Furious with car insurance company.

[MetalSian]

I purchased car insurance around a week ago.
This was done over the phone.

I had got a quote of confused.com who then rang me up to ask if I would like a quote from another insurer called Adrian Flux.

I have not had a car for almost 3 years so my one year no claims discount ended on the 02 October 2009.

I was asked if I had any no claims bonus and I told them it was out of date. During the quotation the man said he would try and find a company that would accept it, after giving him the date. He then told me he had found one that would accept it.

I didn't take out the policy then but rang up a week later to take it out because and nearly £1200 it was the cheapest I could find.

When I rang to get this policy I couldn't find my certificate and couldn't remember the exact date of it but knew it was within three years as I hadn't even passed my test three years ago.
Everything was put through with the man on the phone telling me it should be fine as long as it wasn't too far over two and half years old.
And this is after it already being agreed in the quotation with the exact date.

I got a letter through the post yesterday stating that the no claims certificate was out of date (I KNOW) and that I would have to pay an extra £300 to continue my policy.

I rang up to complain and got told they would ring me back today.
After the phone call this morning I have been told they have listened back to the calls and they are pretty much denying that they ever said that it was okay.

I complained that they had then mis sold me the insurance, I was completely honest about the no claims certificate and would not have taken out the policy if it was the £1400 as I could find better elsewhere.

They are sticking to their guns, apparently I will have to pay a fee to cancel and to pay for the week or so I have been covered.

I have told them I either want the policy as initially agreed or a complete refund of my money as the insurance has been mis sold to me.
I am now waiting for a manager to call me back.

AIBU?

If the manager still refuses I intend to make a formal complaint and then go to the financial ombudsman if this doesn't get rectified.

I just don't understand how they can deny what they have done when they have listened to the phone calls! They are pretty much saying I'm lying ffs.

Any advice before I have the manager on the phone?

If it's a week ago you are still within the cooling off period and are entitled to cancel without paying anything.

If you were missold the insurance you are also entitled to cancel in any event and they can take a running jump for the cancellation fee.

Make sure you use the word 'missold' a lot.

Nomore is correct, under UK law you have at least 14 days to cancel without incurring fees.

Some other insurers offer a bigger cooling off period.

I think they can still charge the cancellation fee (or admin fee) in the cooling off period as well as a pro-rata charge for the days you've been insured.

I had a problem with a car insurance company recently regarding a cancellation fee, which ended with the branch manager being fairly rude. I wrote to the head office complaints department and they refunded the cancellation fee and promised to implement better training around the issue I'd highlighted.

So if you don't get any joy with the manager, go directly to their central complaints department. Good luck!

I have just looked on their website,it does state £30 cancelation admin costs, where you told this?

They have a duty under the law to inform you f this when taking out the policy, insurance law has been extended and the onus is on the seller.

I used to sell car and homeinsurance .

It was taken out on the 13th.
So a week today.

I am hoping the manager will actually listen, rather than the previous staff who just kept repeating what they had been told.

You can also ask them for a copy of the tape - though they often charge for this.

i have aslo had this problem - company had me down as 9 yrs no claims - i said i had been driving 9 years but could only prove 5 years no claims as i have no idea who i was with before then.... All done over the phone sent in forms etc... notice this month they have taken more money than they should have, as i have not supplied no claims for 9 years....

Insurance is now 70 a month (quoted 36) or i can pay 384.00 to cancell policy!!! i can get car insurance for £27 a month from the confused website sob !!!! We have no money as it is and are no having to find an 'extra £35 a month' for nothing :(

Ask for a recording of the telephone calls for yourself firstly. Then as has already been said keep telling them that you have been missold the policy. Tell them you will be taking the case to the Ombudsman and this is a case of not treating customers fairly.

Car Insurance companies are rubbish. My premium has just gone up by £200. £150 because I have an accident outstanding. An accident I reported in September last year. I even had a witness. Yet other party denying it and in all this time insurance company have just left a couple of messages for my witness with no contact number. Even worse the amount of damage is probably less than the extra £150 I have been charged.
I really should just cancel claim but I really don't want the lying other party to get away with it. o and i have protected no claims too. Grr!!
At least I know I will get monwy back once claim settled/ cancelled.
Hope you get it sorted op.

Like kelly2525 said, repeat "mis-sold" a lot. This gets them right in the goolies. We used it to get out of buying a time share when we were on holiday in Cyprus. We even got to keep the bottle of wine!

Just to let all of you know.
I had a call back form the manager yesterday and have been given a complete full refund.

They didn't even argue it this time, admitted it was their fault.
Shame they repeatedly denied it the first time but at least it has ended well!