Home Insurance Dupe - What can be done?

Question

used mneysupermarket.com to purchase home insurance in October. From tomorrow I shall no longer be liing in the house and I will be renting it out. (I went for the cheapest insurance as I had to prove I had home insurance to change my mortgage to a buy to let - my previous insurance ran out in June just before the floods in which my area was severely affected.) Last night I purchased Landlord insurance and when I have tried to find a number for cancelling my insurance - it turns out that I have actually signed up for a loan through Amber Select - who have paid the home insurance on my behalf. I was unaware at the time that this is what I was doing. As it is a loan this would suggest I have to pay the full amount outstanding. I have obviously been duped and searching the internet it looksl ike many others have too. As I used moneysupermarket.com and it WASN'T made clear that I was signing for a loan. What are my rights to cancel this?

Answer 1

Amber Select is a premium finance house.  They are providing the credit which allows you to pay for the insurance in monthly instalments.  It is nothing to worry about, as the contract for the insurance is still between you and the insurer.



To cancel the policy, you just need to speak to the agent (you should call them rather than the insurer directly) and they would sort out the refund for you.  The agent in this case is not moneysupermarket.com, it is the person you bought the policy from.  It is difficult to explain, but once you got the list of quotes on moneysupermarket.com, you must have clicked on the one which came at the top of the list, and then it would have taken you to the website of an agent who sold you the policy.  That is the person you need to contact.

Answer 2

all loans by law are subject to a "cooling off"period usually(but not always)14 days from starting.

by law you should have been notified in writing by amber loans that you have the right to (cancel)change your mind within this(whatever 14 -30days)period to cancel the agreement.

if you didnt receive this notice they are in breach of the law and tell them what they can do with their loan and cancel any direct debits you have with them at your bank,

you will get threatening letters  but they are definitely out of order and you can always contact the financial services authority or better yet a national newspaper the daily mail and the mirror both have good financial assistance columns

and also of course if you purchased this on the internet with a credit card you also have insurance through your(bank/credit card company)

Answer 3

You need to take all your paperwork to either the CAB or a solicitor.  Any advice on here is likely to be guesswork or myth and possiby dangerous for you, including that from people who claim to be legally qualified.

Answer 4

I think the loan you are refering to may be the credit agreement for paying for insurance on a monthly basis.  When insurance is paid for monthly, you may have a credit agreement.  What happens is the credit company pays the whole of the insurance and then charges you interest on the monthly payments to cover the cost of them paying it upfront.  That is why the cost of paying monthly is higher than paying the whole premium upfront.  The contract when you took it out will state the interest rate charged for paying monthly. This is a normal procedure.

However, if you cancel the insurance prior to the end of the year, the credit agreement normally ceases as well.  You will have paid the instalments to date and that should be the end of the monthly payments.  You may find that you have one last instalment to make to cover any overlap or underpaid costs.

Contact your insurer and they will confirm any outstanding costs.

Answer 5

I have never heard of something like this before. Are you sure it's a loan and not a 3rd party company who has paid the insurance and you have been paying them monthly by direct debit? Once you cancel your insurance you should then be able to cancel the payments. The company you have been paying to should have a pro rata cancellation refund to use towards the outstanding payments. You will have to pay any balance left over if the pro rata is lower than the outstanding balance, but I have never heard of what you suggest. If you feel as though you have been mis-sold something then I would suggest you contact FSA.