I have recently assumed joint power of attorney with my sister over my parents’ financial affairs.
We went through their direct debits and found, to our horror, they were paying £180 a month (£2,160 a year) to insure their Skoda Fabia with More Than.
My parents drive about 1,100 miles a year and have a maximum no-claims bonus. Based on a price comparison search, I could get an appropriate annual policy for £450 to £650.
I called More Than – my parents have been customers for 27 years – to try to move them to a cheaper policy. However, I was told this was not possible and that it would cost £50 to cancel this one.
They have been sold insurance that is completely inappropriate for their needs, at extortionate rates, with no contact from More Than other than renewal letters since changing their car in 2014.
I will, of course, cancel this policy and move to another provider, but I find this abuse of long-term, older customers cynical and deeply upsetting.
JW, Chipping Norton
More Than says the cost was correct based on the details it held for your 87-year-old father, which has him driving 15,000 miles a year. This generated a policy that cost about £4,000 before his 44% protected no-claims discount.
The quotes you obtained are cheaper for a number of reasons, it says, including being based on a lower mileage (3,000) and a higher excess. On a like-for-like basis the More Than policy would have cost just over £1,000.
As a gesture of goodwill More Than offered to adjust and backdate the policy based on the months he has paid for, resulting in a refund of about £700. It also waived the £50 cancellation fee.
This case shows the importance of studying insurance policy documents when you buy, and at renewal, with your MOT certificate a good way to track mileage. You feel this refund does not address the excessive premiums paid over the years and point out the company had alerted him in the past when his mileage was higher than on his policy. You have taken out a policy with Axa (1,500 miles a year, £350 excess) for £418.
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