Problem with Breakdown Insurance, want payment to not renew policy

[Ms_Owe-A-Lot]

I have an issue with a breakdown insurance company called Nova Direct.
I took out a policy with them last year, but as the car insured has since been scrapped I asked them not to renew it this year. In their renewal notice it says you have to call them to discuss your cancellation options. On the phone they said they can't cancel it, they have to send me a link which gives me the option to opt out of auto renewal. This link takes me to a payment page where they want me to pay an admin fee so they don't renew the policy. Unless I pay this, they will auto renew and charge my card again for another years insurance which I don't need. I am not paying a company for not renewing a policy, so I sent them a letter telling them not to renew the policy and that I am revoking all ongoing charging authorities I may have entered into when I first took out the policy. I paid it with my credit card initially, so I called my credit card issuer and advised them that I lost my card. So they stopped the card and they will issue me with* anew one. Hopefully that will stop Nova Direct to charge the card again. Is there anything else I should or could do ?

[des8]

Make an official complaint in writing to them.
They cannot charge an admin fee if you instruct them in advance of renewal that you do not require the policy renewed.
Requiring you to discuss cancellation options (you are not cancelling but allowing policy to lapse) is a no no.
To advise you you cannot opt out of auto renewal without using their link is an unfair term

Tell them additionally that if you are dissatisfied with their response you will be making complaint to FOS & FCA

[Ms_Owe-A-Lot]

Thank you for that. The auto renewal is on the 12th of June. But it says in their renewal e-mail they will charge my card 7 days before that. It also says I cannot cancel or opt out of auto renewal of the policy by post, over the phone or by e-mail. The only way is for them to send me an e-mail link which then takes me to a cancellation page where I have to 'opt out' of policy renewal, and for that I have to pay a fee of 25% of the annual premium. !!* But thank you for the post, I will do as advised
*

[efpom]

You no longer have an insurable interest. You are entitled to be refunded a portion of the insurance premium already paid, running from the time the vehicle was scrapped.

If you paid by direct debit, just cancel the direct debit.

*

[Ms_Owe-A-Lot]

The mid term cancellation fee would have been almost more than the whole years premium, so I let it run and decided not to renew at point of renewal.(I.e. now) But now they are making the 'not renewing' also subject to a fee and very very difficult to do. I paid with my credit card and they said they will keep my financial details and keep charging unless I pay to 'opt out of the renewal cycle' . So I told my credit card issuer I lost the card. They have stopped it and will send me a new one in a short while. This will hopefully stop the Insurance Company from charging the card again

[des8]

When you write to the insurers also instruct them they are no longer authorised to debit your credit card.
Also instruct the credit card to cancel* the Continuous Payment Authority, just changing the card might not be sufficient to stop the payments.
Direct debits aren't possible with credit cards, you can only set up CPAs

[MIKE770]

Nova = the worst -- they want you to pay £10 + to cancel auto renew and then some I found on home emergency cover,,,, they are the worse company I ever come across in 70 years,*complain and they waffle on it is all in small print, and has anybody complained to FOS??* as this company has been doing it for years?? peeps avoid anything headed NOVA this that the other!!!" be warned I paid £130+* for cover + boiler service guess what no boiler service until end of policy year, but the boiler has to have been serviced within a year previous , so after I ended up paying another company to service boiler, after all arguments! and they ignore the rest!

So I can relate to the above problem look ar reviews all bad any good must be own staff postings???

[Ms_Owe-A-Lot]

I have revoked the CPA for Nova Direct in my letter to them and asked them to delete all my financial details from their database...according to my card issuer I would have to let all companies know my new card details which take regular payments of it. So I took that as they automatically cancel all existing CPA. I haven't received my new card yet and won't activate it until the Nova Direct date of charge has come and gone. However, if all fails I will ask the credit company to do a chargeback, as I revoked the CPA with NOVA Direct in my letter to them so all future attempts to charge my card I would consider as unauthorised.

[Ms_Owe-A-Lot]

PS: Regrettably I only read all the horrendous reviews about NOVA DIrect on the internet when it was too late. Needless to say I will never use them again