Car insurance renewed automatically even though asked to not renew it.

[Spider2021]

I have had my car insurance renew without my consent. I phoned the company about a week ago and spoke about quotes and they could not match the quotes that I had found online. I stated that I would not renew with them. I was told that I should phone again before my policy expires to tell them that I am not renewing. During that time I had my phone stolen and long story short all my bank details have changed (keep this in mind). As per instructions I called the insurance company on the last day of my policy multiple times on the last day that my policy was to expire. I could not get through to cancel my policy with the right department so tried a different department and got through. There the gentleman heard me out and kept apologising that there was no way to reach the renewal team as they were not taking any more calls. I figure companies do this by design as they do not seem to be held accountable for their actions. There is no way to cancel the policy online and with this company it is only possible by telephone during business hours which I phoned during that time. So I told that person all my details (policy numbers) and that I would not like to renew my car insurance. He said that he would pass that information along. Today I got an email stating that my policy had renewed but payment has not been taken and that I have to arrange for payment by a certain time period. I did mention during the call out of frustration that I shouldn't have to call multiple times to have to cancel my car insurance and that the company are purposely making it difficult to cancel a policy. I also mentioned that my bank details had changed and the representative over the phone agreed that payment would not be taken. I did not provide my new banking details.

Years ago, I had forgotten to pay for car insurance with another company and they simply did not renew the policy as they hadn't heard from me. I ended up calling them when I noticed and they then took payment over the phone.

So where do I stand legally in this instance?

Questions: 1. Do I have to pay them?
2. Can I use their services until the time period they stated payment is due without any penalty? (Hey if they give you something for free, why not take it?)


I have had a few people I know complain about the same thing happening so this looks like it is becoming the norm. My one friend stated that he had to call them every day for a week until they finally agreed to cancel the policy and then stated that he still owes them for those days of use plus cancellation fees. He flat out refused to pay anything and hasn't heard back from them.


I did tell the representative last night that I would charge the company and mentioned the amount should I need to contact them again to deal with this as I felt that I shouldn't have to contact them multiple times about this. I felt that this was excessive.

Ever since the UK left the European Union it feels like consumers are being treated differently. One thing I have noticed is that shops ask whether you want a receipt for goods purchased. I have no idea how you would even prove you bought the item (if you paid cash) and tried to return it if it is substandard without proof of purchase. How did they even get the legal right to sell goods in such a way? But that is besides the point.

Any advice much appreciated.

[echat11]

Hi Spider2021

Welcome to LB

Even if they require you to cancel by telephone, you should always send an email of your intention to cancel.

On their website, there will be their complaints procedure. Make a formal complaint in writing. Explain what's happened, why it's upset you and what you want them to do about it. I would list the chronology of events. Use paragraphs. You will get a final response / deadlock letter, if you aren't happy with the resolution you can make a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

1) Do I have to pay them?

No, you made a decision to cancel, you didn't want the 'auto-renew', they made it impossible fir you to cancel to retain your custom.

https://assets.publishing.service.go...scriptions.pdf

2. Can I use their services until the time period they stated payment is due without any penalty? (Hey if they give you something for free, why not take it?)

You either want the insurance or you don't.

[Spider2021]

Many thanks for your reply. I want to point out that I am unable to procure car insurance elsewhere because this policy is still active.
So the net effect on me is as follows:
I cannot get an alternative car insurance policy because this one is active. I have agreed with a quote made by another insurance company but they declined to take payment as it is not allowed to have multiple insurance policies on a vehicle.

The effect on me is significant financially: 1. The other insurers will not insure me so I cannot get a more competitive price for insurance compared to my renewal quote. In fact the renewal quote is more than 50% higher than the quote from the other insurer.

I note that I have already informed the company that I did not plan to renew. They did it anyway. I have not paid for this and will not pay them.

Any new quotes made with other insurers are impossible because I don't know when my insurance will end. The only way to contact the insurance company to discuss policies is by telephone. I have been on hold today for almost an hour and have spoken to a few people who have stated that they are not the right departments to deal with the car insurance. It really feels like this is being done in such a manner as the company is being very obstructive. I have had dealings with Virgin media about not renewing broadband that went a lot smoother than this and they can be difficult.
I think listening to "sorry we have not answered you yet, we will be with you shortly" for an hour is not short at all.

