HaydnH Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 12th July: Admiral automatically renew my car insurance via my credit card (without permission!). 20th July: Refund from Admiral hits my credit card account. 28th July: Credit Card Co still take the full amount via direct debit. Great, I'm now about £900 in credit on a credit card - it's called a credit card because you give me credit, not the other way around! Thanks Admiral and Cahoot! Glad I didn't need that cash for mortgage payments etc. Does anyone else get annoyed with this kind of behaviour from companies? Yes I received a letter from Admiral saying they would automatically renew my insurance if I didn't tell them not to (but not before they renewed as I was away), but shouldn't they have to get permission instead of denial? And as for Cahoot taking money from my bank account when the balance was actually £0 on my credit card... GRRR! Haydn. p.s: My insurance isn't £900... but that was about the renewal quote. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Husky Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 admiral did a great one for me. I renewed myself and then they auto renewed so i was charged double. turned out the auto renewal was way cheaper than the new quote i'd got... so i asked to keep the auto one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
varley16 Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 i hate automatic renewals, it should be call us if you want it not the other way around, at the end of the day you sign for 'x' amount of months, i had an issue with orange few years back, they sent me a renewal and i told them not to continue, but they did, 6 months later i got a letter sayin my debt has been passed onto a debt recovery agency, they refused to admit fault, in the end i had many companies like ofcom involved and it took a further 3 months to sort it, i thought that was the end of it untill i got another mortgage, my bad credit rating ment that i had to put up a bigger deposit, these companies are quick to take your money but when they make a mistake it takes forever to return it, and i find they make mistakes to often. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rabbitstew Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 I can beat that. Missus is with Swiftcover. She couldnt afford the 680quid insurance they are now charging her on her old banger, so I paid for it on my credit card. Swiftcover for some unknown reason then took the full payment out 3 times! They didnt let us know they had done this by mistake, and the first I spot of it, is when I checked my statement 3 weeks later. So then we rang them up and asked whats happening, they act all surprised and say they will refund it, but it will take 2 weeks. So, Swiftcover happily had £1300 of my cash for well over a month. The automatic renewing thing is (if i remember rightly) called something like recuring payments. They use the original card authorization they got but attach the new payment details to it. Its all abit dubious, but obviously insurance companies love it. Ive had the same thing happen to me twice, once was with Bennetts I think. They quoted me some stupidly high renewal quote so I rang up and told them i was moving elsewhere and NOT to renew. They promptly then renewed my insurance without my permission and took the amount out on my card. I phoned up as soon as I realised to cancel it and they then tried to say id have to pay for that months insurance and an admin fee for cancelling the policy early. I told them where to go and they eventually gave me a refund. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Husky Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 if you've ever had a recurring payment on paypal it's an interesting one... i didnt really know where i stood, so i started a dispute and said i hadnt authorised it. paypal instantly refunded love paypal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HaydnH Posted August 11, 2011 Author Share Posted August 11, 2011 admiral did a great one for me. I renewed myself and then they auto renewed so i was charged double. turned out the auto renewal was way cheaper than the new quote i'd got... so i asked to keep the auto one Mine was similar, renewed with Elephant myself and still Admiral auto-renewed, it got confusing when I tried to cancel the auto-renewed policy: Me: I'd like to get my money back from the auto-renewal. Ad: OK, but why did you contact us 2 days ago to ask if you're covered 3rd party on another vehicle? Me: I didn't, I contacted Elephant. Ad: But we're the same company. Me: Fair enough, but I have a new policy with Elephant and want to cancel the Admiral one. Ad: We only appear to have 1 policy for you on our system. Me: Well both Admiral and Elephant have charged me! Ad: Let me check by postcode... oh, the registration is wrong on the new policy. Me. But you're the same company and I entered it myself online!!! Maybe it's the staff they employ that allow them to charge so little for insurance! Actually, to be fair, their customer service has usually been pretty good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 I actually far prefer auto-renewal, as it vastly decreases the risk of driving without insurance. That said, I know exactly when mine is due so wouldn't be daft enough to leave it until the last minute anyway If you don't like auto-renewal, don't sign the contract in the first place. Common sense really, no use bleating about it afterwards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Husky Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 I cant think of one company that offers insurance without auto renewal so that's not a very effective solution Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HaydnH Posted August 11, 2011 Author Share Posted August 11, 2011 If you don't like auto-renewal, don't sign the contract in the first place. Common sense really, no use bleating about it afterwards. Have you read all the fine print in all of your contracts? I haven't. I thought there was a law that says fine print in contracts must be reasonable and things like auto-renewals/large fines etc should be highlighted in bullets or similar? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 Have you read all the fine print in all of your contracts? I haven't. I thought there was a law that says fine print in contracts must be reasonable and things like auto-renewals/large fines etc should be highlighted in bullets or similar? I read a fair amount of the small print but not all, you're correct. That said, that's my own fault if I've missed something fairly important like auto-renewal, and I certainly wouldn't start complaining for something that was my own fault. If they put it there why should they highlight the obvious for the lazy? As long as it is clearly stated and legible it can be in any print they like. @Husky: REIS don't, neither do many of the smaller specialist insurers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slimjim Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 Lucky for me, I loose my credit cards a lot.... (sound weird but go with it) So when the insurance company come to renew it, the card has usually be cancelled Then I get a call to sort out a new card setup with them. Saying that, I always do research into a new insurance company a month before my renewal is due anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HaydnH Posted August 13, 2011 Author Share Posted August 13, 2011 Ad: Let me check by postcode... oh, the registration is wrong on the new policy. Just to annoy me further, they charged me £17.50 to correct their typo! WTF?!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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