Moved House, now car insurer won't insure me.

Not_Dave_2

Hi All

I've just moved into a new house and contacted my current car insurance broker to let them know.

They went away for a bit (costing me fortune on mobile phone bill as I don't have a land line) and came back to tell me that my current insurer won't insure me

They did however offer me an alternative .. over double what I'm paying now.

I went onto a comparision website and could get insurance from other companies for half the price my brokers were quoting.

So I thought I would go with one of the other companies, however to cancel the current insurance is going to cost me according to the broker .

I feel that this is totally unfair as it is THEM who is cancelling not me.

Does anyone have any advice please

Cheers

Not_Dave_2

Oh Yeah in addition they wouldn't / couldn't compete with the quotes from the other companies.

dunstonh

I feel that this is totally unfair as it is THEM who is cancelling not me.

It is you that is requesting a change of contract terms though.

In these cases, if you choose to cancel, then you have to pay the relatively pro-rata premium difference (if monthly premium - or refund if annual premium) although some will not charge their cancellation fee if it is they that are unable to offer terms on the revised details.

The broker will have it's own published charges and you need to tell us what these are, if there are any. They may just be referring to the cancellation charges of the old provider.

Not_Dave_2

Thank you for your reply dunstonh.

From what I understood from the lady at the brokers the following applies (I can't remember the exact amounts as I was a bit annoyed by the situation)

1: I will get a refund from the current insurer as I paid a deposit, and then monthly payments.

2: I would then owe the brokers Direct Debit company a fee as I pay them in arrears

3: the broker would charge a £25 admin/cancellation fee

This would mean i would be paying £60ish out to cancel the policy.

Does this seem normal. Should I try and ask the Brokers to waive the cancellation fee?

forgotmyname

£25 admin fee is quite cheap.

How much you owe them will depend on the initial premium and how far into the current policy you are.

Its not always payment / 12 though.

Made up figures here.. But it could be 50% payable for one month, 75% for 3 months and 100% for 4 months or more.

Every insurer will have their own terms. Some fairer than others. So check the policy documents.

Ask for a breakdown and make sure it matches.

*Scarlett

£60 for all the fees does not seem unreasonable to cancel the policy (depending on your policy price and time on risk).

I have seen a lot of higher charges reported on here.

paddedjohn

Pay the £60 and cancel, dont get to the stage where they cancel it for you as this will cost you big time in the future.

Not_Dave_2

Thanks everyone

I've now gone with a different insurer and cancelled the policy that wouldn't cover me at my new address.

Shame really as I had been with my existing broker for about 12 years and they always at least matched quotes when it came to renewal. This included house insurance and landlord insurance as I've let my property .. I won't be using them at renewal time out of principal.

timbo58

I had the same when I moved less than 2 years ago: policy went from £335 to £480, I moved 3 miles and they claimed it was a higher crime area to justify the hike.
It was grade A bulls^it: all of the other insurance companies that I had previously been quoted by (and I do mean ALL) were more or less the same as the £335 previously quoted after the move and the polices own website confirmed there were no crime hotspots within 15 miles of either address (very rural!).

They wanted £60 to cancel and bearing in mind there was less than 3 months to go on the policy I just told them, it's ok I shan't move just yet then and put the phone down!

Fair enough: I wouldn't recommend that action as effectively it meant I was uninsured for the 3 months but I was so incensed they should use an existing contract to rip me off.

When renewal came up I had another quote from them at the 'new' address and surprise, surprise, it was lower than £335!
I deliberately paid £10 more and went elsewhere.