Excessive administration fee

incubusaurus

Hi,

My mother recently took out car insurance with an online broker. About three weeks later (shortly after the cooling off period), the broker rang her and informed her of a £60 charge that was going to be made on her account, as she had accidentally missed a field on one of the forms when applying for the insurance. The field related to the type of dwelling. The default option is set to 'House', but my mother lives in a static caravan.

It was a simple enough mistake to make, and as the form defaults to an option that is valid, it is possible to submit the form without it being flagged as an error.

The phone call my mother received was slightly menacing, with the suggestion that she had committed a terrible act of fraud, and that she needed to pay the £60 charge. Unfortunately, she paid without question.

I accept that the form was completed incorrectly, and that there was probably a chance at a later stage in the application process to change this information. However, £60 seems extremely unfair.

I have spoken to the broker, who simply stated that they are allowed to make such charges, and that some of the charge may have come from the insurance company itself.

Is there any recommended course of action here? I get the feeling that complaining to the company will have no effect. Are there any rules governing these type of charges?

dacouch

The chances are most of the difference is actually an increase in premium (Some Insurers charge extra for people living in static caravans) with an amount of circa £25 being an admin fee from the broker.

To enable you and us to see if the amount of fees is fair it would be best for your mother to ask for a break down of the premium and fees in writing and also a copy of the brokers terms and conditions

MarkyMarkD

It's your responsibility to read through the information on your proposal, once all the questions have been answered. Missing the fact it says "House" when you live in a caravan is not exactly the easiest mistake to make.

As dacouch suggests, I doubt £60 is mainly admin charge - it will mainly be premium difference and that is legitimate.

dunstonh

What is the exact fee? (pence included)

incubusaurus

Hi,

Thanks for the replies.

Awkward and confusing website forms are very common, and for someone who is not particularly tech-savvy, it can be easy to miss things on these forms. However, I understand that it is the responsibility of the person completing the form to ensure that all details are correct.

The issue is that the fee seems somewhat excessive. In addition to this charge, the broker made another phone call, informing my mum of a £150 increase in her premium, as they claimed she had not provided proof of her driving license details (and so would not be entitled to no-claims discount) - this was despite the fact that she had sent the information a few days earlier, and even phoned them to confirm that they had received it. When they were informed of this, they apologised, stating that nobody had actually checked to see if the information had been received. I have read some online reviews of the broker, and it appears that they have a bit of a reputation for this sort of thing (yes, such reviews do tend to be skewed towards those with complaints).

I don't have the full details of the charge available at the moment. The subject came up in conversation earlier today while my mum was visiting. When I spoke to the broker, I asked if it would be possible to receive a breakdown of the costs, but was told that they are not obliged to provide this information.

We will request the information in writing, and go from there.

dacouch

Which broker is it?

incubusaurus

dacouch wrote: »

Which broker is it?

Thanks for your interest, but I'd prefer not to say until I have all the written details available. I don't want to make any claims without being able to back them up - I hope you understand.

dacouch

incubusaurus wrote: »

Thanks for your interest, but I'd prefer not to say until I have all the written details available. I don't want to make any claims without being able to back them up - I hope you understand.

It would make little difference to your dealings with them, if you point us to the broker we can review their terms and conditions which will include fees

incubusaurus

dacouch wrote: »

It would make little difference to your dealings with them, if you point us to the broker we can review their terms and conditions which will include fees

Okay, fair point. It was One Call Insurance. I can't post links, but if you go to their site and select the option to get a car insurance quote, you'll see a link for their Policy and T&C's (that's their poor punctuation, not mine) at the top of the page.

dacouch

Their Terms and Conditions are interesting.

Here is the link to them https://www.onecalldirect.co.uk/car/index.php#policy

I'm guessing they are apply a fee as per either section 4 or 9

4) Policy changes during the period of cover 40% of the insurer’s total premium with a minimum charge £35.00 (this is in addition to any insurance company charges or refunds).

9) Non disclosure fee and reduction of NCB fee up to £100.00 in addition to any insurers charges.

Out of interest did you advise the Insurers about the mistake or was it something they discovered eg due to your address

incubusaurus

dacouch wrote: »

Out of interest did you advise the Insurers about the mistake or was it something they discovered eg due to your address

It was something the insurance company discovered from the address. Alas, it was an unfortunate mistake, and one which has cancelled out any savings made by using an inexpensive broker. While they may have the right to make such charges, it certainly doesn't set them up for repeat business or glowing recommendations.

dacouch: Thanks for taking the time to look into it.