robby

I have a motorbike which i'm trading in soon.
The insurance company/ broker i'm with are saying the company wont cover me on the new bike (need to have more ncb) which means having to cancel the policy.
I paid in full for 12 months cover in May this year BUT they say if i cancel then i'll have to pay a £45 cancellation fee?
I'm saying it's their fault they wont cover me on the new bike but they say its me wanting to cancel as i'm changing bikes?
If i have 5 months left to run and the insurance company wont cover me on the new bike then surely i should get some refund for the remaining months cover which i've paid for up front as i wont be insured for this time so they can't charge me?
Why is it they think they can also charge me a cancellation fee when i'm not wanting to cancel but to change bikes?
Is this legal what they're trying to do?

they did say if i took out a new policy through them with a new company then they would waive the cancellation fee - isn't this blackmail?

Any ideas?

SRSport

If you change the terms and conditions then there's not much you can do as you have agreed to pay for a year for that bike, technically they are still honoring that contract as you would still be able to ride it with insurance but its you who wishes to back out of it. I also suspect that you would have agreed in the small print to pay the fee as well. The ball, so to speak, is in their court. Is it worth a company to gain £45 and lose a customers? Well thats when the ball is back in your court and you can decide to take your custom elsewhere. If you have been a long standing customer with no claims with them then I would think that it would be a bit foolish and you stand a better chance of good will but thats there prerogative.

d7nmr

Companies always do this. I had to pay £105 for a cancellation fee. It's taking the biscuit, even thou I was paying monthly I had to pay. And the same thing they said to me, get a quote with us on hour new car and we will waive the cancellation fee, that's cheesy.

SRSport

That is taking the whole packet and a cup of tea with it. As I said before theres not much you can do about it legally. What does the FSA actually regulate?

Moley

iTrader: (9)

Cancel any contract and you'll get hit with cancellation charges, insurance is no different.

However, in the case of the OP, if the insurers are making him cancel the policy due to them not covering the new bike then they should probably cancel pro-rata.
I'd advise the OP to write a formal complaint letter to the company and see if he gets any joy.

SRSport

Wouldnt they just say then that the price for covering the new bike would be £*00000 and then it would be you who decides not to take it and therefore you are no better off than when they just refused and said you must pay the fee.

Moley

iTrader: (9)

Insurance companies aren't the rip-off merchants some would like us to believe

If they won't cover the vehicle they will (or should) be fair about it.

SRSport

I tried a quote out of interest for my wife, most were £3000 give or take a couple of hundred, one company wanted £7000. I put that down to just not wanting to insure her but if we were silly enough to pay that then hey ho.

I know, as I have said before, that its not the insurance companies that are the rip offs. Its the claiming culture and scams that are to blame. Its just that the insurance companies are seen as the bad guys when they are forced to pass on costs to us. The problem is until the public start to see something getting done about it they are going to want to wave the finger and insurance companies are the ones that will get the finger waved at.