Honesty is not the best policy!

@Fleura (30488)
United Kingdom
November 4, 2024 12:31pm CST
They say that you learn from experience, and also that experience is what you get right after you need it. Today I learnt that I should just keep my mouth shut instead of trying to be helpful. I have scrapped my car (it had developed problems that would cost about ten times the value of the car to fix!) and we are trying out life as a one-car family. My car insurance was due for renewal later this month, so when the letter came saying it would be automatically renewed I called to decline it. It all went smoothly and the call was just ending when, in an effort to be helpful, I thought I would explain to the nice man on the phone that I didn’t want to renew the insurance not because I was displeased with their service, but because I no longer had the car. Immediately he told me that that changed everything and I now had to pay a £28 cancellation fee! I was outraged! He calmly explained that this was all in the policy – well yes the cancellation fee is in the document but I didn’t intend to cancel it, just let it lapse. But he went on to explain, very nicely, that since I no longer had the car the policy needed to be cancelled. I didn’t have to pay but that if I didn’t I would receive a letter in due course with an increased fee and the threat of debt collectors!! Well I am an idiot. If I had kept my mouth shut that would have been the end of the matter and I would have been £28 better off All rights reserved. © Text and image copyright Fleur 2024.
24 people like this
19 responses
@AmbiePam (93356)
• United States
4 Nov
Oh, goodness. That’s awful. They’re lucky you don’t switch providers.
3 people like this
@Fleura (30488)
• United Kingdom
4 Nov
Well I would, except I don't need a provider any more! I am a named driver on my partner's car insured with another provider.
3 people like this
@AmbiePam (93356)
• United States
4 Nov
@Fleura That’s great. That other company doesn’t deserve your business.
2 people like this
@JudyEv (340745)
• Rockingham, Australia
5 Nov
That would be so annoying. I'd be spitting chips too (whatever that means).
2 people like this
@Fleura (30488)
• United Kingdom
5 Nov
It certainly was very annoying. I try not to get too p**d off about things like this because life's too short and it doesn't have any effect on anyone except me, so what's the point? But yes, just trying not to think about it.
2 people like this
@popciclecold (39236)
• United States
4 Nov
Now, that really sucks.
2 people like this
@marguicha (223460)
• Chile
4 Nov
That is a shame. But there are many such "small letters" everywhere. When I stopped having my Alarm system (because when I called it for a fire at home, a machine answered after the firemen had gone asking me for my password) Then I had to pay an extra 4 months. And during a long time many people called me and tried to convince me not to finish the contract.
2 people like this
@TheHorse (219403)
• Walnut Creek, California
5 Nov
"No good deed goes unpunished."
1 person likes this
@Fleura (30488)
• United Kingdom
5 Nov
Too true. I really must learn that it's better to keep one's mouth shut.
@Ronrybs (19463)
• London, England
4 Nov
That damn small print! Still, I have learnt something there
1 person likes this
@Fleura (30488)
• United Kingdom
4 Nov
I read the small print but I didn't think I was cancelling the policy, unfortunately it didn't say that if you no longer have the car that means the policy will automatically have to be cancelled and you will be charged.
1 person likes this
@Fleura (30488)
• United Kingdom
5 Nov
@Ronrybs Indeed, there should have been a definition of the term 'cancellation'.
1 person likes this
@Ronrybs (19463)
• London, England
5 Nov
@Fleura Legalese can be very hard to wade through!
1 person likes this
@snowy22315 (181296)
• United States
4 Nov
Ahh, the danger of saying too much. Live and learn.
1 person likes this
@Fleura (30488)
• United Kingdom
5 Nov
Unfortunately I'm unlikely to be in this situation ever again, so the knowledge is not a lot of use.
1 person likes this
@allknowing (137111)
• India
4 Nov
I suppose you have no other option but pay up
1 person likes this
@Orson_Kart (6818)
• United Kingdom
5 Nov
Welcome to rip-off Britain! There was a time you would get a rebate for the unused time, but not anymore. I also don’t like this trend of auto-renewal. If it wasn’t for that, you could have just let the time lapse and ignore any contact to renew for next year. I have been caught out with that in the past, but I make sure now that I never take out any auto-renewal policies. Avoid at all cost!
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (471772)
• Switzerland
5 Nov
That makes no sense, when you "sell" or "get rid" of the object insured your insurance automatically is cancelled, I cannot believe that this is their policy. I suppose it's different in your country.
1 person likes this
@Deepizzaguy (103460)
• Lake Charles, Louisiana
4 Nov
I do know the saying that sometimes it is best to keep quiet even if being honest is the right thing to do.
1 person likes this
@Fleura (30488)
• United Kingdom
5 Nov
I really should learn that.
1 person likes this
@Shiva49 (26723)
• Singapore
5 Nov
That is very unfair. They are taking advantage of a customer's honesty.
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (180086)
• United States
5 Nov
Yikes! That would have made me mad. Try and have a good day.
1 person likes this
• Philippines
5 Nov
It is indeed true that some insurance companies may deceive or mislead you.
1 person likes this
@much2say (55672)
• Los Angeles, California
4 Nov
Argh! As they say, honesty doesn't always pay . . . sometimes you're the one ending up having to pay .
1 person likes this
@kaylachan (70733)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
4 Nov
To be honest, you did the right thing. You don't want to default on a payment because not only would you be dealing with debt colloctors, but you'd have a higher fine to pay. Pay the 28, and be done with it.
1 person likes this
@wolfgirl569 (107146)
• Marion, Ohio
4 Nov
That was a big oops. Sorry about that
1 person likes this
@rakski (124622)
• Philippines
4 Nov
Oh my goodness
1 person likes this
@RasmaSandra (80269)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
4 Nov
Well I can understand how you fell, Kinda makes you want to punch someone out,
1 person likes this