Bennetts Insurance - Beware Hidden Costs

[Toe Down]

Hi,

I just put down the 'phone from Bennets Insurance and thought I should share what I learned.

I recently sold my KTM Duke as I use the GS for most trips.

1. Before selling I called Bennetts to see if there was any refund due and was told that there was nothing to come back as there was less than 3 months remaining and I was to be charged £30 for early termination. That's on a policy that cost £105!.The advisor said that I'd be better off letting the policy expire.

2. I subsequently sold the bike and then received a letter saying that someone else was trying to insure it and I should contact Bennetts. Told to return the policy docs and pay £30. I explained that their colleague had advised I should let the policy expire. They agreed to listen to the taped telephone call and would respond in 48 hours.

3. A few days later I received a registered letter asking for the return of the policy docs. No mention of penalties, so I assumed they were satisfied that I'd acted on their instructions and the matter was dropped.

4. A registered letter arrived today with a bill for £30. I called Bennets and was told that they'd found nothing in the telephone transcript to back my story. As asked to see a copy and was told that I would have to pay them for the privilege.

So beware - cheap insurance is cheap for a reason. I'll send the cheque as it's not worth the cost/time of proving my point. However, I'll never use them again. They say it's cheaper to retain customers rather than recruit new ones - perhaps they use cancellation fees to help fund their sizable advertising campaigns.

 

[Blackal]

Have a read of the policy terms..............

It wasn't you that terminated early - it was Bennetts. I'd be surprised if there was a clause that stated:

"in the event of the insurer terminating the policy early - a fee of £30 will be payable"

If I am correct in that assumption -

If you have already sent the cheque - contact the isnurance ombudsman and see what they have to say.

Al

 

[Toe Down]

Thanks Al for the feedback.

I've checked the policy. In the typical insurance small print style, the policy document section 'Cancelling your policy' states that Bennetts can cancel at any time with no penalty, although the insured would be penalised if they instigated it. The wording then refers you to another document 'key facts' for details of charges. That states £30 fee in you cancel at anytime.

I'm not arguing that they can do it, however I do contest the fairness of this one-sided arrangement and their management of my enquiries/complaint

Cheers

 

[Blackal]

although the insured would be penalised if they instigated it.

That reads to me that you would only be penalised if you (the insured) instigated the cancellation.

It sounds like they have badgered you into sending them the policy.

Al

 

[shugie]

Thanks Al for the feedback.

I've checked the policy. In the typical insurance small print style, the policy document section 'Cancelling your policy' states that Bennetts can cancel at any time with no penalty, although the insured would be penalised if they instigated it. The wording then refers you to another document 'key facts' for details of charges. That states £30 fee in you cancel at anytime.

I'm not arguing that they can do it, however I do contest the fairness of this one-sided arrangement and their management of my enquiries/complaint

Cheers

Did you actually send them the policy documents in response to their letter?

If they asked for them, they cancelled the policy (presumably you still have their letter asking for the documents as evidence) in line with the terms and conditions.

But as they cancelled it, you don't owe them £30.

Although, since you can't insure something that isn't your property they might argue that by selling the bike you cancelled your policy.

First thing to do is to send them a letter saying that as they cancelled the policy there is no liability on your part to pay the £30 and that you are willing to defend this in court if needs be. I would also remind them that they may not record this as a non payment on a credit or insurance database, unless they win in court.

 

[the visor]

i was insured with them for £150 changed bike to newer model exact same model just 4 years newer they said they couldnt insure me with my exisisting policy but could with a new company at a cost off £450 so i didnt take it i said cancel it they told me i owed them £3.53 pence had 7 mts left on policy the £30 pounds cancellation fee had to pay the 353 to get proof off no claims for local company

 

[Deleted account 231211001]

Duped? Or just giddy and daft?

When I had the 1150 GSA, I also bought meself a wee Harley for arsing about on. I contacted BMW Motorrad Insurance (Devitt's) with whom I had the GSA insured. THey advised me that a) they couldn't add the HD to the policy as it was a BMW only policy, and that b) if I changed the policy to add the HD, it was £70 cheaper!!!!!!!

Of course I got giddy and said "the cheaper option please".

