Insurance, was I mis-sold ???
 

OK, so I've had to claim for the SV, hey s**t happens.

When the 'Blade insurance was up for renewal I decided to get a multi-bike policy as the price was about the same as the Blade F/C and the SV TPFT, which meant both could have F/C insurance for about £700.

While I was trying to negotiate with the guy at Carole Nash, he offered hat I could pay £245 now, and the remainder split in equal payments over the next 3 months, at no extra cost. I could pay it in 1 go, but Bennetts didn't offer me this so I decided to stick with CN and take the "free finance" option.

So, when I make my claim I'm told that I have to pay the remaining balance before the claim can be actioned :shock: WTF, so why wasn't I told that when I made the decision. They made the sale on the promise of free finance, and now want to revoke the privilege... I've spoken to a supervisor who thinks that there is nothing wrong with how the guy sold it too me.

Don't get me wrong, CN are a great insurance company, and the SV has already been moved to a "proper" body shop, and the assessor is due in tomorrow. I'm just really annoyed at the way the policy was sold; I've been a sales professional for over 20 years and the attitude they've taken over this (to me) really stinks...

Am I just getting wound up for no reason ? I can afford to pay it, it's just the principal......

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Seems to be the norm with most insurance companies. They split they payments but as the policy is actualy for a year then you are still bound to the full ammount. If the policy was per month like mine you would not have this problem. Check the contracts but im sure it will say that you have to pay the balance before any claim is fully actioned & finalised. Its them trying to recoop the cost of the claim. Annoying.

I'm not upset about the terms, but I was sold the policy on this benefit, which they don't tell you can be taken away. Somebody may struggle to meet those payments, or even, you could have an accident and make a claim before the "booklet" actually gets to you....

I haven't been "fleeced", but I have, IMO been mis-sold.

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CN did the same to me when I trashed the bike in France :cry:

Apparently CN have paid the full sum to the insurers, and they have the arrangement with you whereby you pay the outstanding balance in instalments to them over the course of the term of the insurance.

I believe it's somewhere in the small print . . .

So you've got to cough up, as they've already coughed up :(

I dont think that you have been mis sold, as thats what i would expect the deal to be. However, it should have been pointed out that in the event of a claim, that the outstanding ammount on the insurance will need to be settled before a claim can go ahead, which afaik is the case no matter what instalement plan you are on.

Tis a bummer though steve. :(

we know what you mean, and i think everyone else would feel the same way, it's just the way they work

it could be hard for someone to pay, i'd ve interested to see what was in your small print

i'm fortunate, my mum pays the full nsurance on her tesco credit card (its the points you see) and i pay her back in installments/when i can <<< lucky me :wink:

i suppose its the same thing in that sense :roll:

Thanks Ian, that's exactly my point... I can pay it, I just would have liked to have known what the score was before I said "Yes"....

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I would make a complaint to the Financial Services Authority as they seem to be misrepresenting their product/service. You might need to ask them about their complaints procedure though (I'm not sure how get to the FSA directly. Northwind might know...)

Drew

If it's in the paperwork, then I think you'd get nowhere with the Ombudsman. Basically, insurers are not expected to tell you every detail of a policy before commencement. Instead, you get the cooling off period (can't recall what this is now for GI and motor insurance, but I think it's 14 or 28 days), which is designed to give you the opportunity to consider the full implications of the policy and to check the small print, and act upon it without prejudice.

It'd definately be good practice for them to tell you at the point of purchase, but I think that's all.

What's quite common in the industry with situations like this is to deduct any outstanding amount due on the policy from the settlement amount... Which always struck me as a reasonable and sensible approach.

Carole Nash are a bit different from most with this scheme though, I think... They seem to defer the payments, while most companies that offer you installments do it as a credit agreement. So in their case you've really not paid for the policy, whereas in the case of the credit agreement you actually have paid for the policy in full, and you're paying off a loan taken out to pay the policy. I could be wrong with this though. If I am wrong, then while it's not misselling it might be a breach of the Consumer Credit Acts, which would have much the same effect. Did you sign a credit agreement?

So no, I doubt it would be considered mis-selling. It could be considered bad selling, though.

What happened to the SV? I muust have missed that, you only just got the thing!

CN do charge for split payments, it's not free.


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