Review of Budget (BISL Limited) Third Party Fire and Theft Car Insurance

I normally change my motor insurance company every year, something I've done about 26 times now. I pay for the year with a single payment. In 2006 I changed to The Budget Shop (aka BISL Limited). The year passed without incident and in 2007 I changed to another company. But surprise surprise, it seems that BISL had debited my credit card for an additional year. The warning that they were going to do this they apparently included amongst the usual re-insurance documentation that these companies send out. It was well hidden amongst the usual letter litter.

The legality of such a thing seems doubtful, and in 26 years no other insurance company has tried it. Anyway, having discovered the ploy I let the company know that I didn't need their insurance. They duly cancelled it ‚ but refused to refund the fee until the 'Certificate of Insurance' was returned. This I immediately did by recorded delivery ‚ but mysteriously money was not refunded. Eventually managing to speak to someone there I discover they 'had no record of receiving it'. So they sent a form for 'Lost Certificate' for me to fill in and return. This I did. Strangely they didn't seem to receive that either and sent another form for 'Lost Certificate'. This also I filled in and sent back. Then again. It took three Lost Certificate forms and a month of time before the credit card transaction was amended. And they kept £23.44 for themselves as a 'cancellation fee'.

Clearly they implement a strategy to try and trip people up with bureaucracy and hold on to what money they can get away with.

Whether people of such moral calibre are likely to pay out on anything but the most clear-cut insurance claim, isn't a risk I'd like to take. Maybe you're more optimistic.