Cancelled insurance - Are they taking the urine?

Hunders

Hunders

Hunders

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I was hoping you guys could clear this up for me and if my car insurance company are allowed to get away with this.

Basically, I bought my car insurance in May for £701 and phoned up to cancel my policy today as I have sold my car. Prior to phoning I worked out that I'd be likely to receive at least £400 back as I was only insured for 4 months but they told me that I'd be getting approximately £140 back...

I questioned this because it seems ridiculously low but the person I was speaking to was going on about things that I didn't really know about. Do you think that they are trying to rip me off or can they get away with this?

Cheers.
 
Ripping you off...though it'll depend on your contract - lots of cowboys around :( But did you have add-ons to your policy like breakdown cover etc, you might not get refunds on these.

Should be around 8/12ths minus an admin fee of lets say £25-50max.
 
sounds about right, you dont tend to get much back after cancelling, they work it out on a percentage based system usually such as

(this is just a random one pulled from a boat insurance place so car insurance one will likely be different.

Period on Cover
(or part thereof) Percentage of Annual Premium Returns
(Minimum Retained - £50)
1 week 87.5%
2 weeks 85%
1 month 75%
2 months 66.66%
3 months 60%
4 months 50%
5 months 40%
6 months 33.33%
7 months 25%
8 months 20%
9 months 10%

that will be minus a cancellation fee as well which is probably why you are getting so little back :( although some people would probably say you shouldnt I would just let the policy run to get the NCB
 
bummer my car died and I needed to cancel looks like I may not get that much back either I am approximately 6 months in.
 
They are probably treating the time you were covered as a short-term premium rate. If you started the policy with them with an initial term of 4 months it would have worked out as a whole lot more than 4/12ths of the annual policy you had. They probably are charging you that amount plus an admin fee.
 
Keltyx said:
They are probably treating the time you were covered as a short-term premium rate. If you started the policy with them with an initial term of 4 months it would have worked out as a whole lot more than 4/12ths of the annual policy you had. They probably are charging you that amount plus an admin fee.
Click to expand...

I have never heard of this. Anyone got confirmation on whether this exists or is permissible?
 
Cheers guys.

It looks like I have two options:
I can either take it up the pooper and get a measly £140 back or buy a cheap mondeo and let the policy run. I will probably get back £140 or more if I get a mondeo, too.
 
Normal these days I'm afraid. Too many people have been buying insurance then cancelling it so they have a valid certificate for the police. The insurance companies are punishing the law abiding majority again because of a few scumbags :(
 
I wouldnt have thought that would be why its so high if I'm honest, because by law you have a cooling off period (i believe its 14 days) in which you can cancel the insurance and get all your money back in most cases (or all of it minus a small admin fee) charging so much is just greed on there part
 
i had the same thing before :(

Bell were really good when i cancelled though and gave a pro rata refund minus a small admin fee :D
 
If you're buying another car in the near future ask them if they can suspend the policy and then transfer it to your new car.

They are trying to rip you off, however in theory you're meant to read that book of small print they send you which will probably explain it all (probably in the most ambiguous language imaginable).

EDIT: I wouldn't do any harm to contact these guys http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/ and ask if the insurer is in breach of any regulations, but the chances are they arn't.
 
Last edited:
Cheers for all of the advice. I shan't bother to pursue it any further because I think it would be a wasted effort.

The company in question is 'Sky Insurance'.
 
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