I had to pay a year’s car cover even though I only used policy for two days
MY WIFE had fully comprehensive car insurance with the AA for many years. When her policy ran out on March 17, she agreed to renew and pay by monthly direct debit.
On March 19, two days later, someone damaged her car while it was parked outside our house.
The vehicle was written off as uneconomical to repair and the AA paid the market value, less the excess. We then decided not to replace the car so cancelled the direct debit as no insurance was needed.
A month or so later the AA phoned to say that as the third party was unknown, the accident would be classed as my wife’s fault. She would, therefore, be liable for the £258 balance of the year’s premium and would lose her no claims bonus.
I said that in my opinion this was not justified either legally or morally as we had effectively only been insured for two days and had not replaced the car. No one I’ve spoken to believes this is right. I’d like your thoughts. A.L., Stockton-on-Tees. WELL, I know this will come as a disappointment, but I’m going to disagree with you and with everyone else you’ve spoken to. But I am publishing your letter to iron out some common misconceptions.
When you bought the insurance you were entering into a contract for a year even if you chose to pay monthly.
It does not matter whether you have an accident on the first day of coverage or the 365th, you are still liable for the whole year’s premium if you make a claim.
AA stuck to its part of the bargain by paying out. You wouldn’t expect it to say you were only two days into the contract therefore it would only pay 2/365th. Equally, if it said you’d only paid one month’s premium and so it would only pay 1/12th, you would have had cause for complaint. Both I and the AA understand it can be a shock to find that an unknown person has damaged your car — and even more so when the damage is so extensive that the car is written off.
However, because the person who caused the damage chose to break the law and disappear without owning up, AA will have to meet the cost and this falls on to your wife’s policy.
Your wife has made a claim. If she had paid for the full year in advance there would be no refund due, therefore under a monthly payment scheme the full year is still due.
The covering letter to customers and the policy terms and conditions both make this clear: ‘If you have made a total loss claim, there will be no refund available and the full annual premium will be required.’
The insurer has honoured the claim and so it is right that you keep your part of the bargain.
The issue would have been entirely different if your wife had decided to give up driving and sell the car without there being an accident, or possibly if the claim had been minor.
In that case she would have received a refund on the cost of the annual premium, minus any administration charge.
I understand you have made an official complaint to the AA. In your shoes I would drop it, as I don’t believe you have any chance of success. I HAD an email from Norton saying anti-virus protection for my computer was due for renewal on August 10, at a cost of £69.99.
Last year it was £24.99 and was renewed on August 28. I rang Norton to cancel as I can get a better offer elsewhere. I was told there was an £80 cancellation fee.
I tried to cancel the automatic renewal but failed and £69.99 was taken from my credit card on August 10. M. G., Beds. I TOOK your complaint to Symantec, owner of Norton. It seems you were contacted by a third party that impersonates the Norton brand.
Norton says there is no fee to cancel automatic renewal services for its subscriptions.
The number you called is a scam line and appears on useful website shouldIanswer.co.uk. Similarly helpful sites include
who-called.co.uk. Norton has explained how automatic renewal works and removed this feature from your subscription. It offered a full refund of £69.99 but you said you would like to keep using its service so it gave a partial refund as a goodwill gesture.
A spokesman says: ‘We take any threat to our customers or abuse of our brand very seriously. Norton does not authorise or endorse any third party to provide support for Norton products, nor to contact our customers.
‘Support is offered directly from the company and included in customers’ subscriptions.’
Norton goes on to say that scams of this type are a significant problem and that it has been working to educate users for years about them.
It advises customers to look carefully before clicking a link, including when using sponsored search results through internet search engines. And beware of unsolicited phone calls claiming to be from Norton.