One Call insurance customers slam firm for ‘ignoring’ cancellations and continuing to charge

One Call Insurance is again being called out by customers, who say it failed to cancel their policies when asked. 

This is Money previously reported on the firm not returning full refunds to its customers, despite them cancelling during the cooling-off period.

The Yorkshire-based insurer now faces claims that payment is still being taken from customers after policies have been cancelled.  

One customer, who did not wish to be named, told This is Money that he has spent more than a year trying to get a refund from the firm after cancelling his policy, and is now being threatened by debt recovery firms.

A.P. said that despite informing One Call that his policy was not to be renewed, it continued to take payment before later charging him a cancellation fee.

A One Call customer is being threatened by debt collectors after trying to cancel his policy

A.P. cancelled his policy in September 2019, giving them a month’s notice of his decision by email. He also attempted to contact them by phone.

When trying to cancel the plan by logging into his One Call account, he found there was no option to do so.

He also tried to confirm this with Close Brothers, the finance company responsible for taking the payments.  

The next month, his usual payment of £32.72 was taken for the ‘cancelled’ policy.

This continued to happen for the next three months, totalling £130.90. Throughout this period, A.P. was trying to get in touch with the firm to stop the payments.

Then in January 2020, One Call tried to take a further £48.30 in cancellation charges.

A.P. then wrote to One Call asking for £200 in total – the sum of the charges taken, as well the new cancellation charges it was trying to take. He asked for the latter as a gesture of apology. 

The firm agreed to make an in-house complaint, but then tried to take £48.30 once again in April 2020. 

This was rejected by A.P.’s bank as he had removed his payment details.

Since then One Call has threatened to use a debt recovery firm in relation to the charges.

Currently, he has been battling the company to prove he cancelled in sufficient time. 

This is Money has tried to get in touch with One Call multiple times but it had not responded at the time of publication.

It seems that A.P. is not the only person to have this issue. Other customers have taken to social media to vent their frustration with the firm for the same reasons.

One Twitter user said they had been trying to cancel their policy for days on end

One Twitter user said they had been trying to cancel their policy for days on end

Another said the firm was trying to charge her father despite being in the cooling-off period

Another said the firm was trying to charge her father despite being in the cooling-off period

One customer said they tried to cancel over the phone but it took a long time to get through

One customer said they tried to cancel over the phone but it took a long time to get through

Your rights when cancelling insurance policies 

This is Money, with the help of Citizens Advice, has outlined your rights when cancelling insurance policies – both before and after the cooling-off period.

If you cancel during the cooling-off period: You may want to cancel an insurance policy if you have just bought it, but have changed your mind. By law, you have a minimum 14-day cooling-off period during which you can cancel the policy for any reason.

If you’ve bought life insurance, the cooling-off period is 30 days. This starts from the date the policy begins or the date you receive your policy documents, whichever is later. You should be refunded any premiums you have already paid.

However, your insurer may take off a small amount to cover days when the policy was in force. They may also charge you a small administration fee.

Some insurers may give you a longer cooling-off period. If you’re not sure how long your cooling-off period is, you can check the terms of your insurance policy.

If you want to cancel your policy during the cooling-off period you should contact your insurer as soon as possible.

The right to cancel during a cooling-off period does not apply to travel insurance that lasts less than one month. 

Cancelling after the cooling-off period: If you want to cancel your policy after the cooling-off period, you should check your insurance policy. Most insurers will give you a refund if you have not made any claims during the policy year but you will usually have to pay administration fees.

If you are thinking of cancelling your policy because you’ve found a better deal with another insurer, it may be easier and cheaper to wait until your policy is due for renewal and then switch.

Cancelling a direct debit does not cancel your insurance policy. If you do this you will still owe your insurer the premiums. You must contact your insurer to cancel the policy.

Some policies are automatically renewed each year. It’s important to check when your policy is due for renewal, so you can make sure that it is not renewed when you don’t want it to be.

It’s a good idea to make sure you have a new policy in place before cancelling the old one so that you’re not left uninsured.

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