Aviva Insurance Renewal Grief

Seth Brundle

Just gone through the motions of renewing my motor insurance.
I had been with Aviva (paid by DD) but as it turned out my renewal notice got stacked away and I was unaware of its presence (only found it last night). The policy was due for renewal on the 14th of Sept.
However in the end and after checking various sites online, I went with insure.ie (for a bit over €400).

A few days ago a letter arrived from Aviva telling me about my direct debit plan (and that the first installment would be taken on the 17th). I had no idea what this was about as I never told them to renew the policy. Rang them up and was told that this was completely standard and if I want to cancel, I have to write to them and I also have to write to may bank to tell them to stop this unauthorised direct debit. The customer service guy was insising that this was a completely standard practice within the industry.

The feckers. They make the assumption that I want some kind of feckin subscription and make it an inconvienence to opt out.

It reminds me of the crap Quinn used to get up to but I thought Aviva had some level of consideration for their customers; obviously I was wrong!

Alanstrainor

What a load of arse!

Anan1

That's very shady. I assume you've cancelled the DD..

SV

lol, sounds exactly like Quinn direct, cowboys!

Triangle

Am I the only one that thinks the first part is a bit ott?

They send you a letter informing you of the details, you don't read it and then blast them?

As for the DD - if you ring the bank, they will stop it within a couple of days I believe.

Sorry for seemingly being a bit unfeeling, but the docs I get from my insurance company state this in plain writing on the cover sheet (i.e. if you don't contact us you're policy will be renewed) and it's standard for most ongoing contracts (i.e. the perputually continue until one of the parties decides to stop it)

BTW - you should be able to cancel without penalties I believe.

Anan1

Triangle wrote: »

Sorry for seemingly being a bit unfeeling, but the docs I get from my insurance company state this in plain writing on the cover sheet (i.e. if you don't contact us you're policy will be renewed) and it's standard for most ongoing contracts (i.e. the perputually continue until one of the parties decides to stop it)

If it says that plainly then IMO you're right. I'm with Aviva and i've never been informed of it, but then again I don't pay by DD.

Seth Brundle

Triangle wrote: »

They send you a letter informing you of the details, you don't read it and then blast them?

For various reasons, I was not aware of the envelope's existence. It wasn't that I didn't read it.

Triangle wrote: »

As for the DD - if you ring the bank, they will stop it within a couple of days I believe.

I shouldn't have to. I never agreed to this particular DD being set up in the first place.

Triangle wrote: »

Sorry for seemingly being a bit unfeeling, but the docs I get from my insurance company state this in plain writing on the cover sheet (i.e. if you don't contact us you're policy will be renewed) and it's standard for most ongoing contracts (i.e. the perputually continue until one of the parties decides to stop it)

I've had various home and motor policies over the last two decades. Automatic renewal is not a normal practice.

Triangle wrote: »

BTW - you should be able to cancel without penalties I believe.

Now I feel happy :rolleyes:

Otis Driftwood

Its standard practice for every insurance company that's large enough to have their own in house direct debit function to auto renew direct debit customers unless informed otherwise.

FBD,Zurich,Allianz,Axa,Aviva and Quinn all do it and there is nothing shady about it.It says it in the literature that the policy will be auto renewed.

At the end of the day the onus is on the customer to be informed about what they have signed up for.

Seth Brundle

I've been with Zurich, Allianz, Aviva and Axa in the past and this never occurred.

zenno

get that direct debit canceled asap. why anyone wants to use DD these days I will never understand.

Otis Driftwood

kbannon wrote: »

I've been with Zurich, Allianz, Aviva and Axa in the past and this never occurred.

Maybe not in the past but they do now.FBD have been doing it for as long as Ive been familiar with their product and thats over 2 years.

bladebrew

i assumed this would be a standard practice

i just get a letter from quinn saying my renewal is due, will cost this much and you dont have to do anything to renew, they apply for a direct debit if i read it right,
and that is it, it will have a list for the year of what date the payments go out, they make it easy to stop people leaving i would think,


@zenno dont most people use direct debit to pay for loads of things?? eg esb, gas bill etc?

Keith186

It's standard practice to auto renew car policies that are paid by DD.

Been happening for ages, I'd be surprised if they didn't have it in their literature somewhere.

It's the same with UPC, Sky, mobile phone bills and you also have to write to them and your bank to cancel your direct debit.

zenno

bladebrew wrote: »

@zenno dont most people use direct debit to pay for loads of things?? eg esb, gas bill etc?

They do, but it's a lazy way imo of paying as there is always a problem with companies/businesses taking out over the odds in their policy changes and in some cases mistakes of over-charging. giving them all access to your account is problematic as I have had to deal with problems myself from such cases. just my opinion though.

gbee

For like twenty five years now, my insurance which has moved through acquisitions from five different companies, ending up with AVIVA have all had automatic renewal, I have always got a letter saying I don't have to do anything ~ if I want to cancel, phone em up.

Because of the recession, I'm down to one van, one that was off the road was renewed because I had more worrying issue to deal with ~ after one month they put the policy on hold for two years and refunded the DD and did no draw from it and I did not have to go to my bank.

unkel

DDs by default auto-renew until 1000 years after you die

CiniO

Exactly the same happend to my wife few 9 months ago.

Her policy with Aviva was due for renewal, but we were abroad for a month, and policy was suspended anyway.

Plan was that when we get back, we will shop around to find the best offer and get a new policy.

You couldn't believe how surprised I was, when after we came back home I found an envelope with disc and cerificate, and direct debit schedule for next year.

I called them straight away, and I was told that this is normal practice, and I was informed about renewal which was about to commence in a letter 2 weeks earlier.

True - letter arrived, but no one was home. I didn't agree to renew.

He said that policy might be cancelled any time, but there still will be charge for period from begining of policy to day of cancellation.

Eventually we shopped around and didn't find anything cheaper, so we stayed with Aviva's policy.

oldyouth

It is standard practice in the industry to auto renew direct debit policies unless you contact them and it is highlighted in the notice they send you

MugMugs

Ah this old nugget.

A company I was working for a few years back stopped doing this. Their complaints rate went through the roof because people were left uninsured.

Dammed if you do and Dammed if you don't

As already said, it's very much standard practice and IF you look on the bright side of it then you haven't been driving around uninsured for the past 13 days nor have you run the risk of your motor being taken or damaged and not being able to claim for the loss for the past 13 days.

It seems your Insurer's standard practice has worked to your benefit IMO.

Policy you don't want -vs- 1 year ban for being uninsured :rolleyes:

Jimmy Bottlehead

In writing is not necessary, but the onus was on you to inform them over the phone. If you didn't, you're in the wrong.

dar83

Something somewhat similar happened to me a couple of years back with Aviva, only I read the initial letter and then rang them passed the "let us know otherwise" date, (by about a day). I cancelled it with them over the phone, no problem there. Went to the bank and cancelled the DD, which would have come out on the 23rd of the month. Job done, or so I thought.

Roll on the 23rd of the month and don't the fcekers have a Direct Debit Plus setup, so they go and set up a new DD and take my first months payment. Rang them up and got the money back, eventually, but you need to keep an eye out on your Bank Account, because they may just set up a new Direct Debit even though you've cancelled the old one, as they have the power to do that, unfortunately.