I cancelled my auto insurance inside cooling-off period, but was still charged
I’d want to ask your opinion of insurers offering cooling-off periods for those who change your mind, however levying substantial charges if you undertake.
I recently purchased insurance derived from one of Call Insurance. For my part the application process wasn’t great of course, if I received the certificate via email the very next day, it was actually unreadable. As soon as i complained I had been told the problem was with my computer.
As an effect I am choosing to consider use of the 14-day cancellation. I’m told the firm would refund the unused premium, but it surely made no reference to a cancellation fee.
I have right now been charged a 49.99 set-up fee and 24.14 for time on cover (a lot less than Twenty four hours) C when using 74.13. I believe it is excessive. Either there is a straight to cancel or else you don’t. AW, by email
We have had several letters complaining about high cancellation fees recently, and indicate you have the difficulty for the Financial Ombudsman Service which will decide if you happen to be treated fairly. FOS says insurers can charge a pro-rata premium to your time on risk C available for you per day C with an admin fee that has to get “proportionate” into the price of cancelling the agreement. It also says insurers should tell consumers about these charges before they take away the insurer.
You paid 24.14 for that day’s cover, suggesting that either your original annual premium was 8,811, or One Call haven’t charged you pro-rata. The FOS will be looking at whether a 50 admin fee is regarded “proportionate”. Being a comparison, Aviva charges an admin fee of 38 for cancelling policies.
One Call says its charges are entirely justified and in line while using the Financial Conduct Authority regulations. “We encourage all people to watch our comparison to its business and initial disclosure document before they purchase. This really is provided at various stages just before accepting an insurance quote online. Detailed information are normally found from the ‘our charges’ and ‘policy cancellation’ sections,” it states.
We think make sure you complain to the FOS, and we will publish the final results if and only if it picks your complaint
We welcome letters but cannot answer individually. Send us an email at [email protected] or write to Consumer Champions, Money, the Guardian, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Please add a daytime phone number