Now I come to renew my policy and fish around for quotes. I now find that "ah well Sir, YOU cancelled your policy with a month to go and took out a new one covering both bikes. THerefore you now still have 4 years' no claims, and not 5".

Cheeky b*stards! SO............... be aware that if you change your policy (not just add a bike, but change thw whole thing) at any time through the insured year, even 11 months through, you lose that year as a no claim year!

 

[karlp]

This happens with all insurers so is not unique to Bennets.

The policy has to be cancelled as you have no legal interest in the bike.

A con I know but you are required to cancel the policy and therefore the fee payable.

 

[Sergeant Pluck]

Sounds like they may have you caught out this time, but it is always worth tackling head on these companies who seem to think it's OK to slap charges on their customers whenever they feel like it.

I recently managed to successfully charge Orange a monthly administration fee for so long as they continued to take money out of my account for a broadband connection I had cancelled months previously. ( Can't tell you how much joy that gave me! ).

Pluck

 

[ronnie69]

thieving barstewards

you can rest assured, they usually get you one way or another.

I assume this was a (cough) "spare" bike and you don't need the NCB on another bike .........

If not, the NCB is worth trying to retain so that you get another year's NCB at renewal time. May be academic in your case, as they've rumbled that someone else has sought to insure your old bike, and as others have mentioned, once you've sold it, you no longer have an "insureable interest" in it any longer.

If you haven't yet paid the £30, I'd say don't pay it, send the insurance certificate back (keep a copy) - they shouldn't need anything else - and say you're not paying because you were advised by them not to do so. If they want the £30, they'll have to sue you meaning (1) they may struggle to win if they did that (2) they probably won't bother anyway.

Returning the certificate in itself probably means that the policy will be cancelled, meaning you can kiss goodbye to the extra year of NCB (but you may not need it anyway ), but at least you'll be £30 better off.

having said all of that, I wouldn't blame you for paying just to get the twots off your back. It's all stacked their way.............

One other thing just occurred to me - when I worked in insurance a gazillion years ago, one could suspend a policy on a "laid up" basis, meaning the cover continued but on a limited basis - most often for vehicles off the road but for which the owner wanted fire and theft cover ("laid up fire and theft"). I think from memory you could also get fully laid up cover which MIGHT entitle you to an extra year of NCB at renewal date. Probably a hassle to ask about though and may be too late ? 20 minutes on the phone in a Q to talk to the spotty imbecile who knows next to nowt - would try the patience of a saint. May be worth a try if you can face the hassle ......? If workable, would mean you weren't cancelling. No doubt it would still trigger a sizeable admin fee, maybe putting you back to square one, though ?

One final thing (yawn) - make a note of EVRYONE you ever speak to about every insurance query you make and a note of what they told you, as you can guarantee when the sh*t hits the fan, they'll deny all knowledge and can't / won't find the tape of that call. The spotty oiks will tell you anything to get you off the phone imho - right or wrong.

I do ramble on sometimes. Ho hum ...........

 

[BM_donator]

I swapped from Bennetts to another insurer when I changed my bike in April this year. I still had 2 months to run on my Bennetts policy and had the same conversation with them after their quote for my new bike was double that of elsewhere.
They said it was £30 to cancel or I could just let the policy lapse. I chose the second option and then received an auto-renewal letter when the policy was about to expire. If I hadn't have acted then to say I did not want to renew, they would have (quite legally) renewed my policy and charged me for another year.

There are more whammys in this fecking insurance industry than a whammy thing, run by whammy greedsters with the same whammy excuses of providing value for the whammy shareholders that have fecked up the whammy banking industry.

 

[ronnie69]

(young guns) go for it

I swapped from Bennetts to another insurer when I changed my bike in April this year. I still had 2 months to run on my Bennetts policy and had the same conversation with them after their quote for my new bike was double that of elsewhere.
They said it was £30 to cancel or I could just let the policy lapse. I chose the second option and then received an auto-renewal letter when the policy was about to expire. If I hadn't have acted then to say I did not want to renew, they would have (quite legally) renewed my policy and charged me for another year.

