Warning about RAC black box insurance!

[CarInsurance]

I had an automatic renewal on my policy from last year. I thought I would warn everyone thinking of using RAC that my policy went up over £500 with no claims (!) and they took it out 5 days before the renewal was due, leaving me with no way to organise another policy as I had no funds left in that account. To get myself out of this and get a refund I've had to pay £35 cancellation fee and £35 admin fee for their mistake in taking in early (apparently the computer did it automatically on the 12th despite the renewal date not being until 17th!). I'm happy to suck it up to get the larger chunk of money back, but I didn't want anyone else to fall into the same trap.

If they took the money early, I would be demanding the cancellation fee back as they had no right to take the money when you could have cancelled the renewal altogether.

I only managed to get through to them today though, after emailing and doing chatbot rubbish for the last couple of days (my own fault for not being more on the ball as policy began yesterday). I'm not happy they've made £70, but I just wanted shot of it. If I can stop anyone else getting caught out, I thought it worth a post.

Thanks for the reminder to not let my own insurance autorenew. Both my car and home insurance went up ridiculously last year. I'll avoid RAC!

@Fallenangelofthenorth absolutely - I think I checked it as the first year was so low I felt like it was a great find...but over £500 in 1yr?! Insane, especially when they don't even tell you how much it will be in advance!

Can confirm RAC insurance are awful.

It amazes me that this company operating under a well-known household name is allowed to continue when they're so bad.

I got quoted £450-ish with them and when I took it out they immediately jacked up the direct debit to £1200 a month for non-reasons. I cancelled it (which was a hell of a job in itself) and like you, I had to pay to make the madness stop and ended up out of pocket.

Wow, that is terrible! Yes, nightmare to get through to anyone, although when I finally did it was all very quick as long as I paid for the pleasure! I'll never use them again that's for sure.

My daughter bought RAC travel insurance and they never sent her an email confirmation but they did take payment. Luckily she took a screenshot of the policy number.
Also their helpline is only open Monday-Friday

Surely they should.have told you a month in advance what they would take next year.

@PickAChew I thought they couldn't possibly have done it without warning and actually called my bank and reported it as fraud. I still think it was as I had no confirmation of what service they were offering, why it had gone up by so much or why it was being taken early.