Home Insurance - Charging to change address

Kempie101

I have just moved house and the company I have contents insurance with have charged me £25 just to change my address on their computer screen. Is there anything I can do about this. The company just say it is a standard charge that has to be paid.

dogbot

£25 is reasonable and actualy lower than you will find with many providers. There is also likely to be an adjustment premium on top of an admin charge, or is this just an adjustment premium?

To change that detail required a person on the other end of the phone. They have to be paid, they need a desk, a computer, a chair, sick leave, maternity/paternity leave, training, EL insurance, management, a computer system, some sort of communications sytem, an air conditioning system, toilets, water, electricity, a building, a carpark for the building, maybe a christmas party?... someone has to pay for all those things.

I didn't make any change to my policy so why should I? You made the change to an annual contract so it is only right that you should bear the cost of the change rather than those who don't.

In addition, if you change your address then the risk you present may well be different.

foggytown

Apologists for the insurance industry will never admit it but the menu of charges used by most insurers is preposterous. It's akin to the bank account charges and credit card charges - totally disproportionate to the work involved. Let's be generous and assume that the data entry person is getting £10/hr. Is someone going to try to demonstrate that it takes 2.5 hours to input a change of address? More like 2.5 minutes - if that. I pointed out before that these charges have become a new profit centre.

huckster

I don't like these charges either. I thought it was wrong when they were brought in.

This started years ago, with companies reducing rates and adding charges, to make themselves more competitive in the 'comparison site' tables . Most companies have followed suit by reducing their rates and implementing similar charges, for cancellations and changes to policies.

The business has become a bit like the airline world, where companies like Ryanair charge £50 for the flight and then another £100 for all the extras.

Unfortunately with the current recession and increase in claims, you now have increasing premium rates and the extra charges.

payless

From one MSE article " MoneySavers get more cashback than policy's costs, the record is currently being PAID £67 to take out the cover"

might give a clue to why changes which involve human or IT intervention will be costed out.

losgiganteskid

dogbot wrote: »

£25 is reasonable and actualy lower than you will find with many providers. There is also likely to be an adjustment premium on top of an admin charge, or is this just an adjustment premium?

To change that detail required a person on the other end of the phone. They have to be paid, they need a desk, a computer, a chair, sick leave, maternity/paternity leave, training, EL insurance, management, a computer system, some sort of communications sytem, an air conditioning system, toilets, water, electricity, a building, a carpark for the building, maybe a christmas party?... someone has to pay for all those things.

That may be the case but all those costs you mention (and a whole lot more) still apply when you request a new business quotation - and you arn't charged for that are you !! - clearly if you are NOT a client you don't pay (quotation stage) and when you DO become a client you DO !! - your arguement is therefore somewhat flawed

payless

because the business model of charging for quotes would not work unless it becomes the normal practice.

LeeSouthEast

It's probably in the terms when you took the policy out. Car insurers do it as well.