Ecar insurance & Panacea Finance woes

[Smasher]

Hi peoples hope you are well

I took out a car insurance policy with ecar in March & pay the monthly installments thru Panacea finance.
Ecar insurance is an online only insurer, so I thought no problem, I can use the interweb net well enough..

Last week, I got a new car, so went onlint to amend my policy. Went thru all the steps and when I got to the end, it just said 'unable to process your quote'. No explanation, no suggestion what to do next. So the next time I log in, it shows that mod term amendments are pending, click to complete, however, the time I asked for the insurance to change is now in the past, so I go thru the steps again and get the same result as before.

I have written several emails and complaints and a week down the line, still no reply.

They have a £1 a minute phone number that puts you on hold as long as they are legally allowed, but nobody actually answers.
If I want to cancel the policy, they want £75 cancellation fee.
Now, being as the website & service is not fit for purpose, I don't want to pay that £75!

So, I had to insure my car with another company and I just went & cancelled the direct debit to panacea finance.

I now got a letter (a day after I cancelled the DD!) which says they will instruct the insurer to cancel my policy, but also:
* That doesn't mean that it will cover the remaining balance
* This letter serves as a default notice

Now, I'm a little out of touch with fighting stuff like this, so I could do with some advice what to do next. I'll check the T&Cs, I'm guessing I can argue some are unfair given that they simply weren't providing the service I was paying for.

[Bill-K]

Re: Ecar insurance & Panacea Finance woes

Hi Smasher - good to see you again !!!

Yes - check the T&C's. I cancelled insurance on a taxi mid-term last year. Simply cancelled the DD and emailed them to say the cover was no longer needed. The finance company (I was paying the premium by monthly DD's) demanded I pay a penalty charge, and I told them that the insurance policy T&C's precludes this. They ignored this and sent a couple more demands, which I treated with the same contempt. Eventually they gave up.

I daresay I'll get another attempt from a DCA sometime soon, as they will probably have sold the account on by now. If they're lucky, I might just respond - by sending them a 'prove it' letter. If I can find more detail on this in what I laughingly call my filing system, I'll post up.

[Smasher]

Re: Ecar insurance & Panacea Finance woes

Thanks Bill, nice to see you too

I'll have an exciting read thu the T&Cs tonight & fire off a letter tomorrow.
It's actually not the finance company who want the £75, its ecar.
I'm sure I'll soon hear from them now that they want my money..

Its the default notice that really annoys me, not that I'm after credit anytime soon, but just that they can dish them out like that.

I'm sure there will be something in the T&Cs that I agree to pay the £75 for cancellation, but I didn't actually cancel the policy, I just stopped paying for it. My argument being that I am not getting the service I am paying for. Not that that ever stood in the way of the finance industry ripping people off..

I guess we'll see..

[labman]

Re: Ecar insurance & Panacea Finance woes

Don't mix up the default notice with a default on your CRF. The default notice should give you 14 days to remedy any arrears, after which they will terminate the agreement. This is entirely separate to reporting to credit reference agencies.

It might be worth getting Trading Standards involved if their modus operandi is to keep you on hold at £1 per minute.

If you have time still, I would get in and cancel the policy first, regardless of monies outstanding. This is because on renewal you are asked if you have ever had insurance cancelled or special terms imposed. You need to be able to answer 'No' to this question, otherwise it might affect any future claim you may have.

[des8]

Re: Ecar insurance & Panacea Finance woes

Hi
Labman is right about cancelling insurance before insurance company cancels it for you.
Regarding the charges you will have three lots
1) the insurance company.....early cancellation means you pay more than pro rata for the short period. This is because set up costs are the same for 12 months or 1 month, and in addition there are admin costs in cancelling.
2) the finance company because you have essentially repaid a loan early
3) the broker because they are no longer proper insurance brokers.
1) & 2) will probably be rolled into one charge and IMO are basically fair. No 3) will be in brokers terms but IMO is a rip off.
I suspect that so far you have only been told about the so called broker's fee.

[des8]

Re: Ecar insurance & Panacea Finance woes

Ecar cancellation charge now appears for new policies to be £45 +any premiums owing. (recently reduced from £75)
Were you aware that they charge upto £60 for arranging the instalment plan?

Internet insurers are to be avoided like the plague.

[labman]

Re: Ecar insurance & Panacea Finance woes

I was caught out with Panacea Finance and an online insurance company a while ago, I forget which it was. I managed to negotiate a reduction, then paid up and put it down to experience.

[labman]

Re: Ecar insurance & Panacea Finance woes

Read pages 8 and 9 of the attached.

[Smasher]

Re: Ecar insurance & Panacea Finance woes

Well, I guess I'm in for another wallet bashing then..

I am still holding onto the fact that the 'service' I am paying for simply doesn't exist, therefore I am within my rights to stop paying, but I guess that doesn't apply to financial services.
I have made a video of myself using their website, attempting to update my vehicle, which clearly shows the damn thing doesn't work.

Maybe I'm better off to pay the shark, learn the lesson and get on with my life..

[labman]

Re: Ecar insurance & Panacea Finance woes

I'd at least put up a fight having cancelled the insurance. The finance people just want your money, but their T&C's work against you as you can see. A reduction may be possible - it's got to be worth a go.

[Smasher]

Re: Ecar insurance & Panacea Finance woes

Hmm ok, I'll; give it a go.
Only thing is, if I go thru the cancellation process, then I am accepting to pay the £75 fee.

The bottom line for me is, they are right now in breach of contract, since they are not providing the service they agreed to provide and this has now cost me, yet I now have to pay them to terminate the contract.. Sucks! :P

[des8]

Re: Ecar insurance & Panacea Finance woes

Your problem is if you don't cancel , the insurance company will cancel for non payment of premium. This will have to be declared to all future insurers you approach. The question they ask is "have you ever had a policy cancelled by an insurer?" and you must answer truly otherwise you risk your new policy being voided in the event of a claim.
If you cancel, the insurer will calculate the outstanding premium, and will request payment through Ecar , who is also looking for his £75.
If the insurer doesn't get paid he will probably with hold your no claims bonus (if you have one).

You could try just paying the premium required by the insurance company, and then challenging Ecar's charges. If you write recorded delivery to the insurance company CEO directly complaining of the way Ecar operate, and copy Ecar's holding company, you may have some success. If they then turn you down complain to FOS, not always successful but it costs them and delays matters
Good luck

[wales01man]

Re: Ecar insurance & Panacea Finance woes

having taken out car insurance online many times with many companies I must say,that on all of them there are terms and conditions displayed setting out all the terms and any fees charged if policy is cancelled this MUST be ticked as read and accepted before you can take out the policy

[des8]

Re: Ecar insurance & Panacea Finance woes

Hi Wales.
Agree with you that T&Cs are always there and you tick the box.
However these companies make these T&Cs difficult to read, or even access. Ecar's site is not user friendly. It took quite sometime to find what their charges were.
And their charges are horrendous and bear no relationship to the actual costs involved (except in fantasy world). Just because they tell you in advance that they are going to mug doesn't make it any more acceptable.

I have impressed on my family that buying services like insurance over the internet can be a mugs game unless you do read and UNDERSTAND all the terms and conditions. Might seem cheap but....................

[labman]

Re: Ecar insurance & Panacea Finance woes

Depends how you Google them. I did Ecar terms and conditions and they came straight up. (He says with a smug grin! Only joking Des:beagle