Squirming out of insurance

[gettin2dizzy]

Anyone managed to get out of car insurance contracts early? I'm wanting to change my address on my car policy, and they want to charge me an additional £440 for the year! That's doubling my existing policy!

Whilst I understand the terms and conditions state I'm liable for the rest of the year, isn't the contract frustrated anyway? Thieving gits!

Let me know if you've managed it :thumbsup:

[Binky]

Can you not, just cancel the insurance. Sure you only get a nominal fee back and they may charge an administration fee, but that would be far less that £440, surely?

Maybe i've missed something, making this seem easier that it is. :confused:

[the_lone_wolf]

Is the extra premium because the address is in a higher risk area?

You could just write off the car...

[El Saxo]

EDIT. Ignore me, mis-read the OP's username and thought you were someone else! FAIL. :lol:

[gettin2dizzy]

Can you not, just cancel the insurance. Sure you only get a nominal fee back and they may charge an administration fee, but that would be far less that £440, surely?

Maybe i've missed something, making this seem easier that it is. :confused:

I'd have to pay £300 to cancel - the remaining balance on the insurance.

-It's a higher risk area yeah ... but it's third-party insurance only :rolleyes: Justify that!

[Biker Biggles]

I dont understand.Why do you have to pay them £300 to cancel?Just dont pay them and the policy cancels itself surely?

[gettin2dizzy]

Because there's 10 months left on the policy, so they want the remaining 10 months premium to be paid.

I hadn't realised this- but if you pay the whole thing upfront they're duty bound to pay some of it back if you cancel. It's only when you pay monthly instalments you're contractually bound to pay for the whole year regardless of whether you sell the vehicle or not. I'll be doing that from now on!

[arenalife]

Is this a new thing or have you just got a terrible set of terms and conditions? I've often cancelled policies and have always got the remaining value back minus £50 - £100. I recently cancelled one I had on monthly and it just cancelled, no charge or further payments needed. Is this what they told you on the phone?

[gettin2dizzy]

Yep - and a quick google says this is getting more common as margins on car insurance are getting smaller. I think I'll just tell them to take me to court over it. I think they're trying their luck to be honest.

[Bibio]

if you are moving address and your premium is going up and the insurance company are 'not competitive' i think you have a right to seek insurance elsewhere. you can also cancel a DD (in writing) threw your bank and if the bank pay any moneys after the cancellation date they they are responsible for paying you it back. dont be fooled by the 'you cant cancel a DD once you have signed' that is not true, your bank has to do as you ask or they are breaking the banking code.

if on the other hand your insurance company are using a loan company to pay your premium and you are paying the loan company by DD (intermediary (sp)) then you are responsible for paying the loan/DD if full at any time you cancel the policy.

this is all from past experiences and things may have changed.

[tactcom7]

I took out some cas insurance, paid them 347 deposit over the phone. Then when the documents arrived they'd added on another 160 odd quid for the monthly payments, due to me being slack I rang them after 14 and a half days to cancel and was told as I was outside the 2 week cool period, I had to pay them an extra 243 cancellation charges. So I have effectively had to pay 600 pounds for less than 15 days insurance. :-(

[L3nny]

I had the same when I bought my Fireblade. I renewed on the SV then 3 months later sold it and got the blade.

The underwriters I was with would not cover me with the Blade but the brokers were so keen to keep my business they did me a good deal with another underwriters and they waived the cancellation fees and I got 12 months insurance for the price of 9.

If they are brokers call them up ask to speak to a manager say you really like them and want to keep your business with them and they will probably give you a good deal.

[-Ralph-]

Call the citizens advice bureau, there you will get proper advice for free. These things are so subject to individual T&C's that there's not likely to be anybody on here that really knows. There may be laws or regulator guidelines that contradict the T&C's.

I took out some cas insurance, paid them 347 deposit over the phone. Then when the documents arrived they'd added on another 160 odd quid for the monthly payments, due to me being slack I rang them after 14 and a half days to cancel and was told as I was outside the 2 week cool period, I had to pay them an extra 243 cancellation charges. So I have effectively had to pay 600 pounds for less than 15 days insurance. :-(

Surely would have been better off just keeping the policy and paying ~£500 for a year? If they told you the amount you paid on the phone was a "deposit" were you not expecting to have to pay a balance? How much did you then pay to another insurance company for the rest of the year?

[Scrawf]

It seems a lot of insurance companies who are having their margins squeezed by comparison sites are resorting to punitive tactics to try and lock you into a policy. As a general rule of thumb I make sure I read the whole policy (boring I know) and all the potential cancelation charges before taking the policy out. Our you could ring them and ask the pertinent questions about termination charges, changes to the policy, admin fees and the like. Make sure before you buy seems to be the way forward.

I don't know about you all but I feel that most insurance companies are 'snakes in the grass'. Not to be trusted. It worries me that if they are doing this sort of stuff up front when you buy, what are they going to be like when you have to make a claim?

[Biker Biggles]

It seems a lot of insurance companies who are having their margins squeezed by comparison sites are resorting to punitive tactics to try and lock you into a policy. As a general rule of thumb I make sure I read the whole policy (boring I know) and all the potential cancelation charges before taking the policy out. Our you could ring them and ask the pertinent questions about termination charges, changes to the policy, admin fees and the like. Make sure before you buy seems to be the way forward.

I don't know about you all but I feel that most insurance companies are 'snakes in the grass'. Not to be trusted. It worries me that if they are doing this sort of stuff up front when you buy, what are they going to be like when you have to make a claim?
Too right.Anyone who changes their bike,or any other relevant factors during a 12 month policy is in for a stinging.Ultimately they will drive their customers away to the likes of Ebike and others who allow variations.

[tactcom7]

Surely would have been better off just keeping the policy and paying ~£500 for a year? If they told you the amount you paid on the phone was a "deposit" were you not expecting to have to pay a balance? How much did you then pay to another insurance company for the rest of the year?

They quoted me originally £1350 for the year, so I accepted, then they rang back ten minutes later and said it would be £1500, so I said fair enough and paid the £347 deposit. Then when my documents arrived the total cost was in the region of £1650 because of the extra payments due to the finance.
I wasn't told this figure on the phone, only the £1500 amount.

So I tried cancelling and was told as I was into my 15th day I couldn't basically. So it cost me £600 roughly (450 goes to the insurers as they demand 30% of the policy upon cancelltion and the other £150 goes to the brokers towards there fees! what a bloody rip off. Even after I said i'd continue with te policy they said I couldnt because i'd already cancelled i and it couldn't be restarted.

gutted.

Edit, haven't bothered re-insuring it, can't afford it.