Admin Fee for Change of Address

KimberleyMaria

Hi,

This is my first post and I'm not sure if I'm putting it in the right place but I thought the MSE forums would be the best place to ask.

I just got off the phone with my car insurance company (Churchill) to let them know I had moved house and to ask when my renewal was due, and the woman I spoke to was very friendly and seemed really helpful, but then after I'd provided her with my updated address and she's typed it all in (which took all of around, 30 seconds) she told me that I had to pay an administration fee of £14.80 for my change of address... Because she sort of took me off guard I just accepted it and handed over my card details, but now I'm thinking, are they allowed to do that?

I had to let them know I'd moved house because obviously if I was involved in any kind of accident my details need to be right or they wouldn't let me claim, but are they allowed to charge me for telling them? If it was £5 or something I probably wouldn't have minded so much but £14.80 seems excessive for what essentially consisted of her asking for my postcode and house number and typing them in...

Does anyone know if this is standard practice and if there is any way I can get that money back? Christmas is coming and I begrudge spending potential present money on "admin fees".

Thanks in advance xx

mikey72

That actually seems a very good price.
I'd keep quiet in case they have made a mistake to be honest.

StuieUK34

Count yourself lucky, ADRIAN FLUX charged me £82.27 for a change of address, and when i emailed questioning the rise, i got a reply to say its down to the postcode ???

So i went from a normal area as such, to a posh neighbourhood watch area, etc etc and my premuim goes up ? There is nothing i can do, as i have just over 5 months remaining on my policy.... at least come renewal time, i'll say a big 'F U' down the phone when they attempt to renew...

InsideInsurance

Charging an admin fee is standard practice, in fact the regulator verges on saying it prefers companies to charge admin fees to those that make changes rather than charging more to everyone irrespective of if they make changes or not.

As others have said, compared to many Churchills is very low. There are many more in the £35-£50 range

dunstonh

she told me that I had to pay an administration fee of £14.80 for my change of address... Because she sort of took me off guard I just accepted it and handed over my card details, but now I'm thinking, are they allowed to do that?

Yes they are.

I had to let them know I'd moved house because obviously if I was involved in any kind of accident my details need to be right or they wouldn't let me claim, but are they allowed to charge me for telling them?

yes they are.

If it was £5 or something I probably wouldn't have minded so much but £14.80 seems excessive for what essentially consisted of her asking for my postcode and house number and typing them in...

Except there is a lot more to it than that.

Does anyone know if this is standard practice and if there is any way I can get that money back?

You cant get your money back.

Companies take two approaches to charges.
1 - they remove cost of admin and cancellation out of the premium everyone pays and charges it explicitly when you use the service.
2 - they have no admin/cancellation charges but everybody pays the cost in an increased premium.

There may be an increase in premium if risk has gone up or a refund if risk has gone down.

The FSA likes explicit charges. It does not like implicit charging.

Count yourself lucky, ADRIAN FLUX charged me £82.27 for a change of address, and when i emailed questioning the rise, i got a reply to say its down to the postcode ???

It means that you have moved to a higher risk area and your premium has gone up because of that.

So i went from a normal area as such, to a posh neighbourhood watch area, etc etc and my premuim goes up ?

"Posh" has nothing to do with it. Number of claims and total cost of the claims does. Maybe the claims there have been have been more expensive than the less posh areas.

There is nothing i can do, as i have just over 5 months remaining on my policy.... at least come renewal time, i'll say a big 'F U' down the phone when they attempt to renew...

Whilst different companies rate postcodes differently, there is a generalisation that if its more expensive for one company then chances are it will be for others as well.

KimberleyMaria

She did say something about them charging me less for some reason so I just went with it... Should I expect other people to charge me for letting them know too then, like my mobile phone company and bank?

Yorkie1

KimberleyMaria wrote: »

She did say something about them charging me less for some reason so I just went with it... Should I expect other people to charge me for letting them know too then, like my mobile phone company and bank?

No. The admin charge will be in the T&Cs of your insurance policy with Churchills from when you took the policy out.

Banks don't charge admin fees for this as far as I am aware. Neither do mobile phone companies to the best of my knowledge.

But the only way to know for sure is for you to read the T&Cs of the products.

_Andy_

KimberleyMaria wrote: »

Hi,

This is my first post and I'm not sure if I'm putting it in the right place but I thought the MSE forums would be the best place to ask.

I just got off the phone with my car insurance company (Churchill) to let them know I had moved house and to ask when my renewal was due, and the woman I spoke to was very friendly and seemed really helpful, but then after I'd provided her with my updated address and she's typed it all in (which took all of around, 30 seconds) she told me that I had to pay an administration fee of £14.80 for my change of address... Because she sort of took me off guard I just accepted it and handed over my card details, but now I'm thinking, are they allowed to do that?

I had to let them know I'd moved house because obviously if I was involved in any kind of accident my details need to be right or they wouldn't let me claim, but are they allowed to charge me for telling them? If it was £5 or something I probably wouldn't have minded so much but £14.80 seems excessive for what essentially consisted of her asking for my postcode and house number and typing them in...

Does anyone know if this is standard practice and if there is any way I can get that money back? Christmas is coming and I begrudge spending potential present money on "admin fees".

Thanks in advance xx

So presumably you'd be happier if everyone paid higher premiums instead?

vusys1

when was your renewal due, as Churchill,DL etc will waiver the admin fee if your renewal is within 30 days.

If your renewal is due, did they tell you the new renewal price with the amended address as sometimes the consultants update the existing policy but not the renewal quote on system & thats when problems occur as letters will go to your old address etc, this has also happened with change of vehicles,the policy has renewed on the old car details,no new car on the MID

Quentin

KimberleyMaria wrote: »

She did say something about them charging me less for some reason so I just went with it...

Looks like your new address has resulted in a small premium reduction, which is why she said something about them charging you less.

(You still had to pay the admin charge, however, and the refund you were due has been deducted from it.)

KimberleyMaria

_Andy_ wrote: »

So presumably you'd be happier if everyone paid higher premiums instead?

Not necessarily, that wasn't what I was getting at all. It's just that I worked as an administrator for an insurance company and it seems to be quite a high charge (although apparently not so high in comparison to other companies!) considering the amount of work that it creates for the company.