Changing Address with car insurance firms

dunstonh

The market has become crowded

That is wrong. There are now fewer insurance companies than there have ever been in history. Also, policies today are closer in generic terms than in the past but there will always be differences.

What has changed is that companies like confused.com have allowed people to buy without the aid of a broker and without any advice. If you don't need or want advice, then the web portals offer you that service. If you need advice and support then you shouldnt use the website but still use a broker.

You can go to any town and see many DIY shops. Some people can DIY, some cannot. Some will try and make a pigs ear of it. If you cant do it yourself you get someone to do it for you. Financial services is no different to anything else.

I have pedro on my ignore list (like many others on this forum have) because he has destroyed threads in the past with ranting without joining in the discussion. So, I cant see his posts, just what you have quoted. His assumptions are wrong. TCF was brought in to move financial services away from a written rule book with rules saying what you can and cant do to a more principles based regulation . It was a change in focus from the regulator.

It is OK for Dunstonh, Dan Thomas and Raskazz to continue in their quest for cheaper and cheaper insurance but at the expense of what

I'm not looking for cheaper and cheaper. Indeed, I have a preference for value for money focusing on quality. Some of the cheapest plans are not good value for money because of things they leave off or cut back on. However, its only right that people have the choice.

pedro123456

I’m wrong because I say the IC’s can charge what they want, and set their own agenda etc and you say the charges are pro rata etc

So go on then because I’m cofused.com now tell me.

Who sets the pro rata/mid term adjustments charges etc then, would it be the IC ?

Please don’t take this personally but you are missing the point glider sorry :rolleyes:

nevica

glider3560 wrote: »

I'm going to be absolutely blunt in this post and then I won't post in this thread anymore as I feel I've made my point enough.

Here goes...

If you don't read your policy booklet, then you are stupid. They are not difficult to understand as they are written in plain English. If you aren't sure about something, then phone up the insurance company and they'll explain it to you.

Surely any idiot could work out that if a policy is cheaper than another company, it must be lacking in something. Whether that is a difference is due to a lower level of cover, not covering something or charging fees. You are free to find out the information upfront, but due to people's laziness and unwillingness to take responsibility for themselves, they don't bother then try to blame someone else for their mistakes.

Competition is healthy. Without competition, we would all be paying too much. Back to my supermarket example again, if all supermarkets were forced to sell the same products at the same price, there would be no competition so people would only shop in one place. Same with insurance companies.

Also, differences in what is covered/what is charged etc allow for people to choose a policy that is suited to their needs. E.g. I may wish to choose a car insurance policy that doesn't have an admin fee because I know I'll be moving many times in the next year. Alternatively, I may choose the company who provide £10,000 of personal accident benefit as oppose to the one who provides £50,000.

It is all about making an informed choice based on your own personal needs. Only you know your needs and therefore you need to fully understand what you are buying before you buy. However people's laziness prevents this from happening then they try and find someone else to blame.

With regards to this comment by pedroYou are wrong. Mid-term adjustments are based on the pro-rata price you would have paid, had the adjustment been made when you were given the quotation. You aren't paying any more than if you had been given a quote for the adustment at inception (just paying pro-rata).

Glider,

I truely find your post offensive. You have failed to give a reason why an insurance company can charge so much for getting me to do all of the work. I will have to print off my own policy. What administartion has the company done? You fail to see the point I am making. Insurance companies have to treat their customers better or they will loose business.

Many people I know find insurance policies difficult to understand and I myself am one of them. I have a doctoral degree and studied at Cambridge University, UK and find them difficult to understand so I can honestly say that you must be in the minority of people who can understand the small print of an insurance policy. Just because the FSO allows fees of up to £75 as has already been stated in this feed then it doesn't make it right. Where does it end?

Nevica

glider3560

nevica wrote: »

Many people I know find insurance policies difficult to understand and I myself am one of them. I have a doctoral degree and studied at Cambridge University, UK and find them difficult to understand so I can honestly say that you must be in the minority of people who can understand the small print of an insurance policy. Just because the FSO allows fees of up to £75 as has already been stated in this feed then it doesn't make it right. Where does it end?

