If you didn't agree to or authorise (or receive notification before it was taken) the £100 payment, one option is to contact your bank and ask them to reverse the transaction.

My opinion is that car insurance is necessary to get a tax disc but here in the UK it has no value beyond that. If you have a problem this year, you'll pay for it twice in the next few years.

I contacted the underwriters of my previous insurance company and they confirmed that the accident was a No fault accident on my end and sent me a letter to that effect which i then faxed off to the RAC.

I then received aletter from the RAC telling me they had updated my policy based on the new information and that there would be no change in the amount i was paying - so i called them.

It appears that due to an error their end i have to pay an extra £38 - they sent me another set of policy documents out after my initial documents with the same accident listed twice, once as my fault and once as no fault, told them that they had the proof that it was a no fault accident, no idea why they have chosen to put it on the documents twice after initially only putting it on once and therefore not my charge to pay, but they would have none of it.They even tried to blame me for filling in the online form incorrectly, until i pointed out that i actually phoned and did the insurance over the phone with one of their sales people and that my initial policy documents were actually correct!

They are refusing to refund me the full £100 they took out of my account - not usre what to do now.

Any ideas anyone?????

MrsBaird:

I think it is scandalous that a company can just take money from my bank account

One option that is open to you is to contact your bank and tell them that the transaction wasn't authorised by you. They should then reverse the transaction.

If you are sure that you have declared all previous claims and accidents, you should tell this to RAC. It's best to communicate in writing and to obtain posting receipts as some large organisations often only remember what they want of phone calls.

on the 26th April i took out car insurance through the RAC to start as of the 28th April - i have been a breakdown customer of theirs for years and thought they were a reputable company so was happy to take out their car insurance.

I had a bump in July 2010 whilst insured with Auto Direct The accident was not my fault and never affected either my excess or NCB and the underwriters received their money back from the other drivers insurance company.I renewed my insurance last year with Auto DIrect and no mention of the accident appeared in my policy details. I declared this non-fault accident on my application to RAC and thought no more of it.

On the 30th April my policy documents arrived - i checked them and they were all fine.

Today -1st May - i received a letter from the RAC dated the 28th April advising me that i had not declared the accident and if i did not reply to them in writing with documents from my previous insurers (AUTO DIRECT) stating that the accident was not my fault they would be increasing my policy by £100 and taking this amount from my bank account immediately - they gave me until the 29th April to get this paperwork to them - yes that's right they have given me a negative 2 days to not only respond in writing but also get paperwork from previous insurers. Sure enough i checked my bank account and £100 was taken from my account on the 29th April.

Understandably i was a little annoyed - I called the underwriters who dealt with the claim on my accident and as far as they were concerned the claim is closed, it was never me at fault and they have received all monies owing to them from the other drivers insurance company, i called Auto Direct who were a little more evasive and apparently are refreshing their system.

Soooo i called RAC to try to explain the situation and get my £100 back - uhhmm - not as easy as you would think, i spoke to an advisor who was not really a lot of help and offered me £5 compensation (doesn't even cover the cost of the phone calls!) but not my £100, so i asked to speak to his manager, who after basically calling me a liar and accusing me of lying on my application for insurance eventually offered me £20 compensation, but still not the extra £100 they have taken from my account with no warning. She didnt seem to think that sending a letter dated the 28th April requesting a written response by the 29th April which only arrives on1st May was an issue.

Needless to say i will be on the phone to Auto DIrect tommorrow morning.

I think it is scandalous that a company can just take money from my bank account without any warning or permission from myself, luckily i had enough in my account to cover this £100 as well as all the other bills that normally go out on the 1st of each month. I guess i will be spending a lot of time on the phone again tomorow trying to sort this!