car insurance?

Question

I opted to pay my car insurance by monthly direct debit and due to some error by my insurers it was never set up and neither I or them notieced the error for months. They are now asking for the arrears to be payed off,am I liable to pay or as the mistake was their error am I within my rights to refuse.

Answer 1

I'm a former insurance agent. My take on it is that if your policy was in force all that time, you should pay the premium. Here's the other thing....why did you not notice that the premium was not coming out of your bank account when it should have been? Don't you look at your bank statements? It seems that you're not totally without fault here. You obviously expected that the premiums were to be charged monthly to your bank account....you should have been asking questions when it didn't happen.

I would also consider switching companies....I would have a hard time trusting a company that doesn't notice that they're not getting paid. That being said, I would pay that back premium. They do have a right to it because they provided you the coverage, even if you didn't have a claim. Think of it this way...if you didn't have the coverage...you were driving without insurance and breaking the law! The insurance company could report your nonpayment to your secretary of state and they could come back to you and suspend your license for not having insurance. If you pay for the coverage, there's no issue.

One other thing; when you go to get insurance from another company (which it sounds like you should) in order to get their best rates you have to show that you have been insured continuously with no lapses in coverage. If you don't pay the premium, you have a lapse in coverage. All the good companies will check this and they WILL find out. A break in coverage could make you inelligible for their preferred rates and put you in the standard rates, which are typically double.

Answer 2

If the business was done over the telephone, ask if the calls are recorded. Then get the tape (you have a right to have a copy sent to you). If I were you I would cancel the insurance immediately. Do NOT make any payments as you are not obligated to. If you had an accident, when this situation was discovered the insurer would still have paid out on the claim provided you paid the arears. As there has been no claim you are not obligated to pay anything at all and it was your company's mistake. The post above is incorrect as it will NOT affect the price of your insurance in the coming years if you choose to cancel. That is only the case if it has been cancelled due to fraudulent claims etc There is no need to go to the extreme of contacting the FSA etc. Ask the next consultant you speak to for the full address to which you can direct a written complaint. Ask to speak to a supervisor immediately, and explain what has happened and that you want to cancel. Then send in a letter and you'll get it sorted satisfactorally. Trust me I do it every day and they WILL sort it out for you as they are desparate for your business. :)

EDIT : just checking back and it seems that a lot of people are BADLY mis-informed. You WOULD be covered if you had an accident. There are measures in place to protect the consumer against that sort of thing. What happens is they would ask you for the premium to date and they pay your claim, however, as with all insurance, if you make a claim you cannot then cancel the insurance later you must pay the full premium for the year. You will NOT recieve any kind of bad credit history etc from cancelling your insurance. When your provider asks "have you ever had any insurance cancelled?" They mean cancelled by the insurance company and NOT by you. This would be in cases of non-payment (refusal not through a mistake), fraudulet claims and more frequently, non-disclosure of previous accidents.

Answer 3

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RE Car insurance?

I opted to pay my car insurance by monthly direct debit and due to some error by my insurers it was never set up and neither I or them notieced the error for months. They are now ...show more

Answer 4

Since it was their error and presumably you have made no claim on them, you do not owe them anything. It does not seem a very competent organisation. Make as many waves as you can. Letters of protest to management with copies to the press. The Sunday Times is good at settling that sort of thing in the money section, and other newspapers have consumer crusades for just that kind of incident. Bet the Consumer Association would be interested in the story too and TV consumer programmes. However does it mean you are no longer covered if you have an accident? If this is the case you have to be quick and get insured elsewhere if necessary.

Answer 5

I would recommend one to try this internet site where you can get rates from different companies: http://insurancetocompare.info/index.html?src=2YAaxlyxYB17

RE :Car insurance?
I opted to pay my car insurance by monthly direct debit and due to some error by my insurers it was never set up and neither I or them notieced the error for months. They are now asking for the arrears to be payed off,am I liable to pay or as the mistake was their error am I within my rights to refuse.
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Answer 6

You need to pay for the insurance protection that was afforded you. If you had had a loss during that period, you would have been all over them to pay your claim. You don't get something for nothing. Next time, pay attention to your bank account to make sure the insurance is being paid.

Answer 7

If you want coverage for the past few months then yes you should pay. If you do not pay your coverage will be cancled and it will be difficult and much more expensive to get insurance in the future. You will be lucky if they do not charge you late fees and hold it against you. Talk to a higher up in the company and explain the situation. Perhaps they will be understanding and once you pay it will not be put on your record. If you do not pay they may turn it over to collections as well. Then you will have to pay and have a nasty mark on your insurance record. If you pay and they want to be bitchy about it file a complaint with the government and the BBB.

Answer 8

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RE Car insurance?

I opted to pay my car insurance by monthly direct debit and due to some error by my insurers it was never set up and neither I or them notieced the error for months. They are now asking for the arrears to be payed off,am I liable to pay or as the mistake was their error am I within my rights to refuse.

Answer 9

When you buy insurance, you are buying a promise. The company's promise to pay the claim. If you would have had a claim, they would have paid. You got what you should have paid for and you should pay for it.

Just because you didn't have a claim, doesn't mean you don't pay for the promise to cover your loss by the insurance company.

You are trying to get out of paying over a technicality.

Answer 10

Cheek of them eh ! - These companies who cant do things properly - then Blame Joe Public are shocking .. Cancel the Policy and move on -dont give them a penny..make sure you inform your bank not to release any cash to them... there is Hundreds of Insurance companies out there begging for your custom..