First Ireland insurance cancellation

conorslevin

Well folks
Recently I’ve been trying to cancel my car insurance policy with First Ireland. After days of trying to ring them up I can’t seem to get through due to operators being busy. Ive gone to other departments to talk to them about it but they tell me there’s nothing they can do only transfer me over. I’ve been promised calls back which I’ve never received. I’ve sent emails which tell me they need to speak to the policy holder which is myself. Today they literally hung up on me when I was about to be connected with an operator. What do I do in this situation , it’s very unprofessional of First Ireland. I’ve tried everything in my power to try and cancel the policy but I can’t do anything without talking to the right operator. Any ideas ?

Jerry Attrick

conorslevin wrote: »

Well folks
Recently I’ve been trying to cancel my car insurance policy with First Ireland. After days of trying to ring them up I can’t seem to get through due to operators being busy. Ive gone to other departments to talk to them about it but they tell me there’s nothing they can do only transfer me over. I’ve been promised calls back which I’ve never received. I’ve sent emails which tell me they need to speak to the policy holder which is myself. Today they literally hung up on me when I was about to be connected with an operator. What do I do in this situation , it’s very unprofessional of First Ireland. I’ve tried everything in my power to try and cancel the policy but I can’t do anything without talking to the right operator. Any ideas ?

Email them summarising the attempts that you've made and and threaten to complain to the FSPO? Oh and cc the email to the FSPO!

coylemj

conorslevin wrote: »

Recently I’ve been trying to cancel my car insurance policy with First Ireland. After days of trying to ring them up .........

You can't cancel a motor policy over the phone. Every policy document out there says that you that you need to send back the cert and disc and ask them to cancel the policy. That's how it's done.

Miscreant

coylemj wrote: »

You can't cancel a motor policy over the phone. Every policy document out there says that you that you need to send back the cert and disc and ask them to cancel the policy. That's how it's done.

I wonder how that works now that a lot of insurers are no longer sending physical documentation......

wonski

You normally cancel or inform of the intention over the phone and then send the documents back by post.
In this case I would send it by registered post, but still would expect to be able to speak to a person to see if there is any refund due, and if there is how much etc. And to confirm they actually received it.

Had similar issue yesterday, was to collect new car at 2pm, sat on the phone from 10am to customer care at 123 and no answer at all. Music and a message for fecking 2 hours.

At 1pm I just selected 1 instead of 3 (new policy queries) and got connected to the advisor in 10 seconds lol.

Politely explained that I had tried everything and still can't get through to customer care. He said he had option to connect directly and 2 minutes later I was talking to customer care and confirmed the swap.

I found it fairly frustrating tbh. Covid or not covid new policies can be bought online, at the same time customer care is overflowed with calls from customers who have to speak to them and another department that is not that essential is answering straight away.

Ridiculous.

wonski

Miscreant wrote: »

I wonder how that works now that a lot of insurers are no longer sending physical documentation......

You send them one copy and keep another

Or just email them the cert back. That should do

wonski

coylemj wrote: »

You can't cancel a motor policy over the phone. Every policy document out there says that you that you need to send back the cert and disc and ask them to cancel the policy. That's how it's done.

Every my arse unless we are living in 2010:)
I can assure you not every policy document out there says that.

coylemj

wonski wrote: »

Every my arse unless we are living in 2010:)
I can assure you not every policy document out there says that.

Try these then.....

Aviva

You may cancel this policy at any time by notifying us and returning your certificate of motor insurance and windscreen disc to us

Axa

To cancel the policy, return your certificate of insurance and insurance disc with a written request to: AXA Insurance dac, Wolfe Tone House, Wolfe Tone Street, Dublin 1, or your local branch.

FBD

You may cancel this policy in line with our Terms of Business by sending us written instructions and returning the current certificate and insurance disc.

AIG

You may cancel this policy at any time and all cover will immediately cease from that date. You must immediately return the Certificate of Motor Insurance to us.

Zurich

You may cancel your policy at any time by giving us notice in writing and returning the certificate of motor insurance and Insurance Disc to us.

wonski

Oh yes you need to return, but you should still be able to notify them by phone first.

Last time I cancelled it was cancelled there and then over the phone, subject to returning the documents.

Now since some don't even send you the documents I am surprised they actually want them back tbh.

coylemj

wonski wrote: »

Oh yes you need to return, but you should still be able to notify them by phone first.

Last time I cancelled it was cancelled there and then over the phone, subject to returning the documents.

The cancellation only takes effect when they receive the documents. Would you care to name the company which is prepared to cancel 'there and then over the phone?'.

You send your insurer the cert. and disc with a covering letter saying that you want to cancel the policy. Phoning them achieves precisely nothing.

wonski

I think it was 123.

I cancelled with Aviva years ago and, if memory serves me well, they cancelled over the phone and just asked for the documents back.

To be fair the op should have a chance to speak to the company regardless. Customer has a right to ask how to cancel the policy.

Also what if the documents get lost, just for arguments sake. Would the policy never be cancelled? They would have to send the new cert and disc to you so you can send them back?

While it is still there under terms and condition my experience was a bit different. And I would definitely want to be able to speak to the customer care if I need to. That's the main issue here.

Triangle

coylemj wrote: »

The cancellation only takes effect when they receive the documents. Would you care to name the company which is prepared to cancel 'there and then over the phone?'.

You send your insurer the cert. and disc with a covering letter saying that you want to cancel the policy. Phoning them achieves precisely nothing.

The MGA I work in does, even an email will suffice.
RSA did years ago when I worked and had insurance with them and lastly adelaide (before they stopped doing bike insurance) in Belfast allowed me to cancel my bike insurance with them over the phone.

coylemj

wonski wrote: »

I think it was 123.

123 (RSA). Condition 7(b) on P.33 of the current policy document......

You may cancel this policy by giving us notice in writing..

wonski wrote: »

To be fair the op should have a chance to speak to the company regardless. Customer has a right to ask how to cancel the policy.

It's in the policy document.

wonski

To cancel your policy, you can notify us at any time by contacting us by phone or in writing. You have a legal obligation to return your Certificate of Insurance and disc if applicable. Please see here for our contact details.

That's from Liberty.

I don't want to argue over this, but there is an option to do that over the phone followed by returning the documents if requested.

I've done it before. The T&C are often outdated tbh.

I can assure you I did cancel over the phone.

Eggs For Dinner

You can arrange the cancellation over the phone alright, but they won't effect it until they get their documents back or you provide them with a signed lost cert/disc declaration. They're not being fussy, they are obliged to do this