Sheila's Wheels change of address charge

fredtheguava

Hello forumites!

I have just off the phone from Esure to discuss why the extra 'premium' on my insurance after changing my address was almost an entire month's worth of premium. I was told that this cost included an admin charge of £26 for changing the address on my policy.

I was also informed that it is clearly marked on my paperwork and I 'would have been informed during the phone call' that this charge was being applied. It was not, I am 100% certain of this because I would have been outraged then instead of now!

The paperwork says the charge 'may' be applied. I have a manager callback tomorrow (well, they say so) and I will discuss this with them then.

I feel because I wasn't told that the charge would definitely be applied, I have room to argue that the charge is unfair. Has anyone had any success within kind of argument?

lisyloo

I can't see how that's a valid argument to be honest.
You've had the paperwork and been able to read it whether you want.
If you didn't like that charge then you should not have agreed to the contract.
These charges can be much higher so that doesn't seem unreasonable.

You could ask them to listen to the phone calls and hope for their goodwill.
You could also ask for a subject access request (SAR) under the data protection act which may cost £10 and MAY have the recorded call on it.
It's also possible they don't record all calls or the recording equipment was on the blink that day.

You MAY get them to refund on a goodwill basis so if you are outraged then there is no harm in asking.
Personally I find you might have a better chance if you decide to be a disspointed customer who may return, rather than going in all guns blzing and giving them nothing to lose. Jsut my personal experience from having handled things the wrong way in the past. Generally people are more likely to help you if you give them a motivation i.e. not a totally lost customer already, but jsut a disspointed one that can be won back.

fredtheguava

I do have the paperwork, yes, but it says may be applied, not will be applied, and I was never told it actually would - I was told it was an increase in premium.

I've cancelled with them for next year anyway (the increase was for the grand sum of 9 days and cost me more than £40), as that's what I actually phoned to do this evening.

Still, I'll argue it with the manager tomorrow based on the wording. I spend my days checking writing for accuracy and that is, in my opinion, not at all clear that the charge is definitely to be applied.

ylesia

I am fairly sure that the "may" is there to cover situations when they wouldn't charge out of curtesy eg. my Dad passed away in January and I had to change the policy to be in my mums name (she wasn't named on the policy).

When I received the paperwork it said a fee "may" apply - I phoned to clarify and they said that there was no charge for admin changes in the event of death but the wording on the paperwork was standard for all changes - hence the word 'may'

I was charged £25 by kwit fit in 1999 for changing my occupation! No change in premium just a nice fat admin fee - I was astounded especially when they didn't even send out new paperwork!

SailorSam

They were talking about this last week, it was either Moneybox on R4, or Watchdog on the Tv, Apparently all insurance companies are trying to cut their basic rates 'cos of competition but to make up for any loss coming up with new ideas to get extra income. People have been charged up to an extra £60 to make slight changes.

Quentin

fredtheguava wrote: »

Still, I'll argue it with the manager tomorrow based on the wording. I spend my days checking writing for accuracy and that is, in my opinion, not at all clear that the charge is definitely to be applied.

The wording seems clear. It doesn't say they will "definitely" apply one.

It says they may charge you an admin fee ie. you agree that they are allowed to charge one, which they have done.

But always worth complaining, as there is always the hope that if you put a strong argument they will waive the fee as a goodwill gesture (cheaper to waive it than take up management time dealing with your complaint if you look like making it ongoing!)