There are more whammys in this fecking insurance industry than a whammy thing, run by whammy greedsters with the same whammy excuses of providing value for the whammy shareholders that have fecked up the whammy banking industry.

you love them, you do:
http://images.google.co.uk/images?ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=wham&um=1&sa=N&tab=wi



don't know how to paste a piccy straight in to a reply cos I is a numpty

 

[ELIMINATOR]

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=158226

 

[Toe Down]

Thank you for all the feedback. In the end I decided to pay otherwise Bennetts said they wouldn't issue proof of my 9 years no claims bonus, if there was an outstanding 'debt' on my account.

Got the NCB proof now - clearly they hadn't realised by how much I'd post dated my cheque!! Cold comfort but some satisfaction in giving them hassle.

Cheers everyone.

 

[Blackal]

Err - I think you get charged by your bank for a cheque that is submitted by the recipient now -which cannot be honoured due to the date

On another note - I phoned them to see about getting another bike added to my multi-bike policy, saying that it wouldn't be kept at my house, but in a different part of the country...............

Only another £40, but not to insure anywhere outside a 10 mile radius of my house.........

What difference does it make - 10 miles or 300??

Anyone had any experience of this?

Al

 

[shugie]

Thank you for all the feedback. In the end I decided to pay otherwise Bennetts said they wouldn't issue proof of my 9 years no claims bonus, if there was an outstanding 'debt' on my account.

Got the NCB proof now - clearly they hadn't realised by how much I'd post dated my cheque!! Cold comfort but some satisfaction in giving them hassle.

Cheers everyone.

Not sure I'd rely on the bank actually checking the date of the cheque when it's being paid in.

 

[Wapping]

Err - I think you get charged by your bank for a cheque that is submitted by the recipient now -which cannot be honoured due to the date

On another note - I phoned them to see about getting another bike added to my multi-bike policy, saying that it wouldn't be kept at my house, but in a different part of the country...............

Only another £40, but not to insure anywhere outside a 10 mile radius of my house.........

What difference does it make - 10 miles or 300??

Anyone had any experience of this?

Al

I would guess that it's the theft risk that changes. I could live in the leafy lanes of Devon (low theft risk) and keep a bike in the darkest depths of north west inner London, where it will probably be gone in two minutes.

Similarly, if it is miles away, you will probably not know it is stolen or damaged for a week or two or more. This makes the already difficult / impossible task of reporting the loss no easier and / or greatly reduces the slim chances of recovery.

It also reduces the opportunity for fraudulently insuring a vehicle as being kept on one site when, in reality, it's at another. Of course that is not a tactic we have ever seen employed / suggested by any member of UKGSer to save a few quid

 

[Blackal]

Yeah - but even allowing for giving them the post code for the alternate address - and the bike being in a garage that is in daily use.....................

It seems like they just don't want to assess the risk (reasonably or otherwise)

Al

 

[Wapping]

Yeah - but even allowing for giving them the post code for the alternate address - and the bike being in a garage that is in daily use.....................

It seems like they just don't want to assess the risk (reasonably or otherwise)

Al

Indeed they probably don't. It's all done on post code. My ex-wife's small Vauxhall would have been all but uninsurable against theft a few years ago had we lived 20 miles further east in Essex.

Viewed another way, why should they bother? Motor insurance is dirt cheap, with many people paying less than £365 a year, for fully comp cover (for a vehicle that is very easily damaged and written off) and (potentially) £20,000,000 of third party liability cover. What else can you get for a £1 or less a day? Not a pint of beer, that's for sure. They don't get paid enough to take too much interest; in short, it's just about as much interest as you take in the newspaper (30p / 75p) that wraps your £2.50 fish and chips.

They are not obliged to insure your motorbike at all. That they chose not to do so when it is garaged miles from where you regularly live is a straightforward business decision. It's little different to you not wanting to drive to London to do a job; it's simply doesn't pay enough to justify the hassle.

Of course you could always go to a specialist motor broker, who will be able to help you. A basic cheap call centre will, in all probability, not be able to. Why? Because they operate on the lowest common denominator of demand, stupidity and cheapest cost. My colleague has just insured a bunch of very valuable vintage cars being taken out of a museum and driven around a track for two days, miles from where they normaly live. But, he couldn't do that via a call centre. There again, you may not like the premium.....

 

[Belizibub]

it's just about as much interest as you take in the newspaper (30p / 75p) that wraps your £2.50 fish and chips.

When was the last time you bought fish and chips????