Been paying for house insurance for a house I have not lived in for 8

[L00b]

If I were him, I'd take the hit, see if the insurance company are willing to reimburse any of it. If not.... Consider it a lesson learnt.

Well...you're not much help, then, are you?

 

(joke )

For me, claiming back from the ex is not the Clearest option.

your opinion - fair enough

[Cyclone]

Aaaahem! Quit the bickering on my thread

 

Jeffrey, thanks for that useful info, makes perfect sense. It seems I might only get up to 6 years payments back then?

 

I've already (in my head) spent the money I think I'm due back!

 

Don't count your chickens, legally you may well not be entitled to it (no harm in asking though).

[jfish1936]

We had a bad experience with a "direct debit" insurance which we didn't need.

Mail to the company address we had was returned "unknown".

So we went to the bank to stop the payments -- "can't do that without the company's agreement".

"But we can't contact the company! Can you give us the address to which you pay the money?"

"No, sorry, thats'commercial in confidence' and we can't give you any information without their consent"

Fortunately, we had a friend in the insurance business, who knew how to trace the company, which had apparently gone through several take-overs. We contacted the present "owners" of our insurance, and were able to cancel it.

We've never put anything on direct debit since.

[Cyclone]

Something odd about that, you should always have the ability to cancel a direct debit. The only permission it requires is your own.

[Robbie Loving]

Something odd about that, you should always have the ability to cancel a direct debit. The only permission it requires is your own.

 

Very odd indeed.

 

Next time, go on Internet banking and just press cancel, it really is that easy.

[CELCAD]

I knew this was never going to be plain sailing.

 

The letting agents don't have ANYTHING on record. The lady who set up the contracts does remember us and remembers that I left shortly after, but is unable to provide any evidence because she no longer works for the company and doesn't have any paperwork (the current owners contacted her)

 

SO, I've emailed said insurance co and explained the situation. Although the more I think about this the more I'm thinking it's hopeless.

 

I will not however give up - Yet! I'm interested in Jefferys suggestion. 6 years money back is better than nowt!

 

Has anyone used this approach before?

 

 

Most insurance policies require written notice of cancellation- so a telephone call, even if made back then, would be insufficient.

A better argument for you would be 'Money Had And Received' (also called 'quasi-contract'). The payments by you could not have been for insurance of your goods at the supposed address if you no longer had an insurable interest and owned no goods there. However, any such claim would have a six-year time limit (so payments longer ago will now be irrecoverable in any event).

[alchresearch]

There was a feature on that ITV Martin Lewis programme last week. Someone was paying a direct debit for insurance for a fridge-freezer they'd got rid of eight years ago.

 

Do people not check or manage their finances any more, or do they just pay whatever is demanded?

[Movehut]

Rather than focusing on the old tenancy agreement, could you not show them the new one you took out when you moved? This would prove the dates. It might be worth a try?

[WeX]

As title, unbelievably until this weekend It hadn’t dawned on me that a certain direct debit was ‘unusual’ I had previously assumed it to be something to do with life insurance but on further investigation it wasn’t.

 

Now please spare me any smart comments, all I want to know is where do I stand with getting my money back from the company. They stated I need proof of when I moved out. Which hopefully the letting agent will be able to provide. So in theory should be ok.

 

Main reason for the post is to see is anyone else has been in this situation before and did you successfully without hassle get your money back?

 

You're very lucky if they give you the money back, you made the mistake, its you're responsibility to provide accurate information to them.

[foxy lady]

Yes it was a rented property and just for contents insurance. My ex continued to live there for a further 4 years after we split up. There was no agreement between us that I would continue to pay the insurance and it was clear that she would be responsible for the bills etc.

 

I am hopeful the letting agent will be able to locate the original tenancy agreement which will show both our names and the subsequent one signed by just my ex. If my calculations are correct I will have been paying it for at least 8 years after I left the property.

 

If I'm honest, I completely forgot about the insurance when I left, there were far more important concerns at the time. I spoke to my ex yesterday and she says that letters were delivered to the property but she didn't pass them on to me Typical of her really!

 

Therein lies your problem. Just because there was no agreement with your ex it doesn't mean that she couldn't have put in a claim had there been cause.

 

The insurance company are not to blame here. They have provided cover in return for a premium. This could even have extended to subsequent tenants. (you are a generous soul)

 

Your only hope is proving that the cover that you were actually paying for was covered by another policy at all times.