Can my insurer do this ?

No3ntry

No3ntry

No3ntry

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I wrote off my car (clio 172), I asked my insurer if I could then cancel the rest of the existing policy and recieve a refund for the remainder of my policy (appox 6 months paid for in full in advance) they said as there is an outstanding claim on th epolicy they wouldnt refund any money if I cancelled.

So I changed my policy to my new car (1.6 escort estate) no extra charge, and again no efund for the difference as there is an oustanding claim on the policy.

Now if I paid monthly I would be able to say stop taking payments now and cancel the policy. I feel as though I am getting shafted for paying the whole amount up front.


I get the feeling I know what the answer to this will be, however if I am wrong and my insurers are taking the pee how do I go about extracting some money back from them ?


James.
 
No3ntry said:
Now if I paid monthly I would be able to say stop taking payments now and cancel the policy
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No you wouldn't. The insurance is paid up front and the monthly payments are loan repayments on the amount used to pay for the policy. If you claim and cancel, you are sitll liable for the remainder of the payments.
 
No3ntry said:
I wrote off my car (clio 172), I asked my insurer if I could then cancel the rest of the existing policy and recieve a refund for the remainder of my policy (appox 6 months paid for in full in advance) they said as there is an outstanding claim on th epolicy they wouldnt refund any money if I cancelled.

So I changed my policy to my new car (1.6 escort estate) no extra charge, and again no efund for the difference as there is an oustanding claim on the policy.

Now if I paid monthly I would be able to say stop taking payments now and cancel the policy. I feel as though I am getting shafted for paying the whole amount up front.


I get the feeling I know what the answer to this will be, however if I am wrong and my insurers are taking the pee how do I go about extracting some money back from them ?


James.
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I doubt that, they'd most likely chase you for the outstanding payments, and if you don't cough up it will get ugly.
 
Haha what on earth makes you think accepting an insurance policy of say £1000 in monthly instalments, crashing in the first month and then saying, naa sorry I've paid £83 I'm not paying any more.
Get real dude, you owe them the £1000 whether you crash it or not
 
That does seem harsh that you can't get a pro-rata'd refund for the time you aren't covered, either when you have paid up-front or agreed a monthly payment schedule. Regardless I imagine it will depend on the exact terms whether it is as Fox describes a '12 month loan' repayment or genuinely paying premiums month to month and no doubt the T&Cs regarding partial refunds in certain circumstances.

From your description though I'd get some clarification as to whether they are saying you won't get any refund, ever if you cancel with an outstanding claim or rather that you won't get any refund until said claim is settled.
 
Rich_L said:
From your description though I'd get some clarification as to whether they are saying you won't get any refund, ever if you cancel with an outstanding claim or rather that you won't get any refund until said claim is settled.
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Sorry bud this is purely me wording it wrong.
I wont get a refund fullstop.
I thought that I should at least be owed the difference between the 2 cars insurance wise as obvisouly it doesnt cost as much to insure a 1.6 escort as it does a 2.0 clio.
Insurance quotes for next year gave about a £300 difference with the same insurer.

James.
 
Many insurance companies will cancel the entire policy with no refund if your car is written off. Do not be surprised if this happens once your claim is settled.
 
[TW]Fox;18493241 said:
No you wouldn't. The insurance is paid up front and the monthly payments are loan repayments on the amount used to pay for the policy. If you claim and cancel, you are sitll liable for the remainder of the payments.
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I know your probably right on the money, but due to the ambiguity of his post the is the possibility he may be referring to what would happen if he was on a PAYG style monthly policy not an annual policy with the cost spread out over monthly payments, just saying
 
Some insurers actually pay you out minus the outstanding amount which you owe for the 12 month policy.

Your insurance policy is a 12 month policy - the clue is in the name.
 
most insurance companies will ask for the premium to be paid in full if a claim happens if i remember correctly, as you are paying for a service, you pay them the fee (which is your premium) they sort out paying for the car , claiming back money etc
 
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Having binned a couple of cars in the past myself, IMO a total loss requires you to pay the full premium, regardless of how long the policy has to run.

You need to check the small print in your insurance documentation.

Financial Ombudsman says:

17. outstanding premium instalments or premium refunds

Usually the policy is a yearly contract and the full premium is payable even if the vehicle is written-off during the year. If the policyholder paid the yearly premium up-front, no refund is due. If the policyholder was paying the yearly premium by monthly instalments, the outstanding instalments are still payable.
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Longbow said:
So assuming you can pay the full years insurance, there really is no benefit to pay monthly?
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Nope.

The only time you should pay monthly is if you don't have the money to pay the full premium at the policy start date..
 
When ive written cars off in the past, ive always had to replace the car, and so just continued my policy with the new car, premium adjusted obviously for the difference in value/insurance group etc.
 
Admiral group is a good example where you'd definitely want to pay annually, they hike the prices up a lot on the monthly.
 
Mr Jack said:
Unless it's a 0% deal.
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Very rare, and where they do exist they are usually a more expensive insurer anyway. Plus it being 0% doesn't really make paying monthly a benefit - it just makes it not a disadvantage (Unless you want to count the 2.8% interest you could make instead on the lump sum I guess...)
 
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