Ive been ripped off..

**siz1** · 23rd November 2010, 18:23

I am so stressed right now, i feel as though i have been scammed.. to keep it short... I pay for my mum insurance. last year total premium was £410, nothing that breaks the bank..

now this would run out around 27/10/10, little did i know that THERE WAS AN AUTOMATIC RENEWAL...

My mum bought another car so this car for the time being didnt need to be insured, I did not look for insurance as the car wouldnt be used, to the point where it is sold or until it is needed again

I checked my statements at the beginning of Novemeber, and to my shock there were 2 payments taken out of £90!!!

I rang AQOUTE insurance straight away for whom i have been insured for 3 years now, who were so most unpolite, inconsiderate ******s i have ever had to speak with, i thought Virgin Media was bad.. I just told them to cancel the policy..

Now today i recieved a letter from AQOUTE insurance demanding a further £204.58 and threatend me with debt collection agency...

ive Already paid £180, and they are demanding a further £204.58 for an automatic renewal which i did not want... and that for just over one month of insurance???????? i mean the previous year annually it was £410... im really stressed and fraustrated, i rang CS up who didnt give a monkeys... they told me with the most inconsiderate tone that I have to make payment otherwise it will go up by a further 25%!!!!

could someone please advise what i could do

**bigdave1701** · 23rd November 2010, 18:26

You will probably find they're trying to pull a fast one. They should have sent you a renewal letter informing you of the beginning of the renewal. Im sure a quick search on the money saving expert site will bring up something useful!

good luck

**Steves-Vec** · 23rd November 2010, 18:40

Must admit when i was with Adrian Flux there was an automatic renewal with my policy, i think for convenience for some and to lock in others who did not get time to shop around. But-BUT they did send me a new quote/policy detail through about 3-4 weeks before renewal stating clearly that it would renew automatically if i did not cancel- something like 5 working days before the renewal date.

So not sure where you stand as in small print on the original schedule there was probably something about their automatic renewal. Though they do seem to have gone about it very underhand, and seem to be very unhelpful to now they have your money. Had you been a (new customer) i bet their customer service would of been very different.

**siz1** · 23rd November 2010, 18:48

Thanks for the replies guys,

It seems i have been conned... i just cannot justify paying nearly £400 for a months insurance????

I think the quote for the full year was £900! and the previous year £410...the more i think about this, the more i feel sick

**Jezzy** · 23rd November 2010, 19:10

Complain to them formally, so that you've exhausted their complaints procedure, then put in a complaint to the FSA - that usually gets results. OR, put in the FSA complaint now, and even though they won't deal with it because you haven't yet exhausted AQUOTE's complaint process, the FSA will pass the complaint on to them asking them to deal with it, and that usually acts as kick up their backside.

**siz1** · 23rd November 2010, 19:26

Thanks Jezzy,

Going to look into it.. would i need to make payment though? i mean i have been threatened with bailiffs.. and also the fact that it will go up 25 % if i no not make the payment within 14 days..

**dannyjpuk** · 23rd November 2010, 19:32

thats sh@@it for you mate i feel for ya there esp so close to xmas hope you get it sorted

**mparks8590** · 23rd November 2010, 19:34

despite automatic renewal they still have to advise you in some way. mine came by e-mail and text.....

if its payed by installments then chances are its on some sort of credit agreement with interest

by law with credit arrangements, you have to have a cooling off period unless i'm wrong - usually 14 days. Given the amounts have changed then in my view they have invalidated any previous agreement , need to specify a new schedule and therefore need your explicit permission to continue with the amounts required. thus they may be in breach of the consumer credit act if this applies

also not sure if this is being payed by direct debit but under that arrangement you could go to your bank and say a mistake has been made, you

a) wern't aware of automatic renewal
b) even if you did know about a) above then you didn't agree to the payments at that level,
c)you weren't advised of any change in payments in advance
d) and you want to terminate the direct debit.

They are obliged to give you all your money back in the event of a mistake. the bank then reclaim the money from the insurance company

The only issue then is that you are immediately and i guess retrospectivly uninsured...

I'd be gettin a new insurer PDQ

Before you do anything though, get proof of no claims to take to your new insurer. If you annoy this company enough they might withold it - even though they are legally obliged to provide the same.

good luck

**Dazzy2006** · 23rd November 2010, 19:43

Surely you must have had a renewal letter with this years premium written on it.If you did it would state on that about automatic renewal - well it did on mine and it also gave me a date to contact the insurers by if i didnt want to renew

**Steve01** · 23rd November 2010, 19:48

Dont worry about the threat of bailliffs there are a lot of procedures that they have to go through before they can actually send them round to your house! One threatening letter is not enough to justify sending them out. If you actually make a formal complaint that will stop them from acting further until it is sorted out! I would also make sure that they do not put a bad report on your credit account. Bottom line and the one I always used to use was to threaten them with Office of Fair Trading that usually puts them off!
Good luck!!!