Insurance issues

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Hey all, bit of advice needed on my part, and please accept my apologies for the massive wall of text.

I renewed my policy with Swinton Bikes on the 23rd of this month. Upon receiving my policy documents (26th), I noticed some errors with the policy, namely the following:

1) The date of my (non-fault) accident was wrong.
2) The security devices on the bike were ones that I don't own.
3) A £250 voluntary excess had been applied when I specifically asked for none to be applied.
4) My SP30 was not listed. I had previously declared the points to Swinton when I received the FPN, and twice more when I switched bikes on my previous policy, however these calls seem to not exist anymore.

Following the instruction of the letter, I called up Swinton Bikes and corrected them. I was then put on hold for a few minutes, then the woman came back on the line to tell me I owed them £228 for not declaring the above.

Immediately I chuckled and said "I will not be paying that, I declared those things when renewing". She puts me on hold again to talk to a manager and comes back saying they'll have to review the initial call, and that can take up to 72 hours.

So fast forward to today (29th), I call up twice wondering what the hell was going on. They said they've listed to the call and that I did declare the security devices, excess and accident date at renewal. However, they dispute that I told them about the SP30, and that's why I'm being charged extra.

The second time I called up today I spoke to a nice chap called Gary, who agreed with me that Fixed Penalty Notices were not convictions and that I had indeed answered the questions truthfully. He said he'd talk to his manager, Debbie, and that she would get back to me. No call received.

Their reasoning is that the guy who did my renewal said "Do you have any convictions, motoring or otherwise". I replied with "Nope, just the SP30 and 3 points", after which I distinctly remember discussing how many points were applied (3), how much my fine was (£60) and whether I was banned (nope).

I've put a written request in under the guise of a Data Protection Act request, specifically asking for what personal information was contained in the recorded calls. This may be fruitless, but I thought it was the best thing to do. Sent recorded delivery, arrived this afternoon, signed for.

Get home today, find a letter on my doormat; "thanks for accepting the credit agreement" - Whoah Nelly! I've done no such thing! So back on the phone I go, where the woman says they've taken the money already and that "FPN's are convictions, no matter what the law says, that's how we treat them", and that a manager was not available for me to talk to. I check with the bank, and they have indeed taken the money.

I'm fed up already and I've only had the policy a few days! They want/already have £228 to continue, or £81 to cancel the policy. I need advice/help/a lifeboat!



I hope this wall of text makes you proud, Tef!

[iooi]

Well you need to raise it as a complaint with Swinton. Let them follow their complaint process and if not sorted to your satisfaction. Take it to FSO.

I hope you recorded the call from Gary. as I feel that, that info will not be recorded.

Calls do not come under freedom of information. They are for training purpose only.
So any info you request will be written, not of the verbal call related.

Suggest that you tell them that anything further is in writing.

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[iooi]

Just edited my post....

Even DPA only covers written info the company holds and not voice recordings.

And if it goes to FOS it costs Swinton..... Not cheap.....

So don't back out if not sorted. Given the amount, there is a good chance they will back down.
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Just because my bike was A DIVVY, does not mean i am......

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[iooi]

Well I know some legal bods have looked at the DPA and calls, and as it says Calls are recorded for training purposes. It takes it out of the DPA.

Of course not all co's will have the same access to legal bod's who would be prepared to take it further.
Each co, might have its own take on this matter. I guess untill legally challanged in court, then its each to their own.

EDIT

I think this

[MarkJ]

You're still in the 14 day cooling off period. Cancel it.

[...]

[iooi]

[Charlie]

If calls are recorded for training purposes then surely they can't use them as evidence to what you said or didn't say. That isn't training then.
____________________
Past: Honda x8rs, Honda City fly, Honda Hornet 250, Honda VFR750, Yamaha xt600e.
Current: Honda CBR929RR & Yamaha XT660Z Tenere

[iooi]

I would be tempted to run a quote via one of the compare sites with your details.
One with the SP30 and one without.
Just to see if it does make a difference.

Going back to the OP.
Did they admit that they had missed the other info off that had not caused the price increase ?
If they did i would be tempted to go back and ask for FOC cancelation on the basis that they messed the orignal quote up.
____________________
Just because my bike was A DIVVY, does not mean i am......

[salty21]

my renewal is up next week with MCE, decided i want out as there nothing but trouble and it costs me a fortune everytime i call them.
The few quotes i have had show swinton as being the next best price, maybe i should avoid these aswell

what with bennets going down the pan are there any 'decent' insurers left? (use decent loosely)
____________________
04 NSR 125(sold) ---- 03 CBR 600rr(sold) ----90 pan euro ST1100 '' ----02 CG 125
94 CB400 Super Four ---- 2000 VTR SP1 (sold) ---- 08 ninja p8f(sold, meh) ----05 CBR600rr

[iooi]

[...]

[Rogerborg]

Paying a FPN and accepting the points means admitting to the offence. It's no different to being convicted in court.

However, they have made an error, and have admitted to it, so you didn't and couldn't have made an informed decision to agree to the contract. Press for a waiver of the cancellation charges, walk away.

They're having a laugh with the cancellation charge anyway. Within 14 days, they can only charge the reasonable costs of setting up the policy, plus a pro-rata amount for the days that you've actually been covered. That's not £81.

I guess you know it now too, but I don't take out a policy over the phone unless I have no other choice: the mong will mis-key it or blatantly mis-sell to scam their commission.
____________________
Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[salty21]

[lihp]

[...]

[sickpup]

[iooi]

All I can go by is the latest view we were provided with by the legal advisors.
It could be they argue that calls are not filed. As they are not tied to anyone account details. They are simply held on servers.
I don't know how they have come to the decision, only that this is what they have decided their stance is.

As I said diffrent companies may view this in a diffrent light.

Could be that as all calls while recorded are overwritten after a certain period. Now this could be years or months or days depending on call loads.

It would be nice if the regulations stated about telephone calls and not simply said Electronic data.
Sadly like many of the regulations, they talk with forked tongue that creates work for the mega bucks legal bods.... Who love to come to their own decisions.
Untill tested in court, then its a very grey area.
____________________
Just because my bike was A DIVVY, does not mean i am......

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[janner_10]

Just a thought, have you tried your bank, complaining you havent agreed to this charge coming out of your account?
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Yamaha FZS600 (Now gone to heaven) > CBR600F4i (SOLD) > '99 YZF-R1

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[Rogerborg]

Don't equivocate, don't explain, just tell the plain truth: you did not authorise that payment. Be adamant, end of.
____________________
Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[Jim Mc]

Going back to the original post, an sp30 is a motoring conviction, is it not?