QuoteA/Axa car insurance cancellation charges

[ew23]

Newbie poster here, although I have been reading the site for some time.

 

In Sept 2011 I renewed my car insurance with Axa through QuoteA. I have been with them since 2007. My premium was £215.50 plus insurance tax of £12.93. I negotiated by phone out of being charged any policy arrangement fee. I discussed with QuoteA at the time the possibility that my car might fail its MOT in December, and be uneconomical to repair, and this was acknowledged. I was made aware of the cancellation charges for early cancellation, which for 4 months into the policy would see only 35% of the premium refunded, plus £25 being payable to QuoteA as a cancellation charge. I have at no point during the four years been given a full copy of the policy with Axa, just a summary of terms and conditions.

 

I opted to pay by ten monthly instalments, of £28.93 each, and have paid 4 instalments so far, totalling £115.72. Finance was arranged by QuoteA though a finance company Premium Credit Limited, so the total charge for credit works out at £60.87.

 

Anyway, my car failed its MOT badly just before Christmas, and has been sitting off road since then. The road tax expired at the end of December, and I have done a SORN notification until I decide whether to scrap it or teach myself enough car maintenance to do the repairs myself. I phoned QuoteA today to explain and to advise them that the car has no MOT or tax and has been SORN’ed. They took that as a requirement to cancel the policy, and informed me that the total sum payable would be £71.95, and I could pay that in instalments if required. I declined to do anything as yet, and said I would phone them back.

 

My gut feeling is that these types of cancellation charges are not enforceable under UTCC. I suppose that I should ask QuoteA and/or Axa for a breakdown of the calculation of the refund, and to show that the charges are fair and proportionate. My questions are:

 

(1) is QuoteA acting as my agent or as agent for Axa? They quite clearly state on their terms and conditions: “You will not receive advice or a recommendation from us on any products, but we will offer you the lowest price products we have available which are closest to your requirements – it is then your choice how you wish to proceed.” Sounds to me just like what a shop does;

 

(2) if I just notify Axa of my lack of MOT and road tax and the SORN status of my car, would they cancel the policy, and if so would I get any more refunded? (I see that from an Axa policy available on their web-site that they have the option of charging a £52.50 cancellation fee in certain circumstances, but it is not clear if that policy applies only to those who arrange direct with Axa, and if there is a different policy for those arranged through brokers).

 

You might think that £71.95 is not a lot of money, but I am currently not working, so every penny counts. It also irritates me that insurance companies think that they can gouge people like this. If all that was payable was a £25 cancellation fee to the broker QuoteA, I would be happy enough.

 

Thanks for reading, and any thoughts welcome.

[MARTIN3030]

Welcome to the site.

This is a situation I found myself in not long ago.

Premium credit were also involved with mine,and appear to be involved in financing not only motor insurance but home insurance etc too-so quite a big player.

I would put something in writing to all of them and with a CC so they are aware.

The crux of the matter is being able to show a good papertrail.

By all means ask for a breakdown of the cancellation fees and one which shows any loss to them for dealing with it.

They will usually say it is lost commission.

Make sure that you send them recorded and keep a copy-also ask them for a copy of their complaints procedure which they are obliged to send you.

Complaints against motor insurers to the FOS have actually shown a fall in the last couple of years and typically I think those complaints upheld are quite high-although those figures too have come down in reflection of complaints recd.

You certainly need to be in the driving seat and dont deal by email or phone.

In a few cases I have seen,the policyholder has actually had all charges wiped because most of these motor insurers simply are not geared up for communication in writing when it comes to dealing with complaints.

You may even experience demands for payment AFTER writing to them.

With this happening so frequent-they know that the FOS is very likely to uphold a complaint where it is obvious they have not dealt properly.

And there is very little chance they will go near a small claims Court unless we are talking £100s

Keep us updated anyway.