motor insurance - how crazy is this?

Question

my mum has a policy with norwich union which shes had a few years and im the only named driver. about a month ago at renewal i wrote to them to say we didnt need the policy any more. my mother has dementia and im now taking my own policy. i didnt hear anything and they took the direct debit out. i rang them this morning to ask what was happening first thing was they said i cant write as its a phone company only, i didnt know that as i didnt take the policy out. then they passed me to someone in india who said only my mother could cancel the policy theres nothing he could do and he needed to speak to her. i explained that she has dementia and a. is not even here any more but in a home and b. that its unlikely she would even know what an insurance policy was let alone that she had one with norwich union. he could offer no solution and i said that i would then have to cancel the direct debit which i am able to do as her POA and let them cancel policy for non payment

last year my brother contacted them and changed me to the main driver and explained to them she has dementia, they did that even tho he has no connection to the policy and i as named driver have been able to add my daughter to the policy temporarily.

Answer 1

I've heard of this before with Norwich Union - send them a letter by recorded delivery with a copy of your original letter cancelling the policy and request a refund of monies paid (put in the amount you are claiming back). You'll need to state in your letter that they have 30 days to repay the direct debit that has been taken, and that if they don't comply then you will be taking your case to the Insurance Ombudsman.

Answer 2

If you have been given control of the estate you make all decisions regarding your mum.
So you can cancel the direct debit, you can also cancel the policy as if it were your mum doing it.
Ignore them saying that they will take the money regardless. Write a letter to them a saying that if the money is not returned then legal action will be taken. Follow this up with a phone call. Then if that doesnt work take them to court.

Answer 3

Unbelievable how thick some of the staff at these companies are! I understand your frustration with the whole situation, as my Father has Alzheimers and we come up against "job's worth" types all the time. How many times we've been told to get my father to phone them or write to them....... you know what I mean here, dont you! Just cancel the direct debit and that's the end of it. If they dont get paid, they will just cancel the policy. Frustrating though, I'm sure.

Answer 4

Contact your bank ant tell them the direct debit was wrongly taken and should be replaced. Companies that won't respond to instructions in writing deserve all they get. You can bet they would want a written signed statement if you made a claim

Answer 5

Try the Norwich Union website for an e-mail contact facility

Answer 6

Sanjay in the Mumbai call centre strikes again. The call centre that Amex uses couldn't even get a simple change of address right, resulting in me losing a card I'd held for nearly 20 years.

Answer 7

firstly sorry to hear about your mum, having had a similar problem with aol i agre with all of the others who answered to advocate stopping the direct debit, it,s the only thing they understand. also i think it,s a tactic to get a few more direct debits rather than administrative errors,computer problems etc.etc.

Answer 8

It's typical of Indian call centres. I'm having the same problem with Citi Cards. They simply tick boxes, they do not understand English.

Answer 9

Make sure you cancel everything with the bank,

Answer 10

WHY DON'T YOU JUST CALL YOUR LOCAL DMV OFFICE, THEY WILL BE ABLE TO ANSWER ANY AND ALL OF YOUR QUESTIONS AND AT THE SAME TIME YOU WILL BE GETTING THE CORRECT ANSWER TO YOUR QUESTION.