Asda money car insurance cancellation

[Prouty99]

Looks like i've been stung here

 

Took out a car insurance policy on 1st Jan 2015 with Asda money, not realising that my existing car insurance with Insurance factory had in fact rolled over from 2014 to 2015 therefore i was already insured and didn't realise it.

 

Once i realised the error i cancelled the Asda money policy within the 14 day cooling off period, and returned my insurance document to them, expecting that i would be refunded the £125 i had given to them as a deposit, less any cancellation fee which i didn't expect to be much.

 

On April 4th still hadn't heard anything. so emailed them so see what they were playing at as it had been 11 weeks, and 5 days since cancelling the policy without hearing anything from them via mail, phone, or email.

 

They sent me an email stating the following;

 

Hi XXXXXX

 

Policy number: AMXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Thank you for contacting me regarding your refund.

 

The necessary calculations have now been completed. Please find below the breakdown of how this has been calculated:

 

Paid: £125.21

Deductions:

Days on cover (inclusive of Insurance Premim Tax of 6%) £30.67

Direct Debit Set up Fee £27.50

Cancellation Fee £45.00

The return Premium due is £22.04.

 

Thank you again for contacting me, if there is anything else I can help with please let me know.

 

Yours sincerely

 

So there you have it. £22 refund for a £125 layout for a policy that was useless and not needed and ran uselessly for 12 days.

 

Two questions spring to mind;

 

Firstly, if i had an accident within that 12 days would i have been able to claim on both policies, if not then it was useless and may have been an invalid policy from day one

 

Secondly i recall that during the PPI thing that one of the reasons for refund was if you had adequate insurance elsewhere aside from the policy you were being sold.

 

Thoughts anyone ? Ombudsman maybe ? Does the ombudsman still charge the company that you lodge a complaint against, and if so is the charge more than the amount that i am looking to get back ?

[Prouty99]

Now i am confused....Here's the policy wording,

 

Cancelling within your 14 day cooling off period

You have the right to cancel your policy during a period of 14 days either from the day of purchase of the contract, or the day on which you receive your policy documentation; whichever is the later.

 

If you exercise this right and the cover has not yet commenced, you’ll be entitled to a full refund of the premium paid.

 

If the insurance has commenced and provided that you have not made a claim or a claim has not been made against you, we will return to you the amount that you have paid us, after deducting:

 

A pro rata deduction of the total premium for the time that you have been on cover.

A £45.00 cancellation charge

Where applicable, the Direct Debit arrangement charge.

All policy add-ons will be cancelled if your main motor policy is cancelled.

 

You will be required to return your Certificate of Motor Insurance immediately

 

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How can you take out car insurance and cancel within 14 day cooling off period when the insurance has not yet commenced ? Surely your insurance begins from the day that you take out the insurance (day 1).

 

Furthermore,

 

Outside the 14 day cooling off period

Annual insurance policies are arranged for a period of 12 months and you’re required to pay the full amount stated.

 

Where the insurance policy is cancelled outside the cooling off period, as long as you have not made a claim, or a claim has not been made against you, we will return to you the amount that you have paid us, after deducting:

 

A pro rata deduction of premium for the time that you have been on cover.

A £45.00 cancellation charge

A pro rata amount of commission earned by us for placing the insurance policy.

The full cost of all add-on products that you purchased.

Where applicable, the Direct Debit arrangement charge.

If the amount that you owe exceeds the amount that you have paid us, you will be required to make payment for the outstanding amount immediately. Failure to do so may result in us taking steps to recover the debt.

 

If there are any unpaid monies when the policy is cancelled, we may also withhold documents such as No Claims Discount to which you’re entitled, until full payment is made

 

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So it would seem that inside, or outside the 14 day cooling off period you still get whacked for the £45 cancellation fee...., i don't see the point in having the 14 day cooling off period at all, cos it doesn't give you much of a right to any advantage at all.

 

The direct debit arrangements were never utilised, and no first payment occurred before the policy was cancelled, but hey, lets charge you £27.50 anyway....

