[JJON]

My home insurance with the Coventry runs out at the end of January, received a renewal notice but the price had gone up considerably so shopped around for a better deal.

Phoned the Coventry today to say I wouldn't be renewing and was told that I'd have to pay a £25 cancellation charge :stop

I argued that I wasn't actually cancelling the insurance, I just didn't want to renew it, but they insist that this still comes under their cancellation charge.

How can they get away with charging people for NOT wanting their insurance? :angry

 

[Bullitt]

It’s called extortion!



and they wonder why we hate them?

 

[Celtic Dark Angel]

As far as I'm aware hun.. they can't actually charge you for not renewing.. I personally would refuse to pay it.. :box

 

[TAD]

They do it all the time. It is an illegal practice (unless you overlooked a clause on signing).

Technically they cannot renew without consent, but read their letters they will always consider no instruction to mean renewal, but it is (as far as I recall) illegal (at least it was when I studied european contract law - early 00's).

 

[JJON]

Right, finally managed to speak to someone who knows their job :shake

The woman I spoke to yesterday said the charge was because the insurance automatically renews itself, therefore you need to cancel it, hence the charge :angry

Today I find out that it's because I have a mortgage with them also, they have an interest in the property and so charge the £25 as an admin fee to cover the cost of checking the new insurance (yeah, like it costs them £25).

So WTF call it a cancellation charge??? :angry

 

[DAN]

John this is an unjust and unreasonable charge...

Mortgage lenders often levy these charges but generally I believe only when you are bound by a redemption clause.... for example....

3 year fixed rate at 6% subject to purchasing Buildings insurance from the society....etc...

CHeck out MoneySavingExpert for more info... also you will find many insurers that will credit the sum back to you, to coax you to change to them and hopefully stay for many years to come.

 

[JJON]

I've asked them to point out where in the agreement it states the charge, they'll get back to me next week.

It is, according to them, to cover their costs in having to get info on the new insurance. Strange then, that when I first took out the mortgage (and was insured elsewhere) they didn't charge me to do the same.

 

[DAN]

Thats bollox, tell them the new insurer wil be asked to show them as an interested party on the policy, in that way and in the event of a loss any paid cash would be shared with them.

They are just trying to be difficult to retain you.

 

[Felix]

It's all bollocks John.

I wouldn't pay the charge, just out of principle.

Failing that, why not make a claim whch will more than pay for the charge .. .

Failing that and moreso, why not just take out new insurance through Quidco, some of which have actually paid me extra cash (including the premium :lol) just to take out a years insurance with them.

Failing that, get Lisa to ring up and pretend she's that bird off Watchdog and ask about your case :lol

Failing all that, send them a turd through the post. Not yours though .... dna remember .. :smoke

 

[TAD]

I'll do a poo for you mate! :thumbup

 

[JJON]

I know it's bollox chaps, what if I change to a different insurance provider next year, will they charge me another £25? Course not, because I won't tell them.

I'm waiting to hear back from them regarding where this clause can be found before I do anything else. As far as the fee is concerned, I'm not too sure how they intend to get it, whether they'll add it to my final DD payment (if so I'll cancel the DD and send a cheque for the final payment) or if they can lump it onto the mortgage balance. :notme

Cunch of bunts.

I'll do a poo for you mate!

Thanks TAD, that means a lot to me :lol

 

[DAN]

No John... you get your quotes from elsewhere... such as MoneySupermarket.com - Confused.com - Screentrade.co.uk - Elephant.co.uk etc etc

and then you say.... why on earth are you charging me twice as much as these companies for the same cover - JUSTIFY YOUR FEE's - of course they won't.

Waiting a year just prolongs the problem and these companies have a habit of increasing their fee's it might be something like £30 next year.

Also whilst you are at tell them that because of this disgraceful fee you are going to remortgage - request a final redemption fee statement, that should scare them... when you get it look for the final settlement fee.... yes thats right another rip off charge... it could be as much as £300. You might as well go speak to a Independent Mortgage Broker (they are free) whilst you are at it... it might save you even more money than you bargained for.... just watch for insurance clauses etc.

The final settlement fee is another fee that many people (including myself) have refused to pay.... check when you mortgage first started and what the fee was at the outset - mine was £90 and within 5 years it was £275 - all because you have settled your mortgage....'kin scandalous!

 

[DAN]

and yes indeed... you have quite rightly assumed how they will charge it.... they will add it too your mortgage... which mean INTEREST!!!!

I know someone who through their own stupidity and the actions of their bank had their flat repossessed about 10 years ago...

Basically it was a leasehold place and the maintanence had to be paid annually.... when the gardens etc... started getting shabby and clearly the work wasn't being done, he stopped paying... and left it at that. What he didn't know was that the money was being lumped onto his mortgage and the bank were merrily charging him the interest. Consequently the arrears soon got to a point where he struggled to pay them and the bank started demanding higher payments. In the end he lost the flat, thanks to small print, stupidity and the banks greed to allow fee's which are separate from the mortgage to be lumped on top.

 

[JJON]

Think you may have misunderstood mate, not waiting a year. I've already bought insurance elsewhere, it was only when I phoned the Coventry to say I wouldn't be renewing that I was told of the cancellation fee. I asked them to tell me where this clause was and they couldn't, but said someone would look into it next week and get back to me in writing.

As for pulling the mortgage, sod that, it's a fixed rate 5 year which doesn't end until October but the rate is 4.25% :lick

This is what's annoying me: When I first took the mortgage, the house was insured with another company. The Coventry merely wanted to know who the company was and didn't charge me £25 for it so WTF should they be charging it now?

I haven't actually given them permission to take the money from the DD or lump it onto the mortgage, though there's bound to be something in the smallprint that says 'You give Us the right to do whatever We bloody well want with Your account if it means squeezing that little bit of extra cash out of You. Chances are that You won't have even noticed this condition due to the fact that it's buried in the 345th page of the Terms & Conditions, which You gave up reading after the first 15 pages'.

 

[DAN]

yup its scandalous mate...keep us posted.... I cant't you having a major problem once you start being difficult.

 

[Felix]

Hello Hoonercat ....sorry, JJON.

A couple of weeks ago, some woman employed by my old work (who calls herself a solicitor but yet allegedly packed her job in at a big practice cos she couldn't handle it) wrote this in a legal document to my lawyer:

"The Claimants computer will show evidence of a vehemently litigious individual who readily enters into adversarial correspondence with any party who fails his purpose".

I mean, what the fook sort of line is that for a (*supposed) lawyer to write??

I think, maybe, what's she means, in her slightly eccentric vehemently venomous way is that I don't tend to suffer fools gladly, or folks who'd try and rip me off (a la £25 "Cancellation fees!)

So.... I say to you ... the Felix mantra .... Fight my son! FIGHT!!! FIGHT EM ALL THE WAY!

 

[Buzzwagon]

Thieving bastards, don't pay it Jon. Is there an insurance Ombudsman? Does the company have a formal complaints procedure in place?

With financial firms it always pays to go down the right route to try to resolve the problem while at the same time leaving them in no doubt that you view their stance as little short of theft. Stop phoning them, tell them you want everything in writing, that way you'll have evidence and you'll give yourself more time to formulate a response rather than reacting emotionally. At the end of the day though mate DO NOT PAY. It cannot be legal to charge you for not buying something in what is a free and open market.

Jerry