Motor Insurance Policy Cancelled

[robert1961]

Recently our car insurance policy with Hastings Direct was cancelled by Hastings due to a direct debit failure.

On November 26th our monthly instalment failed and Hastings cancelled our policy on the 19th December and charged us a £55 policy cancellation fee.

They say their actions are documented in their terms and conditions and repeated requests by us to provide written evidence from their terms & conditions falls on deaf ears.

They are now saying the Consumer Credit Agreement entitles them to cancel our policy. Once again they refuse to provide us with written evidence or a copy of this agreement.

In thirty years of driving I have never known an insurance company to terminate a customer's policy due to a single direct debit payment failure.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[labman]

Re: Motor Insurance Policy Cancelled

Do you not have a copy of the T&C's from when you took the policy out? Did you get written warning that failure to catch up with payments might lead to your policy being cancelled?

[bluebottle]

Re: Motor Insurance Policy Cancelled

Hello Robert,

I am a retired policeman and during the time I was on the force, I dealt with a lot of insurance companies. Hastings doesn't exactly have a very good record. When an insurance company keeps changing its excuses, it usually means they have done something they shouldn't have done and mess you about to wear you down and get you off their backs.

In your case, they have come up with two excuses, but will not provide any evidence to back up what they say. My advice, at this stage is to send a Special Delivery letter to the CEO of Hastings Insurance marked "STRICTLY PRIVATE & CONFIDENTIAL - TO BE OPENED BY ADDRESSEE ONLY" on the envelope. This annotation means only the CEO him or herself can open the envelope - no-one else can. It also prevents the letter being intercepted by more junior staff. In the letter, explain what has happened and of Hasting's failure to provide evidence that they have a right to cancel the policy and charge £55 for canceling the policy. Give them seven (7) calendar days in which to provide you with a copy of their terms and conditions and the Consumer Credit Agreement.

Speak to the Financial Ombudsman Service before writing to see if they are prepared to take up your case if Hastings persist in messing you about. If FOS say they will, mention this in the letter to Hastings' CEO. Be happy with the fact every time a financial services business has a complaint referred to FOS, it costs them £500.

Come back onto this thread and let us know how you get on.

Bluebottle

[TUTTSI]

Re: Motor Insurance Policy Cancelled

Having worked in an insurance brokerage it is normal for an Insurance Company to cancel a policy if a DD is not met.

I would follow BB's advice and write to the CEO. We did this with our household cover when a DD was missed, my oh spoke to Aviva and they were going to collect the premium the following week. Sadly this did not happen and unbeknown to us they cancelled the insurance policy. A month later in the post we got the cancelation notice. I wrote to the CEO's office and they on this occasion has a recording of the phone call my oh had, the call centre operator did not make any notes about the conversation. Avivia deemed it to be their mistake and put us back on cover immediately and sent us a hamper.

The e-mail address you require is
edwardfitzmaurice@hastingsdirect.com

Please email him, keep everything in writing and let us know what he says.