[CrappoMan]

When you purchase insurance, you can set a start date in the future, usually you are asked "What date do you wish cover to commence ?".

So if you pay for cover in the future, and you cancel within 14 days, and the cover hasn't started, you will get a full refund.

If cover has started, you only get a pro-rata refund less cancellation fees.

 

I think the direct debit setup fee is dubious, because they wouldn't charge that fee if the policy was left to run for 12 monmths.

That may be the standard fee charged to process change of circumstances, like change your DD details.

[Prouty99]

When you purchase insurance, you can set a start date in the future, usually you are asked "What date do you wish cover to commence ?".

So if you pay for cover in the future, and you cancel within 14 days, and the cover hasn't started, you will get a full refund.

If cover has started, you only get a pro-rata refund less cancellation fees.

 

I think the direct debit setup fee is dubious, because they wouldn't charge that fee if the policy was left to run for 12 monmths.

That may be the standard fee charged to process change of circumstances, like change your DD details.

 

Interesting, i would have thought that the direct debit setup would be the same irrespective of the length of insurance.

 

I think a standard 'threat to take to the ombudsman' may force their hand given the cost of complaint from the FOS versus the cancellation fee

 

Aside from this, i think that 12 weeks for a refund is excessive anyway. If i hadn't got in touch with them to prod them earlier on today, i believe i would have waited forever....

 

What do you make of the question about having multiple cover for the same car ? would multiple policies all pay out for the same accident ?

[Conniff]

You should have received a letter from your existing insurer saying the policy was nearing renewal date and if they don't hear from you it will automatically roll over.

If you didn't, then claim the costs of the Asda bill from them. Naturally they will claim a letter was sent, they always do.

[Prouty99]

I have sent Asda them a very nice email, so lets see what comes back

 

 

I'll keep you posted

[Prouty99]

Well, what can I say......

 

 

I received this reply within 24 hours.

 

 

Dear Mr. Prouty99

Policy Number: xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Thank you for your email which has been passed to me as your dedicated Complaint Handler on the Customer Relations Team. I have tried to contact you today; however there was no answer I therefore left a voice mail and sent you a text message.

Firstly, I would like to apologise for any inconvenience this matter may have caused you.

To ensure that I address all of your concerns, I have summarised my understanding of the issues you have raised below. Please can you read through this and confirm that it is accurate.

My understanding of your complaint is that you are unhappy that you have been charges a Cancellation fee and a Direct Debit set up fee, when your policy was cancelled within the 14 day cooling off period.

You are also not happy that you had to wait 11 weeks and 5 days to receive a reply from Asda Car Insurance regarding this matter, you believe this is unfair and would like this investigated.

Firstly, I apologise for the problems you have experienced with your insurance policy. I can see that your policy was cancelled with effect from the 13th January 2015 at 11:15, 12 days after the policy had commenced. As your Certificate of Motor Insurance is a legal document we require for this to be returned before we are able to calculate and process any refund that is due.

Your Certificate of Motor Insurance was received on the 22nd January and your refund was calculated and processed on the 28th January, within our 14 day timescale outline in our Terms of Business.

In your email you have confirmed that you previous insurance company had automatically renewed your insurance policy, I therefore complete a search on the Motor Insurance Database and can see that you were dual insured on the start date of your insurance policy with us.

I will therefore arrange for a full refund of the premium you paid for the deposit of this insurance policy to be returned to you. You paid a deposit of £125.21 and have received a refund of £22.04, I will therefore arrange for the difference of £103.17 to be issued to you.

How to accept this offer

Please reply to this email confirming that you accept this offer in full and final settlement of this complaint. As soon as I receive confirmation I will process your offer as a matter of priority.

Please confirm that I have provided a satisfactory resolution to your complaint.

Once again, please accept my sincere apologies for any inconvenience this matter may have caused you. If you wish to discuss the above offer or the details of your complaint, please do not hesitate to contact your complaint handler

 

 

The moral of the story is, If you don't ask, you don't get.....

 

 

Full refund....