Insurance - Advice needed please (who do you use?)

Morning all!

I've got a Pay-as-you-go (monthly) insurance policy with eBikeInsurance. They work by sending out a new insurance policy every month, and on the bottom of the policy are the words "This policy is invalid if payment cannot be successfully collected from your account". I thought I'd check my bank account over the weekend and it came to light that for the past 5 months Panacea Finance, who handle the direct debits, haven't been collecting the amount from my account, effectively making my policy useless. The direct debit has definitely been setup for the money to go out of my account, but they simply haven't been collecting it.

My question is, am I still covered and the fault lies with them? I'm going to call them later on to clear this up, but I'm concerned that they will want the past 5 monthly payments in one big hit, in with case I'll say to them that I haven't been using the bike and the only reason I checked my account was because I've got the bike back on the road.

Oh yeah, and they've also removed Breakdown cover from my policy which is slightly annoying.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Cheers,
Paul

IMO (and strictly an opinion here), it was their fault they didn't collect payments, so long as you can prove finances were sufficient when the SHOULD of collected payment.

With that in mind, I believe that they have the right to want the payment back, and they will try to bully you (if they want it back) into paying in one lump sum. However, you can quite happily tell them that you can't afford to pay it back in a lump sum, and offer any amount for a repayment scheme (without interest) that you can afford. Including not paying it back.

I know people that have put this to the test with the Tax Credits system, successfully, but I don't know if it applies outside of Tax credits.

One of my friends in particular was overpaid, and Tax Credits worked out that she owes them £6000. She's a single mum, and was completely honest about her situation, they simply miscalculated payments, then demanded £6000 from her. Obviously being a single mum, she couldn't afford this, so refused outright to pay it. They keep asking, she says no, they they go quiet for a while.

HTH.

[northwind]

Originally Posted by svstreetfighter

"This policy is invalid if payment cannot be successfully collected from your account".

Very important, that. Basically, I would say you've not been insured. I have no idea of the legal implications of that, so if it was me I'd be finding out I'd also want something in writing from the insurers right now stating that due to their error your cover lapsed- just in case something comes up that would cause you problems if you'd not been insured, like a speeding ticket or somesuch.

Under their own terms, the policy's lapsed, so they can't strongarm you into paying. It might be that you'd prefer to have paid, though- could have legal implications, could have no-claims implications. They might try and say you should have noticed that the dd hadn't been collected. True... But they should have contacted you.

Get a copy of the DDI from your bank, as well, if you can- a screen print or whatever to show that it was set up. Cheap insurance...

[SoulKiss]

Originally Posted by svstreetfighter

My question is, am I still covered and the fault lies with them? I'm going to call them later on to clear this up, but I'm concerned that they will want the past 5 monthly payments in one big hit, in with case I'll say to them that I haven't been using the bike and the only reason I checked my account was because I've got the bike back on the road.

Dont know what happened exactly on the 29th after I went for my ride in the nice ambulance, but if the cops took your name, then there is a record you were on the bike in the last month.

Dont know if 2 and 2 could be put together but.........

Tell them you will pay it back, but not at once, and sort it out.

There are countless records of you on your bike - are they able to get the police to check with all the cameras in London to see if your Number plate shows up?

David - paranoid as always

Originally Posted by SoulKiss

There are countless records of you on your bike - are they able to get the police to check with all the cameras in London to see if your Number plate shows up?

Interesting although I doubt they'd go to all that trouble over a measly £180.

Thanks for all of the suggestions guys, I'm going to call them at 4pm and give them a polite ear full

Right guys, looks like I'll be looking for a new insurance broker since eBike are messing me around something chronic

So, what company do you use and can recommend?

Cheers,

Paul

EDIT -> Anyone use H+R Insurance Services? Just got a corking quote off them

[SoulKiss]

Originally Posted by svstreetfighter

Right guys, looks like I'll be looking for a new insurance broker since eBike are messing me around something chronic

So, what company do you use and can recommend?

Cheers,

Paul

H&R Insurance of Blackburn, Aberdeenshire.

https://www.hrinsurance.co.uk/motorc...cycle.asp?ref=

Never had a problem with them - even when I messed them about for loads of quotes, and then cancelled my SV policy 2 months in, ok so I was upping it from TPF+T to FC but

They also sent me a duplicate cert and didnt bother to charge me the £10 the original documentation said they would

David

Originally Posted by SoulKiss

H&R Insurance of Blackburn, Aberdeenshire.

https://www.hrinsurance.co.uk/motorc...cycle.asp?ref=

Never had a problem with them - even when I messed them about for loads of quotes, and then cancelled my SV policy 2 months in, ok so I was upping it from TPF+T to FC but

They also sent me a duplicate cert and didnt bother to charge me the £10 the original documentation said they would

David

Crikey, you're quick! I didn't even have time to edit the previous post Cheers David, checking them now!

[northwind]

I like Carole Nash- not cheap, but they've never taken the **** out of me as everyone else I've dealt with have. Good for mods too.

Originally Posted by northwind

I like Carole Nash- not cheap, but they've never taken the **** out of me as everyone else I've dealt with have. Good for mods too.

Just went on the Carol Nash site and it states that bikes cannot be modified .....i've seen this all over the place today.....what's the score with that?

Also with H&R, there's a clause that states the the bike cannot be an import. As mine's a Canadian import does that put it out of the running, or can I swing them round as it is a model sold in the UK?