How is this difficult to understand?

LV wrote:

We will make an administration charge of £10 if you request a change of vehicle or driver, or if you request duplicate documents.
However, we will not make an administration charge if your policy has been in force with us at least 2 years.

Taken from half-way down their Key Facts document.

Or this...

Churchill wrote:

If you make any temporary or permanent changes to your policy during
the year, you may have to pay an administration fee of up to £21,
(excluding Insurance Premium Tax charged at the current rate).
At the rate of 5% applying when this document was printed, this
means a total administration fee of up to £22.05.

Taken from the second page of their key facts.

pedro123456

Nevica

Let me cast a little light on remarks by the IFA and Raskazz about post removals etc.

There have been 2 posts removed from this forum within the last month or so.

One was a thread started by me questioning honesty and a unhealthy balance of power held by the IC’ etc, this post was bombarded just like you post has been with abuse and put downs by the likes of dustonh & rasazz in total there was about 10 of them.
Anyway this post of mine attracted 3600 views in just about 1 week, and although I don’t know who complained about it, my opinion is that these group of individuals sought to have it deleted by design, my opinions didn’t suit them, and more to the point my humour was better than theirs lol.

The other post was on a similar line by a fella called Banki-de-moon, this fella had similar concerns with the corrupt Insurance Industry, but at a different level, his concerns were loss adjusters filling their pockets with £'s etc, a subject that at that time I didn’t fully understand.
This post didn’t last more that 3 days, and it must have hit a nerve somewhere as not only was it deleted Banki was banned from the MSE forums for life. This removal of the thread again was down to the Insurance bods, as Banki did not fall in line with them.

I made reference to Insurance bods running this forum and to a degree they do, you don’t have to have a degree to see or question why they spend so much time on here.:rolleyes:

As I say stick around you will see it unfold, they cannot defend their Industry and therefore resort to abuse, and underhand complaining to admin tactics.

Well that’s my slant on it anyway

pedro123456

Glider I thought you weren’t posting anymore?

But seeing that you have, please answer my question.

Also I recall a bank charge of £30 being part of the banks T&C, aint they illegal?

nevica

The point is that just because the FSO has allowed large fees of up to £75 as has already been stated and that insurance companys use this back up as a means of charging large fees DOES NOT MAKE IT RIGHT, MORAL, etc call it what you will. This means that the insurance companies have the power to issue large fees backed by the FSO. THIS DOES NOT MAKE IT RIGHT. IN TRUTH, IT IS IMMORAL AND SHOULD BE CHANGED.

Over the last decade the banks have been the cause of the financial meltdown and the financial system came to the brink of collapse because of deregulation by the government and loosening of rules. The government have prooved that they get it wrong and hugely wrong as well. Many on this forum would argue that banks and insurance companies operate in different ways but I say that they there is no difference between banks and insurance companies. Many on this forum would argue that they are promoting competition. In fact the last ten years of financial history has shown that financial competition promotes greed which has led us to the brink of collapse.

Insurance companies also need tightening up to restrict competition and so restrict extortionate fees which are out of proportion with the work done.

Nevica

dunstonh

he point is that just because the FSO has allowed large fees of up to £75 as has already been stated

The FOS has not allowed fees up to £75. It was £50.

and that insurance companys use this back up as a means of charging large fees DOES NOT MAKE IT RIGHT, MORAL, etc call it what you will. This means that the insurance companies have the power to issue large fees backed by the FSO. THIS DOES NOT MAKE IT RIGHT. IN TRUTH, IT IS IMMORAL AND SHOULD BE CHANGED.

They are not charities. If you are not going to pay it, then who will?

GrammarGirl

Apologies, you're most likely right that it's an increased premium... however I was sure on the letter they sent me, the £55 was described as a 'charge' of some kind. I'll check my documents at home tonight though.

Atermis

This is insurance club.