Short notice insurance cover

[MrRegieRitmo]

Bit of a conundrum here, I need insurance cover quick smart as I'm picking something up tomorrow, I've cancelled the DD for my Direct Line insurance as I didn't want another 84 quid to go from my account for a car I was no longer using (the Alfa). I really wish I hadn't done that now as they've written to me saying that I owe them 141 quid!! So from trying to save myself from paying an unnecessary 84 quid I'm now faced with paying 141. How has this happened? Well apparently I owe them another month (does it work in arrears?) plus another 56 quid for I don't know what! Last time I set up insurance I was able to get myself covered at short notice but I was keen to move away from Direct Line because upon turning 25 I saw a decrease in my premium of absolutely zilch despite not claiming & in doing so building a year's no claims. It actually became 70p a month more expensive, so I thought 'right stuff you then, I'm not going to be strung along by these cowboys!'. Trouble is I've since found out that my no claims built up as a named driver on my mum's policy is a mickey mouse no claims that counts for nothing if it isn't used with Direct Line - talk about taking the p*ss, it apparently doesn't seem to count for much with them either as I saw no 'bonus' or 'discount' in my premium! All a bit of a con really.The other problem is the bloody annoying fact that if I wanted to change & go with somebody else (which would mean declaring 'no' no claims bonus) no claims or not they all seem to want a deposit or the first two months upfront followed by 10 months of the regular instalment. I'm not in a position to provide two months upfront, if I was I wouldn't be bloody asking to pay in instalments would I!!? So I've got very little room to manoeuvre here, my instinct says I'm stuck with Direct Line unless I can find the money to change but the trouble is, now we appear to have cancelled the policy will I now have to pay up the 141 quid & start again with a new policy or can I get them to rescind that action, reinstate the policy but under my name using the 'no claims' I had & just swap the car in question for the one I will be collecting, thereby reducing my payments to the amount appropriate for the vehicle & at the very most have to pay one final amount to clear the old policy? i.e. 84 quid. If I'm just updating the vehicles rather than cancelling then I shouldn't 'owe' them anything should I?As this mess may rumble on, the main fact is that I still need cover for tomorrow, can anybody suggest a way I can get cheap temporary cover until I can sort out my proper policy? I've looked at these temporary covers from people like the AA but they seem to be saying that the car has to have a minimum value of £1500 for some reason which rules out most of the vehicles we on here would ever be likely to want to arrange it for! Help!

[Ross_K]

www.tempcover.com - no minimum value required from what I can remember

[MrRegieRitmo]

The minimum market value of the vehicle to be insured is £1,500.

[Ross_K]

They must have changed the rules (or weren't that strict before). I insured a shitty old Citroen C15 with them about a year ago. I think the declared value was £500.Bummer.

[MrRegieRitmo]

So I've got very little room to manoeuvre here, my instinct says I'm stuck with Direct Line unless I can find the money to change but the trouble is, now we appear to have cancelled the policy will I now have to pay up the 141 quid

To add - if I'm forced to stay with Direct Line & I can't arrange new cover until I've paid at least another £84 or maybe the £141 & then I have to set up a new one meaning a new deposit of 2 months upfront which will potentially set me back at least around £250 on top of the cost of the car (indeed more than the cost of the car) in one weekend which I'm not in the position to absorb at the moment!

[Rocket88]

Try MCE.

[Milford Cubicle]

What did you buy RegRit?Just start a new insurance policy with a better insurance company who aren't a bunch of crim's. The deposit is usually just 2 months worth of cover.

[Rocket88]

Glad to see some other poor sod is up at this ungodly hour!

[Milford Cubicle]

I wake up for work at about 6:30am, but no need for it on Saturday...Bloody body clock!

[Richard]

Me too.

[Father Ted]

Im still on BST and keep waking up about 5.30 Been pissing about with the internet connection since 6, now connected via the mobile phone as Virgin has once again gone tits up.Why not just tell the temporary insurance co the car is worth £1500 - simple as.Or tell DL that you dont want to cancel but want to swap cars - £15 admin fee for each time you do this, but cheaper than the £141 canx fee.

[Mr Lobster]

I'd just start a new policy with a better insurer to be honest. But the more important issue is what have you bought?

[MrRegieRitmo]

Why not just tell the temporary insurance co the car is worth £1500 - simple as.

will they not know from the car details that it's clearly a fib?

Or tell DL that you dont want to cancel but want to swap cars - £15 admin fee for each time you do this, but cheaper than the £141 canx fee.

so it's not too late? They can 'undo' it?

[nigel bickle]

Reg- If needed -I'll A frame it over. You know where I am. 2 bottles......

[Mr Lobster]

so it's not too late? They can 'undo' it?

Maybe... But if you have cancelled the Direct Debit you might end up needing to complete a new mandate so they are authorised to take payments again. Probably best to ring them.

[Pillock]

If you're really stuck, take out cover over the phone. Then you get 14 days to cancel it and get a full refund under 'distance selling' rules, i.e. you can say when you got paper copies of the documents you weren't happy with it.However, once you do this, if you ever have to do it again for real then you get lots of funny questions, since your cancellation goes down on the insurance database. Keep doing it and you end up being uninsurable.For the hassle though I'd go back to the original insurer, reinstate it and change car.

[MrRegieRitmo]

But the more important issue is what have you bought?

All will be revealed...

Reg- If needed -I'll A frame it over. You know where I am. 2 bottles......

Thanks Nigel, I'll bear that in mind but I hope it won't come to that. Time is running down but I'm hoping to have something in place.

[hotford00]

I do hope you have managed to sort out your problems and have collected your new aquisition, but it really pisses me off when insurance companies come out with this kind of crap. When you scrape away all the legalese insurance is little more than paying protection money to some faceless bunch of thugs that are now operating on the other side of the law. Whilst in the States I was insured to drive any vehicle I chose to whether mine or not, if I informed them that I was using a vehicle on a regular basis then anyone I allowed to borrow it could do so legally, and it was only in the region of $250 a year, and that included free breakdown cover, god bless State Farm.