Admiral car insurance charging for cancelling within 7-day cooling off

ryan1512

I have taken out a policy from Admiral for car insurance and they stated that a charge of £22.50 will be levied if I cancel within the 7-day cooling -off period. They claim it is to cover admin charges of sending out car insurance documents. Does this sound right? It seems a bit naughty to me.

I had gone through the usual price comparison sites and Swift, my present insurer, were £100 dearer than last year, and no longer the cheapest, so I decided to change.

I wasn't that concerned when Admiral told me on the phone about the admin charge because at that time they were the best deal, however my renewal has since come through from Swift and it is better than Admiral's price.

Also, Admiral have already taken the premium for the 12-month period from my account, when the policy doesn't start until the end of March. Again, is that right?

Help/advice will be very much appreciated.

huckster

Yes they can charge a time on risk, plus admin fee. Most do these days.

ryan1512

huckster wrote: »

Yes they can charge a time on risk, plus admin fee. Most do these days.

Do you mean "a time on risk" to be a certain amount of time that I have been insured by them? If so, I never was covered by them. My renewal date is 30-03-11.

Surely there shouldn't be any charge within the 7-day cooling off period. That's the whole point of it.

dunstonh

Surely there shouldn't be any charge within the 7-day cooling off period. That's the whole point of it.

No. The point is to allow you to cancel without paying any more than the time covered and admin cost covered.

If they didnt you could in theory cancel every 14 days and go with a new company and never have to pay a penny.

lisyloo

If they didnt you could in theory cancel every 14 days and go with a new company and never have to pay a penny.

You did used to be able to do this.
I've done it twice in the past.
I did it once for house insurance with Tescos in 2003 (there was a delay in part-exchange and I had two houses for a couple of weeks).
I've also done it with car insurance with esure a number of years ago and got a full refund.

I don't think anyone does it completely for free anymore.

dunstonh

There you go. Its lisyloo's fault They cottoned on to it and put an end to it!


As we move to an ever explict method of charging which is being encouraged by the FSA, then you should expect this to occur more. The cancellation rights originally came about to allow you to get out of being sold something you didnt want but were being pressured into. As commission disappears in many areas or you cease to be sold but choose to buy then the old protections go away. You may not face the charge on the cost of the product but you still have to cover the cost of advice/distribution.

peterbaker

I hope I am not maligning huckster, dunstonh and lisyloo but are you not all misunderstanding the OP? You have all got hold of the wrong end of the stick ... not wishing to ridicule you too much though because I am myself a past master at that

OP has not been "on risk" with Admiral yet. OP bought the insurance early, to begin at the end of March.

So I say that Admiral are indeed playing a bit naughtily charging £22.50 for the price of a stamp and some bits of computer produced "splurb".

Interestingly I am just about to move my parents' motor insurances to Admiral as I believe they are a pretty good company.

So if the OP would like to call Admiral and tell them that OP is sorry that OP couldn't actually go with them this year, but if they would give back the £22.50 back OP knows someone on MSE willing to put TWO cars with them before the end of the week if they play nicely, then that's OK with me

ryan1512

peterbaker wrote: »

I hope I am not maligning huckster, dunstonh and lisyloo but are you not all misunderstanding the OP? You have all got hold of the wrong end of the stick ... not wishing to ridicule you too much though because I am myself a past master at that

OP has not been "on risk" with Admiral yet. OP bought the insurance early, to begin at the end of March.

So I say that Admiral are indeed playing a bit naughtily charging £22.50 for the price of a stamp and some bits of computer produced "splurb".

Interestingly I am just about to move my parents' motor insurances to Admiral as I believe they are a pretty good company.

My thoughts exactly. I haven't received any benefit or cover from them, so I shouldn't have to pay anything.

Also, they have taken payment for the policy already, which I am sure shouldn't be taken before the policy begins, so have gained the interest from that payment (miniscule I know, but still it's my money).

So if the OP would like to call Admiral and tell them that OP is sorry that OP couldn't actually go with them this year, but if they would give back the £22.50 back OP knows someone on MSE willing to put TWO cars with them before the end of the week if they play nicely, then that's OK with me

How would that work with them exactly? Trust?!?

huckster

I suspect that Admiral will insist on the admin fee. If you mention MSE posts they definately will not refund this, as they would not wish you to publicise them refunding the fee.

There are companies out there that charge much more. I think BISL charge £35 and Swintons £50. This is from memory and will no doubt be corrected if this is wrong.

peterbaker

me wrote:

So if the OP would like to call Admiral and tell them that OP is sorry that OP couldn't actually go with them this year, but if they would give back the £22.50 back OP knows someone on MSE willing to put TWO cars with them before the end of the week if they play nicely, then that's OK with me ....[/quote]

How would that work with them exactly? Trust?!?

Essentially if you manage to speak with someone with more than a grey cell or two between their ears you can point them at this thread and they will rapidly recognise that for £22.50 they can do themselves a great deal of good PR simply by telling you immediately that they have waived their charge so you can end the thread as fast as it began with some good news.

That would bring a smile to my parent's faces and a few other's too, and chances are it should seal the deal with my parent's insurances this year after the wobble you caused when you opened this thread ... Simple feel good factor all round, and Admiral can make it happen as fast as you can say "Admiral got me a little confused.com but some Gladiator on MSE said something about an Elephant in the room and that seemed to ring the right Bell!" (they are all brands of the Admiral group in the UK)

lisyloo

OP has not been "on risk" with Admiral yet.

So they can't charge for time on cover, but why not the admin fee?

for the price of a stamp and some bits of computer produced "splurb".

Yawn !!

They have to pay for the phones, phone calls, the electricity, the computers, the software, the hardware, the back ups, the secure systems.
With regards to the staff as well as the wages, there's employers NI, training, pensions, sick pay, liability insurance. Health & safety procedures, fire alarms, extinguishers, toilets, kitchens, toilet paper, sanitary bins, paper, envelopes, printers ............I could go on...........

I think the fee is quite fair.

Why expect firms to work for free?
You don't work for free do you?

BTW - I didn't do it twice on purpose. Once was on purpose (due to the house exchange delay) and I did take advanatage.
Second time I genuinely didn't like the Ts&Cs when I chceked them and it was a genuine rejection (yes I know I should have checked them first). I might have been more careful if it hadn't been free. Why should companies (and ultimately other customers) pay the bill for that.
I personally don't even have an issue with it being punitive if the Ts&Cs are there beforehand available on the internet.
You then have as long as you like to read them.