Insurance Factory Obstructive Cancelling Car Insurance

[dennilson]

Has anyone had any dealings with the Insurance Factory. I contacted their call centre tonight to inform them that I had sold my van and would like to cancel the insurance immediately in order that the buyer could insure the vehicle. They were quite rude and informed me that I would have to put it in writing and send back the original certificate. On receipt of this they would cancel the policy. They would then write to Aviva and request a refund from them as they were the underwriters. I was informed by this rude person that the process could take four to six weeks. I informed them that the buyer has taken out insurance and the vehicle is now insured in two names. They were unconcerned and stated that was their rules. Surely they should have cancelled the policy immediately. I am in a situation where I cannot now reclaim the insurance to use on my new vehicle. Totally unacceptable. Don't know who to complain to. Never experienced this before.

[sherrardk]

Complain to the insurance ombudsman - http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/technical_notes/motor-insurance.html

[factor-fiction]

I'm not sure it's unacceptable and they are not being obstructive.

Some people do try to cancel their insurance to get a refund but try to keep hold of their insurance certificate, so it's normal in my experience for them to defer repayment until they get the certificate back.

I'm pretty sure that once they get your request in writing they'll backdate any refund to that date

[dennilson]

thanks factor fiction, does that mean the buyer can't insure the vehicle until they decide to cancel my policy. Is it ok to have two insurance policies running on one vehicle? Not sure what the law is in reference to this. I would have imagined it would be quite simple to cancel the policy on checking your security details over the phone, subsequently these details would then be uploaded to the Police ANPR. I've never experienced this from an insurance company

[factor-fiction]

Yes, I'd have thought that if the security checks had been done they could cancel immediately but defer any refund until they get the certificate back.
The new driver can insure it- in fact he'll need to to drive it

[factor-fiction]

Some people do hold onto the certificates though and may then produce them if they are picked up in PNC checks. And maybe they get cases where people cancel by phone, keep the certificate, produce it in the event of a police check or accident, and then deny that they cancelled it

[EDDIE51]

Is there any reason you could not just transfer the insurance to your new vehicle rather than cancelling it ? That is what I would have done and it would solve he problems.

[dennilson]

Apparently the Insurance Factory don't allow you to keep your no claims bonus when transferring from a van to a car. The answer was to cancel completely then take out a new policy with Admiral saving 50 per cent of what the Insurance Factory were asking. I really will avoid this company in future. But you live and learn

[Svejk]

I've always found insurance companies obstructive. You'll probably owe them money by the time they take various fees out.

[Peter Pedant]

I think you have to send the letter and certificate and then insure the new vehicle with a new firm.

If you are gonna change firm then there is no point in complaining - who knows they might listen to you and then you would be helping them.

I think two people can insure a vehicle but only one claim (for each event). So no issue there.

I agree this is sharp - it looks as tho someone is being forced to pay to insure a vehicle that they can't claim against
but I cant really say - go around chop then up and eat them ! can I ?

[dennilson]

Admiral Insurance allowed me to keep the no claims accrued on the van, but getting the remaining 9 months from the Insurance factory is going to be a struggle I can see.

[IggyB]

They are just brokers rather than an actual insurance company. Terms of business

http://insurancefactory.co.uk/pdf/toba.pdf