A new way of doing insurance..

[M1tch]

….which in my mind is nothing shy of completely and utterly disgusting, disgraceful and needs to be outlawed.

I called my insurance company today to cancel a policy on a car I’ve sold (not the Tesla) and was informed I would still need to pay the remainder of the fee for the year (some £130). I asked why and they said that a company had taken out a loan to pay the insurance company in full and I now owe them the full balance even though I’m selling the car. Previously if I’ve cancelled a policy I stop paying and the cover stops! But not anymore….

The person I was speaking with has sold insurance and worked in that area for 30 years (so he said) and had also been caught out by this SCAM as he didn’t know it was a thing so had the same issue. Apparently it’s becoming more and more widespread and employed my lots of companies.

So, if you pay monthly, you could be the victim of the latest way of big companies robbing your hard earned cash by deceitful methods. I utterly utterly hate and despise the world we live in.

 

[GeorgeSymonds]

I guess it comes down to the terms and conditions which you can check before signing. I wouldn’t have checked this so you have my sympathy, but I would be digging them out and seeing if this is genuine or a broker that’s either trying a fast one or in trouble.

 

[M1tch]

I agree and having not yet checked the docs, can only agree it’s likely my fault - but who reads 50+ pages of terms? All done online with a few clicks and I’m well outside the 14day online sales thing.

Just find it disgraceful and deceitful

 

[Spacerat]

Might be useful naming and shaming so others can avoid!

 

[M1tch]

This one was with Adrian Flux but sounds like it’s quite mainstream now - it’s just hidden and we don’t know. Yet more lies and deceit on a national level

Just checked and this does show as a credit agreement on my Experian credit score. Absolutely unbelievable

 

[Tony Hoyle]

Monthly payment on insurance is normally a credit agreement but cancelling halfway through triggers a refund of the remaining owed so it cancels out and doesn't cost you anything (well, admin fees sometimes). That they've borrowed the money upfront is their problem, not yours.

It sounds like they're charging you the full year for insurance and not allowing you to cancel. That's just a scam IMO.

 

[Spacerat]

If you've been paying monthly, was there an uplift on the premium? If there was then their argument is bollox - they've been paid to finance the deal already, and they'll get the money back from whoever is underwriting the policy I'd have thought.

 

[M1tch]

No, was a fixed amount each month. Agreed upfront as per any other insurance I’ve had. It was fixed monthly payments each month for the 12 months. It’s absolutely blown my mind that this has happened and is a thing.

 

[Spacerat]

Yes but usually you get a quote for a single annual payment and a monthly payment - was the monthly payment a twelfth of the annual? If it was higher like it normally is, you were paying the finance charges already, so they shouldn't be able to force the additional payments.

 

[Js1977]

This is not that surprising. More surprising to me is that there isn't a cancelation charge/admin fee on top of that. Last cancellation i did they wanted an admin charge which depending on what you paid or how long there is left on the policy, you might get less back or actually have to pay more!. I just told them to keep the policy running and they told me I couldn't if I no longer had the car. I told them I had not sold it yet and would let them know when I did.

They did thankfully tell me that the only way they would wave the charge was if I wanted to transfer to something like an import that they are unable to insure... guess what I did