surely that invalidates the cancellation fee, especially as the cool down period would have to start again? (unless they told you they were upping their rates and you said "Yeah OK")

Its "cooling-off" and I also don't understand how the cost has changed.  Car insurance is usually annual and doesn't change thru the year.

[boldie]

http://www.taagl.com/termsandconditions/brokerking.pdf

Go down to cancellations and its there. FML

yeah, and that makes sense and you can't argue with that BUT, they upped their rates, you said? Why did they do that? and surely that invalidates the cancellation fee, especially as the cool down period would have to start again? (unless they told you they were upping their rates and you said "Yeah OK")

Its "cooling-off" and I also don't understand how the cost has changed.  Car insurance is usually annual and doesn't change thru the year.

ah yeah, Sorry Sir...I'm not from round them these here parts

but that was indeed my point earlier...I've never heard of it changing within a few weeks.

[EvilPie]

What was the total premium when you first took out the policy?

According to the t & c's when you pay by installments you pay a deposit then 8 monthly payments. Doesn't the deposit cover the 30% which is non returnable upon cancellation? If it doesn't then they are stupid for letting you do this in the first place.

The most important thing you need to do is cancel your direct debit. If you don't they could take the money themselves and you could have problems getting it back.

If I were you I would write to them saying that you wish to cancel the policy because you can no longer afford it. Make sure you say that this is why you're cancelling.

Work out how much you think you owe them and quote it in the letter. This figure should be 30% of the total original premium. Tell them that owing to your current financial situation you are only able to pay £3 per month and that you will set up a standing order to make this regular payment.

This way if it goes to court they'll be laughed at because you are trying your best to pay them.

Sounds like they're trying a bit of a rip off to me. I don't see how they can change the premium after you've signed up. Because of that I'd make their life as awkward as possible.

Thieving *****!!!!!!!

[doubleup]

Tell them that owing to your current financial situation you are only able to pay £3 per month and that you will set up a standing order to make this regular payment.

OP has to be careful - if he owes them money they can refuse to release his no claims discount.  So he'll end up paying more with another insurer.

[TheChipPrince]

Sorry to hijack maldini, but my gf passed her test yesterday, can I expect our policy to jump up a couple of hundred now she's changed from 'provisional' to 'full' licence??

[Sack it off]

I'm getting screwed at the moment.

I took out insurance through Kwik Fit (who acted as my broker), who sorted me out a deal with NIG insurance.

I had a minor bump last august however it was just a scrape so I didn't claim any damages to my car.

I told NIG and Kwik Fit what happened and they said I don't need to do anything they will sort it from here. I never heard anything after that

When my renewal was due Kwik Fit told me that NIG refused to insure me however they have found a quote which matches my last one, so they said if they don't here from me they will just transfer me onto the new policy which was with Highway insurance. Kwik Fit said "I needn't do anything"

After about 4 months through the policy I get a letter from Highway telling me that I no longer have 1 years no claims bonus therefore my premium will be increasing. I phoned them up and told them that I never had one years no claims I reported a crash in august...
They said they were told I had one years no claims bonus and this was the wrong information therefore my premium has increased to £3800.. WTF
So I told them where they can shove that offer and they said I was allowed to cancel HOWEVER
I have to pay them back the payments that are missing, so I can be charged the correct amount as if I had zero no claims. ie backdate the payments as if my premium was £3800

Surely this isn't allowed???

That is like buying a sofa for £200, then it turns up at my door and they tell me I have to pay £500 for it and I have no choice as I have agreed to buy the sofa.

I have contacted the financial ombudsman and they seem to be on my side in this case and its in the process of being sorted, but I'm still seriously pissed off..

[boldie]

Who the hell calls the insurance company to report a minor bump they are not going to claim on?