In the end I was never put through to the renewal team but ended up with the home insurance team. They told me there is no formal way to complain about car insurance through email or by sending a letter. There is a number you can call which is the same number for the renewal team.
Out of interest I asked how long the recorded calls are kept and the representative said for a year, but that I couldn't request a copy. She later backtracked and said a week. Not a good feeling.

I managed to find an email for complaints using google. I wonder why the customer service representative said that there isn't one.

I think I should be compensated for any financial losses which will likely run a few hundred pounds or maybe even more due to this.
As a consumer I can't even purchase the service I want from whom I choose. Unbelievable.

[echat11]

Many thanks for your reply. I want to point out that I am unable to procure car insurance elsewhere because this policy is still active.
So the net effect on me is as follows:
I cannot get an alternative car insurance policy because this one is active. I have agreed with a quote made by another insurance company but they declined to take payment as it is not allowed to have multiple insurance policies on a vehicle.

The effect on me is significant financially: 1. The other insurers will not insure me so I cannot get a more competitive price for insurance compared to my renewal quote. In fact the renewal quote is more than 50% higher than the quote from the other insurer.

I note that I have already informed the company that I did not plan to renew. They did it anyway. I have not paid for this and will not pay them.

Any new quotes made with other insurers are impossible because I don't know when my insurance will end. The only way to contact the insurance company to discuss policies is by telephone. I have been on hold today for almost an hour and have spoken to a few people who have stated that they are not the right departments to deal with the car insurance. It really feels like this is being done in such a manner as the company is being very obstructive. I have had dealings with Virgin media about not renewing broadband that went a lot smoother than this and they can be difficult.
I think listening to "sorry we have not answered you yet, we will be with you shortly" for an hour is not short at all.

In the end I was never put through to the renewal team but ended up with the home insurance team. They told me there is no formal way to complain about car insurance through email or by sending a letter. There is a number you can call which is the same number for the renewal team.
Out of interest I asked how long the recorded calls are kept and the representative said for a year, but that I couldn't request a copy. She later backtracked and said a week. Not a good feeling.

I managed to find an email for complaints using google. I wonder why the customer service representative said that there isn't one.

I think I should be compensated for any financial losses which will likely run a few hundred pounds or maybe even more due to this.
As a consumer I can't even purchase the service I want from whom I choose. Unbelievable.

Everything you've written in your post above i.e. trying to communicate with the correct department, can't get the insurance you want, compensation etc. can be put in the complaint. The sooner you complain, the sooner you get it resolved.

[Flossie10]

Hello Spider 2021. I hope you don’t mind me jumping in but have had similar problem this week. Received renewal quote from current insurers but found cheaper quote so didn’t want to renew.
could only cancel by phone and tried to contact for 2 days to no avail. Went on their website and eventually found live chat and managed to cancel that way. Usually you get renewal notice about 3 weeks before policy ends and you should have a date for renewal.

I asked for a transcript of the live chat so that I had the proof of cancellation in writing in case they tried to take the money from my account.

I have managed to renew with another insurer whilst my current policy still has 3 weeks to go. (One of the cheaper quotes was £70 less with the same company I am currently with).

Not sure if this is helpful but your current policy should have an end date and a new insurer should be able to start a new policy from that date.

Hope you get it sorted.

[Spider2021]

Hello Spider 2021. I hope you don’t mind me jumping in but have had similar problem this week. Received renewal quote from current insurers but found cheaper quote so didn’t want to renew.
could only cancel by phone and tried to contact for 2 days to no avail. Went on their website and eventually found live chat and managed to cancel that way. Usually you get renewal notice about 3 weeks before policy ends and you should have a date for renewal.

I asked for a transcript of the live chat so that I had the proof of cancellation in writing in case they tried to take the money from my account.

I have managed to renew with another insurer whilst my current policy still has 3 weeks to go. (One of the cheaper quotes was £70 less with the same company I am currently with).

Not sure if this is helpful but your current policy should have an end date and a new insurer should be able to start a new policy from that date.

Hope you get it sorted.

thanks for your concern. The problem was that they renewed the policy and thus the new company could not insure me. I have sent a complaint but no reply as of yet. There is no live chat for this feature and the only way I can deal with this is by phone. They did send a notice earlier and I did phone them a few weeks ago and made it clear that I wasn't going to renew. The customer service representative said I have to phone back again on the last day of the policy and let them know. I did that and it still got renewed. I phoned yesterday but after being on the line with three other representatives (general, single car policy and then home insurance) I was still unable to cancel. It is mind boggling.