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Jack
12-09-06, 02:39 PM
This was recently posted by a member on CCUK. May well be of interest to some people here, I don't know if any of us are insured with Sky (may also apply to other insurance companies?) but i know a good few of us do pay monthly for our insurance...


I have some important information for anyone that used sky insurance to find them a good insurance quote.

If you took out a policy with sky insurance and did it over the finance agreement please read on:

I like many of us took out a policy with sky insurance who gave me a very good price, and beat my existing (at the time) premium, i paid the deposit to them and then setup the finance agreement.

This month i cancelled my insurance policy with them, which i had to do in writing.

What i have received has shocked me and i am still in disbelief now, i received a letter from sky insurance which stated that they had received my cancellation notice and that after deduction of the insurer's and there charge and commision, a refund of apx ?75.47 shall be forwarded to amber finance and shall reduce the owing balance to ?159.96.

I called sky insurance to query this, as i have never cancelled a policy before and still had outstanding money owing, after all i have cancelled the insurance i am hardly going to continue paying for a policy i have cancelled am i (i would think most of you think the same).

Wrong It turns out that the finance is done in such a way that when you agree to the finance, the finance company pay sky insurance the full amount, sky then forward that onto your insurer, so you then pay the finance company back (much like when you buy stuff on HP / Loan's etc from shops).

However I have never had it happen when buying car insurance, have you? I have had car insurance from all sort's of different companies and finance companies over the years and when you cancel the insurance and your direct debit, you might owe them say a few weeks / days depending on when you cancel your direct debit, but never has one asked for the outstanding balance to be paid.

My insurance was apx ?411 in may, I paid a deposit of ?102.75 (which it turns out goes to sky not the finance / insurance company) then 3x ?31.52 out of 11 so making the total amount I have paid so far ?197.31, 11x ?31.52 = ?346.72, meaning the interest is apx ?38.47, making the total payable ?449.47, now all that seems normal doesn't it?

So the figures that are on the letter equates to the insurance company refunding apx ?111 to sky, then sky have taken off there admin fee's and charges etc... leaving ?75.47 which get's sent off to amber to pay off the outstanding balance, hence leaving ?159.96

It was explained that the insurance company charged a 70% cancellation fee giving the eventual refund figure of apx ?111, they have now revised that due to me calling up sky to 40% apx ?143.55 leaving a balance of ?108.02 to be sent to amber which still leaves an outstanding balance of ?127.41 which the finance company expect me to pay.

So the finance company want the outstanding money that would have been paid to them over the 11 months, even though the policy has been cancelled, I called amber who told me the deposit goes to sky and not them, so all i have paid them is the 3x ?31.52, and that the finance is a un-cancellable loan and is stated on the welcome letter you get sent, now i explained as above that with all the insurance i have taken out over the years and the cancellation's i have made from time to time, i have never had to pay the finance company the outstanding balance of the insurance premium and i find it ridiculous that they expect you to pay the outstanding balance on an insurance that is cancelled, to which they replied well we do hence the un-cancellable loan.

So this is a polite warning to anyone who is currently with or thinking of going with sky insurance broker, and would take up the finance agreement, that you might well end up being expected to pay the outstanding amount even if you cancel the insurance policy, because this finance company do the finance like buying something on finance from an electrical retailer, or car showroom etc etc...I.E. you take out the finance and then the finance company pay the company for the item you have bought and then you owe the finance company (which i think is normal), However i have NEVER had the same thing happen with insurance premium's on finance, usually i have taken the policy out and then somewhere down the line i have had to cancel for whatever reason, you cancel the direct debit, ring up and cancel your insurance and barring any outstanding days you might not have paid for, that's it. you don't owe the finance company the balance of the premium.

Has anyone heard of this before?, better still does anyone that has taken out a policy with an insurance company found by sky and then done finance with amber credit know that this is what happen's if you cancel your policy?

Food for thought....

Matt2107
12-09-06, 03:54 PM
I was under the impression that the norm is to pay a percentage of the outstanding balance.

Stuart
12-09-06, 06:57 PM
unless its with virgin, they seem quite good at being customer focussed

wisewood
14-09-06, 09:08 AM
I don't really see where the gripe is with this. All of this would have been explained in the terms and conditions that were agreed to in the first place. If its not, tell them you're not paying, if it is, there is no room for complaint.