Insurance problem..............

[Tonezz]

Since my insurance couldn't quote me on a Cupra i rang the cancellations and i have come to this problem:
( Btw this is copied from what i wrote on pistonheads, I can't be bothered re-typing).
I wonder if anybody here has any answers to it ?!

I'm currently insured through a broker and all my premium was payed off in 5 monthly installments starting from January.

I'm currently interested in getting a new car but they said they can't quote me on the car i want, so i went ahead and rang the cancellations line to see what premium i would get back if i cancelled.

Now this is where i am stumped..

They told me not only would I not receive any premium back but I would have outstanding money to settle to be able to cancel.

The phone operator tried to explain the proceedings to me but i really didn't get it, it went something along the lines of the finance company still needing to settle the amount, even though i already payed it all off??

Then she did tell me i would actually get some back, about 10-20% but having the cancellations fee's would mean i would ow money towards it still.

So i have payed £900 for my insurance, which will run until January 2012, but i have to pay more to cancel it?!

Please can somebody shed some light on this.

 

[G3K]

what company are your insurers?

 

[Biker]

Don't take this the wrong way mate but you spoke to them and didn't understand what you were told, how do you expect anyone on here to make it any clearer for you?

Ring them back and ask to have it explained to you again and don't hang up untill you understand your position!

 

[andrewbabz]

you pay a cancellation charge on your policy, which they label as an admin charge for them cancelling your policy (check your t & c's). depends on the insurer as to how much they charge, so what you're entitled to get back from cancelling the policy may not be enough to cover the cost of them cancelling it, so you still have to pay some admin fee. simple.

 

[Dabbalz]

I got nothing back when i cancelled my last bike insurance. I had it from February to June. It was only £95 for the year and the cancellation fee was £50 so i wasn't too bothered as I would have only got about £13 back.
Always pay your insurance in full and you'll have no interest to pay (upping your premium) and you'll know exactly where you stand when cancelling.

 

[Tonezz]

I'm with aviva through insureyourmotor.com.

I didn't hang around because I needed to go to work, I just thought I'd try to get more info on the situation before I ring them again.

Some people can't afford to pay the full amount so have to do installments.

 

[rji]

You have 5 or 6 months still to run on your policy so when you cancel you should get 5 or 6 months premiums refunded less an admin fee.

Normally I only change insurance companies at the renewal date but I have swiched from Direct Line to Aviva when replacing a car in the middle of the policy and got a refund from Direct Line.

Also when staying with the same insurance company but swapping the car for one with cheaper insurance you will get a refund of the difference (less admin fee).

it went something along the lines of the finance company still needing to settle the amount, even though i already payed it all off??

If you paid the 5 premiums to your broker what does it have to do with the finance company? The finance company will only require that you keep the car insured until you sell it and the finance is cleared.

 

[robby71]

I had this with the last bike, the insurance wouldn't insure my new bike so i told them to cancel the policy as i'd take it out with another company, they said there was a cancellation fee and by cancelling i'd owe them £42 even though i had 6 months left to run?
I argued for 20 mins saying i wouldn't pay and she said the debt would be passed onto a debt recovery agent!
I ended up saying to keep the policy as i'll keep the old bike just so i wouldn't have to pay the fee but i sold it and took out a new policy with another insurer for the new bike

Seem if you have less than 60% or so of your policy left to run and you want to cancel you don't get a refund, might be better paying monthly then just cancel the payments?

 

[Biker]

I think part of your problem may be that when you cancel a premium it is not done pro-rata. See the table below which is typical of a few insurers I have looked at, not sure about Aviva mind, can't find their policy.

So if you have had 7 months cover you could owe them 85% of the cost of the premium. Or in other words only entitled to a refund of 15% of the premium paid.

 

[Tonezz]

I think part of your problem may be that when you cancel a premium it is not done pro-rata. See the table below which is typical of a few insurers I have looked at, not sure about Aviva mind, can't find their policy.

So if you have had 7 months cover you could owe them 85% of the cost of the premium. Or in other words only entitled to a refund of 15% of the premium paid.

Hmm, they like to royally shaft their customers don;t they! xD

How would it work if you where paying 1 instalment a month for all the 12 months then?
At 7 months you would still have 5 payments left but they don't ask for them to cancel it do they.

I chose to pay in 5 installments because it was at 6% interest on the payments, now it might end up costing me £100's.

 

[Tonezz]

I made a bit of progress, i got them to try and quote me for an FR and they came back saying it would only cost me £124 to swap over to that car. So i said well it isn't all that different to the Cupra and got them to re-try the Cupra again and they said it isn't even attempting because your under 25! :/

Seeing as i don't want to lose about £400 of money already payed for insurance and lose a NCB, i'll have to look at buying an FR. Unless i wait until after the end of January 2012!

 

[andrewbabz]

if your with aviva, as you say you are, do it online. they waive the admin fees for doing things online. you'll probably have to pay something as it will calculate the premium on current working outs and they just keep climbing so there will be something to pay (you say £124 so maybes about right). when i swapped from my clio to ibiza i had to pay £38 cos premium had gone up, which wasnt too bad tbh! but also saved me the £25 (?) admin fee too by doing it online.

 

[Tonezz]

if your with aviva, as you say you are, do it online. they waive the admin fees for doing things online. you'll probably have to pay something as it will calculate the premium on current working outs and they just keep climbing so there will be something to pay (you say £124 so maybes about right). when i swapped from my clio to ibiza i had to pay £38 cos premium had gone up, which wasnt too bad tbh! but also saved me the £25 (?) admin fee too by doing it online.

Can you still do things directly with the insurance company when you got the insurance through a broker? I'm not sure how it works.

All my insurance papers just say Aviva on them but the rest is insureyourmotor.com.

I have payed my premium off this year so the £124 is the upping of the premium I'm guessing.

 

[andrewbabz]

donno mate, mine is just direct with aviva.

just try registering with their online service - http://www.aviva.co.uk/existing-customers/mypolicy/.

you just need your policy number to get you started so if you have documents from aviva i would say you should be able to as policy number should be written on them, at least on your policy certificate.