to expect to get my money back? lloyds TSB related

[pastawine]

i took out insurance with Lloyds TSB, it was apparently up for renewal in July of this year, however i didnt receive any renewal papers through at all, and i couldnt remember when it was due.

3 months later (this month) i receive my bank statement as i bank with Lloyds.

my insurance premium for house and buildings insurance has gone up by.......

wait for it..............................................................................................................................................................................................................

300% yep - thats right - your eyes are not deceiving you. it went up from £229 to £777.

i live in a very small 3 bedroomed semi built in the 60's. nothing flash, its not listed or anything remotely silly.

I have never made a claim.

Ive rung them and they had absolutely no explanation for it other than that old chestnut "computer error" (im thinking computer error my arse) the advisor i spoke with says he has never seen a policy go up by that sort of ratio ever .....so they hastily cancelled that policy and started me a new one which while still more expensive is palatable, my old one used to cost £35 per month when it started, after the "error" it went up to £85 per month, they have re quoted and the new policy will cost £45 per month.

So i have asked, given that i did not receive my renewal through the post (as if i had i would have queried these ridiculous leap in price straight away!) for the difference to be paid back. it works out at around £160 over the four months it took me to receive a bank statement and see that all was not well....

They cant decide whether to give me it back or not until a formal complaint has been submitted and investigated. (which i have done today - they apparently have 5 days to answer it)

i have been very restrained so far, but would it be unreasonable to expect them to refund the difference for their "error", i feel that if they dont i may well tell them where to shove their policy, and their bank accounts too.

They have pointed out the onus is on me to check my policy documents but i swear that i have never received any documentation from them other than the very first policy documents and confirmation back in 2010, My error here is not remembering when the renewal was due but i have so many other things to remember it took me a few months (and the bank statement) to realise.

they should refund me for their "computer error" - surely?

Of course.

they are giving me some flannel. ive now got to wait 5 days and phone back if ive not heard from them.

I would say that they are in the wrong for not sending you renewal documentation for you to check, get tough with them and keep on until you get a better response, I have building and contents without accidental damage with them for £20 a month, sorry don't know much about consumer rights with this!

IIRC when I cancelled my home insurance, I got a refund cheque

Is there any way you can actually stop the dd - at least if you pay monthly you have a handle on when things are due???

Mention "Financial Ombudsman" ,who by my own experience are nothing short of useless, but hearing those very words seems to make financial institutions find solutions rather quickly

obviously ive stopped the dd for the policy that has the "error" on it but took out a new policy so set up a new dd for that one.

im just shocked that they can actually admit an error then say they arent sure if they will refund me or not!

Why are you still with them? That's an outrageous increase even to £45 per month. Of course they should give you your money back! You shouldn't have to complain they should get it right.

I have a listed property. It doesn't make it more expensive, just means I have to do it by phone instead of online for most companies.

i dont know why im still with them, tbh. it just seemed that it would be hassle to cancel that policy and find another today - its my day off, if i had had a bit of notice i could have searched for a better deal.

ive got 14 days to cancel, the new policy they found for me has gone up by about £9 a month....i didnt take any of the fancy add ons - just basic buildings and contents cover. the cheeky sods even tried to get me to take out the home emergancy cover but i said no!

i just thought if i cancelled altogether then id have even less chance of getting my £160 pound back. They say that they sent the renewal policy docs out in June, but i know they didnt reach me.

im massively pissed off tbh.

In my long experience of Lloyds TSB if you have money going into the bank and write them a very firm letter saying "why the hell should I put up with service like this when I can bank elsewhere" they will refund.

Neighbour worked on their computer systems and he got very frustrated in the end that they would rather COMPENSATE for errors made rather than investing in the system to ensure it didnt happen in the first place.

I agree if they wont sort it out within a timescale YOU are happy with say you will contact the ombudsman immediately - 5 days is unnacceptable when they owe you money ask if they will be supply interest at the same rate they would charge you if you owed them for that amount of time!!

Put it all in writing be it e-mail or letter so you have proof.

The other thing is WHY are you buying insurance from them - either via a comparison website (which I accept is a hassle because you have to check ts & cs) or via a broker - you will pay WAY less than they will charge you.

Just to let you know, I was with Lloyds but renewed with another company. I got part of my renewal quote, but not all, when I called to query they had a message saying they had had an issue with their printers and some documents hadn't gone out. This was around June/July time. So they are talking bollocks.

I'll have a look actually, I might have a letter detailing the same. I cancelled in time for the policy not to have been taken but I would have gone ballistic if they had and I hadn't had the docs!

You can't go to the Obudsman until you've used the internal complaints process. They have 8 weeks to respond.

It takes a whole 15 minutes to get new insurance online. Probably less time then you've spent sorting this out today.

Try Sheilas Wheels, my renewal came in this morning and it is £139 for the year, £11.65 each month, and thats for both building and contents. Worth giving it a try, in our first year we saved over £20 a month compared to what we were paying with Tesco.

OMFG!!!

lloyds renewed the quote today from £777 to £530

churchill have just quoted £146!!

I would also check with your mortgage lender re insurance as most lenders want to see a copy of your Insurance to ensure that you have adequate cover.

If not, some will apply Lenders Interest Only insurance which only covers them but the premium will be charged to you as part of your monthly mortgage payment.

This is why it pays to shop around quick cancel and jump ship to Churchill!

I'm going to phone them back tomorrow and cancel. I still want my money back though for their "computer error'. I get so sick of wading through this shite!

ooo, Lloyds. The only reason I don't leave is that I'm not convinced any of the others are any better. The trick is to get the problem escalated up to a level where you are dealing with someone who can actually do what needs to be done. I got £60 credited to my account the other day because they'd messed up a standing order which resulted in me going overdrawn on another account.

I would suggest you have your statements sent out monthly, or use online banking - that way you'll find out about problems sooner.

YANBU at all but if you only get a bank statement every 3-4 months why don't you check your banking online? That way you will immediately spot any unusual activity on your account and can rectify it more quickly.

i just never registered for online banking - im a heathen when it comes to stuff like that im afraid and im not terribly convinced that its all that secure, but i will ask for a bank statement monthly from now on.

do you reckon i will be able to cancel the insurance i took with them today? there is usually a cooling off period isnt there....?

ill just cancel the Direct debit if it comes to that...sod em

well, (its me, ive namechanged)

ive cancelled the other policy with LTSB this morning and taken one out with Churchill.

why id just didnt tell them to stuff it yesterday im not sure - tiredness catching up with me i think.

ill wait and see if they refund me my money from july up until now, if they dont ill be moving banks and complaining!

cheers all - i needed a boot up the arse. god i hate banks.

well they say they will refund, they owe me £200 plus £50 for the cock up so am happy with that - just got to keep an eye out to check they actually do it.

i should cocoa!