The small print, the happy ending and chap car insurance for women

If you are on the hunt for cheap car insurance for women, then shopping around is a really smart move in order to find the cheapest quotes and best motor cover for you and your vehicle. However, when buying any form of car insurance, whether for yourself or someone else, there are some important issues to remember.

The small print
It is easy to miss something when you buy car insurance over the phone; take the case of one unfortunate mother who paid for her son's cover in 2008.

The hapless mum paid for her 34-year-old's car insurance over the phone using her credit card and thought nothing more of it. Then, in 2009, the cost of the renewal premium was charged to her card without her knowledge.

She wrote to a money advice expert in the national press stating that she had not given authority for continuing payments to be taken from the card, and that the car insurance company refused to deal with her as she was not the policy holder.

The mother's predicament was heightened by the fact that she did not have an address for her son and did not know his whereabouts in the UK. Her credit card company advised flatly that her dispute was with the insurance provider.

Investigators from the newspaper contacted the insurers who stated that a policy renewal letter had been sent to the policy holder. However, it was unlikely this letter was delivered as he no longer lived at the address on their records and, as with most insurers, if there is no word from the policy holder that they wish to change or cancel the cover, the policy is automatically renewed and charged to the original credit card.

According to the insurance provider, their records show that when the initial policy payment was made the automatic renewal option was selected and so the company were within their rights to take further payment.

The insurance provider also pointed out that they were unable to cancel a policy on instruction from a third party as it could leave the policy holder unknowingly uninsured.

The happy ending
In this instance the powers that be chose benevolence as the way forward and the credit card company decided to refund the payment. The insurance company also removed the woman's details from her son's policy records, so that the same instance could not be repeated.

And the advice for anybody buying their cheap car insurance for women over the phone or on the internet is to listen to any messages that the advisor may give you regarding your insurance and to read the policy documents carefully when they arrive. In most cases you will have a "cooling off" period where you can change your mind and/or change details on the policy, but once this time has past, you are bound by the terms and conditions relating to the policy.

Women insurance news archive - Articles - Insurance resources - Site map
Privacy policy - Terms and conditions - Copyright policy - Website security