How client ended up paying R62k in premiums after cancelling car policy, but not specifying the add-ons

Recently, consumer journo Wendy Knowler provided an update on bank action over those long-unused garage cards that people were still unknowingly paying for, racking up thousands in unnecessary fees.

Clients didn't pick up on this because it was bundled in with the fee for their ordinary credit card.

RELATED: Bank finally takes action over forgotten, fee-guzzling garage cards

But, of course, this is not the only instance where you could be wasting money by not methodically interrogating the costs reflected on your bank statements. Think of insurance premiums for a cell phone last used years ago, or a subscription to some service you don't recall agreeing to.

This week, Knowler highlights the experience of a consumer who had actually been paying premiums for add-ons to her car policy with 1st for Women, after cancelling that policy.

Shireen ended up paying a whopping R62,000 over 13 years, after cancelling her "main" policy in 2012, two years after taking it out in 2010.

As these extras she'd agreed to during an unsolicited upsell call fell under the same policy number, she assumed the cancellation would include them.

"Two months after Shireen took out that inital policy for her car, an agent sold her three add-ons: funeral cover, personal accident cover, along with scratch and dent cover. So when she made that call in 2012 and said she wanted to cancel her policy, those extras were in fact not cancelled... because she didn't specifically mention she wanted to stop them and, IMPORTANTLY, the agent didn't specifically ask her about them."

The insurer in the end did try to meet her if not half way, at least some of the way. They offered to pay her back three years' premiums, citing this limit because of prescription. However, seeing as the premiums increased every year over the 13-year period, she did get back over R25,000 or around 40% of the total amount.

Go and have a look at your bank statements, Knowler urges: "You might have add-ons that you pay for every month and have no idea about."

For more detail, listen to the interview audio at the top of the article