Craftinsure. £5 charge for cancelling.

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SimonA

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Carfeul if you are insured with Craftinsure and don't see your renewal email (if like me you have a junk filter and it ends up in with the hundreds of spam emails received daily). Craftinsure will charge you if you try to cancel on or after the renewal date.

Today I got an email saying they had renewed my policy. As I don't have a current survey (required for insurance on a 31 year old boat) I immediately emailed them to cancel the insurance as it would be void.

They had already taken the premium of £90 from my debit card and are only refunding £85. That's a £5 charge which they claim is a "card handling fee".

I have a credit card terminal here for my business and pay slightly higher rates as I work from home. However the fee for debit cards is £0.45p and there is no charge for refunding.

I emailed saying that was a but steep and they replied "The renewal invitation was sent 30 days ago and no fees are incurred if cover is cancelled prior to renewal.
The full charge was nearly £9 so I have already reduced it!"
 
Thats cheap my partners son was charged 80.00 for cancelling he was caught with a rolling policy as he didnt know it had been renewed, I didnt think companies were allowed to keep your credit card details.
 
Reading about Continuous Authority transactions it seems even if your card expires they can collect payments from your new card. Scary stuff.

But I have just read the Craftinsure small print (on the pdf documents they send)and nowhere does it say I have given authority for Continuous Authority transactions.

So under what law are they able to help themselves to money without my authority?

The amount charged is small, but it's the principle of it.
 
I am with CraftInsure and I certainly did not give them a Continuous Authority.

If they try that on me I will look elsewhere. Sometimes I ignore reminders to renew services as my way of not renewing.

I think I will send them a mail pointing that out.

EDIT:

Actually, we are all banged to rights as it is in the small print. I think I will find a new insurer next year.

<span style="color:blue"> Credit/debit card application
I authorise you, until further notice by e-mail, to charge my credit or debit card account when payments become due. I understand shortly after the renewal date of my policy, Craftinsure will automatically apply for payment of the premium due. </span>
 
I can't think of any insurance company I've dealt with, whether boat, car, house etc, that doesn't renew if you don't tell them otherwise. They'd be negligent in business terms if they didnt'
 
Actually, now some of the blood has managed to leave my stomach and reach the brain, I am not sure I did tell them. Just they just don't do it with me.

I moved form their car insurance and house insurance earlier this year and I just let the policies lapse. I never rang them to cancel and they haven't taken any money.
 
Just had a quick google, and it seems many do have automatic renewals with direct line, so you probably sign up to it, or avoid it, at some point in the process.
 
[ QUOTE ]
I can't think of any insurance company I've dealt with, whether boat, car, house etc, that doesn't renew if you don't tell them otherwise. They'd be negligent in business terms if they didnt'

[/ QUOTE ]

Really not sure about that, although it could be the companies I deal with.

It's certainly the case that they will OFFER you a renewal, but unless it's the AA and breakdown insurance, I normally have to reconfirm details etc. and pay explicitly. Where I haven't done this, and have taken out a policy with another company, I have got a "Your Policy Has Lapsed" letter.

dv.
 
The main difference is all other insurance companies tend to send you firstly a renewal quote in the post and then the insurance documents in the post before they take the money. Norwich Union did that and I cancelled before the policy renewed as it was more expensive. The company I have my business insurance and public libility insurance with also send two letters before taking the premium. Even the AA write to you by letter before renewing.

Sending just one renewal email is not the same as sending two letters by post. Many people have spam filters and might not see that email.

I understand Craftinsure work online to save money, but so do Norwich Union Direct. The difference is Norwich Union still send two letters by post before taking the next years premium.

I think it's a dangerous practice to just send one email and then take the money. In fact it's probably open to chargebacks from the card company.
 
My Craft Insure policy has just renewed. I think I had two emails which stated that unless I advise them before the due date, they will automatically renew with my details held.

I think this is the best way to work. It gave me time to get alternative quotes and if I didn't find anything I didn't need to do anything to ensure I had continuous cover.

Ok so emails may go astray but think of it the other way. If they sent you a reminder that your policy was about to expire with no aoutomatic renewal and you didn't get that reminder you could find yourself without any cover at all. Probably better to be a fiver out of pocket than risk all of the capital tied up in the boat if it was lost after your policy expired.
 
I dont think I have any policies that renew, and I cant think I ve ticked a box on every policy.
Not sure they have any legal duty to roll do they?
 
Seems to me that the insurance company should have been aware that they had no current survey on file for your policy so should have informed you that they COULDN,T renew the policy due to this fact. They certainly wouldnt have authorised the original policy without said survey.
 
Just to clarify a few points:

The automated renewal and continuous payment authority as set out in Craftinsure's Terms and Conditions (which need to be accepted prior to purchase) is intended to help prevent policies lapsing unintentionally, which could ofcourse have far more serious consequences.

Craftinsure issue a renewal invitation 30 days before renewal stating that the policy will be renewed automatically and the premium debited accordingly unless cancelled beforehand.

Craftinsure's transaction charges following cancellation after renewal are set at level to cover various administrative costs incurred in handling premium transactions and not soley the card company's fees. We believe the charges compare very favourably with the amounts retained or charged by most other insurers following mid term cancellation.

Craftinsure's premiums reflect the benefits of dealing on-line and there are no automatic policy or document fees or charges added to premiums, as is often the case.

The feedback is appreciated and will certainly be taken into consideration when next reviewing our transaction charges.

Rod Daniel, Craftinsure.com
 
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