A well known company of long East Anglian tradition but which now has a foreign sounding name took my wife's car insurance renewal twice and then took 4 MONTHS to reimburse her despite being sent a copy of her bank statement as requested when she realised what had occurred.
I have an related policy with the same company which I pay annually by cheque. Last year I sent the cheque in good time and a fortnight after the renewal date it had not been cashed. I telephoned (at some expense both in terms of my time and call charges given the delay in speaking to me) and asked whether my cheque had been received. I was advised that it had not and duly took the name of the official who gave this information. I told her I would send a cheque by return and cancel the unreceived cheque.
This was duly done as I said and in less than a week the "new" cheque cleared my bank account. However a few days later I received a threatening letter advising that the cheque I'd sent to pay my premium had been cancelled and that all cover would cease unless I paid immediately.
Given that I had tangible evidence that I had paid via my bank statement I chose not to allow them to stress me out or intimidate me and ignored that particular letter. However I did wonder whether some people may have been intimidated and felt that they should pay again given the threatening tone of the letter.
Hopefully people now understand some of the reasons (I have more) why I refer to insurance companies as thieving bastards!
My advice is to never, ever, buy anything costing over £100 on anything other than a credit card, unless you really, really have to.
Story: I had car insurance with a company (Independent Insurance) that went bust in dubious circumstances. Okay I could have waited (months?) for the FSCS to pay out. Instead I just wrote to the card company, cited S75 of the Consumer Credit Act, reminded them they were jointly and severally liable and requested a pro rata refund for the 9 months' worth of insurance I had not received. Hey presto, money back on my account in a few days. Sorted. If you pay by cheque, you can't do that.
Like Sadie says, I reckon they've forgotten it/mislaid it - either way, I doubt they'll be coming to get it now. I would cancel the card so they can't collect it at their leisure and stick it in a savings account until the end of the year. There are all manner of legitimate reasons for your card details not to be valid 4 months after the transaction took place.
If you get to 1 January and you still haven't heard from the hotel then presume you're in the clear and celebrate by putting £1450 behind the bar at the Anchor & Hope after the Brighton game on 10 Jan and inviting everyone who has posted on this thread up until now. Keep back £40 to pay for your ticket and a couple of beers at Watford the following week and save the last tenner to take the wife out for dinner. Happy days!
I think you'll find that if you report the card stolen or something if they claim the payment on a signed form dated before you report the card missing the bank will still honor it.
At the end of the day if the money is spent then it won't be in the bank, so if they eventually put it through it will fail, they may try again but a couple of £12-30 bank charges is still cheaper than £1500.
At the end of the day if the money is spent then it won't be in the bank, so if they eventually put it through it will fail, they may try again but a couple of £12-30 bank charges is still cheaper than £1500.
Until they take him to court for the money, anything up to 6 years after.
Don't spend the money unless you can afford to spend it twice.
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Don't spend the money unless you can afford to spend it twice.
You won't be tempted to spend it soon, and it's there if the hotel claim the money that is rightfully their's by law.
Should they not claim it within a couple of years, then it's up to you and your conscience to decide what to do with that money.