Admiral Mid-Term Motor Cancellation = £45!

2

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  • dunstonh
    dunstonh Posts: 116,040
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    No one expects their policy to be automatically renewed

    why not? The renewal letters always tell you if it will or will not be. So, in theory everyone should know.
    and for unreasonable mid-term cancellation fees to be applied.

    Most people expect to be paid for work they do. So, why should insurance companies be any different?
    I am an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA). The comments I make are just my opinion and are for discussion purposes only. They are not financial advice and you should not treat them as such. If you feel an area discussed may be relevant to you, then please seek advice from an Independent Financial Adviser local to you.
  • This has been done countless times on many other discussions.

    Here's my twopenneth on it (lifted from another discussion)
    These charges are simply about businesses reacting to the demands that we the public make.

    The reality is that the public's insatiable desire to have everything "as cheaply as possible" means that companies are constantly having to look at bringing in ancillary charges or removing "free" services in order to make their headline price seem more competitive. There's big kudos in coming out on top in a Confused or Gocompare search and if you can do that by stripping out services, increasing excesses or generally cutting costs, then firms will do it.

    We have seen it most overtly in the airline industry and we are seeing it creeping in to other industries (more and more firms are charging surcharges for credit cards for instance). Where a company may have changed an address for free in the past, the pressure to bring the headline price down to the bare bottom means that those services get removed from the standard package. Very few people will want to change an address so the negative impact of introducing a charge is minimal.

    Insurance is a competitive, cut-throat industry and the margins have been shrunk dramatically. Five-ten years ago, insurers made little profit from a customer in Y1, making it up in Y2. Today, with many of us changing insurer every year (not forgetting the Quidco kick-back), firms are having to change that business model to make as much as possible in Y1 whilst still keeping the headline price low. Ancillary charges is one way of doing just that.

    At the end of the day, businesses are simply reacting to consumer demand and at the moments, our demands are almost entirely price driven.
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  • lisyloo
    lisyloo Posts: 29,583
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    You are very right.
    I think the reason that people find it hard to accept is that they haven't overall seen insurance costs coming down, whereas if you get a flight for 1p, then you don't mind so much.
  • dunstonh
    dunstonh Posts: 116,040
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    This has been done countless times on many other discussions.

    I like your response. There ought to be a sticky to cover why the charges exist (and automatic renewal as well) and your post should be there as it explains it well.
    I am an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA). The comments I make are just my opinion and are for discussion purposes only. They are not financial advice and you should not treat them as such. If you feel an area discussed may be relevant to you, then please seek advice from an Independent Financial Adviser local to you.
  • I've just bought a new car, already had my 1.6 Peugeot 106 insured with Admiral at £95 a month, have just bought a 1.4 Corsa and rang to change over, and new quote is £150 per month!!! So have found a much cheaper quote elsewhere, and cancellation fee with Admiral is now £47.50, plus £5 fee for each additional cover extra, so I have personal accident cover and hire car cover, so I also have to pay an extra tenner to cancel those and my normal policy cover, so all in all £57.50. Am hoping to argue with their retention team to match my other quote or at least keep it at £95 so the same as it is now, am hoping to get out of paying that fee but will leave if I have to!
  • Alison_B
    Alison_B Posts: 2,124
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    My son is about to change his car. He is with Admiral and his insurance is due up in February. He picks the new car up on Friday and they have only quoted him £138 to change his insurance for the remainder of the year plus £18 admin fee.
  • shazzom wrote: »
    I've just bought a new car, already had my 1.6 Peugeot 106 insured with Admiral at £95 a month, have just bought a 1.4 Corsa and rang to change over, and new quote is £150 per month!!! So have found a much cheaper quote elsewhere, and cancellation fee with Admiral is now £47.50, plus £5 fee for each additional cover extra, so I have personal accident cover and hire car cover, so I also have to pay an extra tenner to cancel those and my normal policy cover, so all in all £57.50. Am hoping to argue with their retention team to match my other quote or at least keep it at £95 so the same as it is now, am hoping to get out of paying that fee but will leave if I have to!

    Hate to tell you but you are probably going to have to pay more than £57.50 to cancel, there will also be a time on risk charge as well and short-term rates are not cheap!
  • I was quoted £120 to cancel my Admiral multi policy - I had a change of car and I got a quote that was £700 cheaper - with Admiral single car policy - they explained that there was an admin charge for changing cars mid term - but £700 more to stay with multi car or pay £120 cancellation.
  • dunstonh
    dunstonh Posts: 116,040
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    caseyann wrote: »
    I was quoted £120 to cancel my Admiral multi policy - I had a change of car and I got a quote that was £700 cheaper - with Admiral single car policy - they explained that there was an admin charge for changing cars mid term - but £700 more to stay with multi car or pay £120 cancellation.

    If you take their cancellation charge off that £120 then the rest is probably unpaid premium and possibly non-refundable items (if you bought any).
    I am an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA). The comments I make are just my opinion and are for discussion purposes only. They are not financial advice and you should not treat them as such. If you feel an area discussed may be relevant to you, then please seek advice from an Independent Financial Adviser local to you.
  • ahxcjb
    ahxcjb Posts: 209 Forumite
    dunstonh wrote: »
    You are also paying for loss of profit as well as a part recovery of the set up costs. Remember that the annual premium includes those but if you dont pay for the year, those costs still have to be met by the insurer.

    It is fair when you consider what goes into car insurance. Plus the very low profit margins that exist. Indeed, many are running at a loss.

    PLEASE, let us stop this utter NONSENSE that insurance firms are running at a loss. I challenge you to detail to me one PLC insurance firm running at a loss. Admiral just reported record profits, for example. Yes, the stock market is affecting their investment profits, but they are still profits.
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