Car insurance cooling off period

worbikeman

Does a motor insurance company have the right to charge me £50 cancellation fee if I cancel within the 14 day cooling off period? (No claim having been made obviously). Thanks.

McKneff

Have a look at your terms and conditions, there will probably be something in there about it, you will probably also have been charged if your car had been covered for any time in that time.
It's quite normal because there would have been time spent setting the policy up, and that's fair enough but the charge may be unfair.

Ask them for a breakdown of this cost.

arcon5

Yes they can charge a fee for cancellation. They want paying for setting up the service and providing cover, in the same way if you had an accident during this period you would expect them to indemnify you - it's a two way street

worbikeman

I understand it's a set fee but since the insurance was arranged over mobile phone (premium rate) in the street without me being able to peruse the small print it seems unfair, surely a 'cooling off' period should mean just that - a chance to examine the policy thoroughly at leisure. The period of cover was charged for also.

McKneff

Did yu take it up by actually speaking to someone. or online.

It would have been mentioned either way.

dacouch

Did the mobile phone site give you the option to read the terms and conditions (Many insist you tick a box to confirm you've read them) and did they give you the option to read the policy if required from the site?

What reason is it that you want to cancel?

Which Insurer / Agent is it?

neilmcl

worbikeman wrote: »

I understand it's a set fee but since the insurance was arranged over mobile phone (premium rate) in the street without me being able to peruse the small print it seems unfair, surely a 'cooling off' period should mean just that - a chance to examine the policy thoroughly at leisure. The period of cover was charged for also.

Do you think these people work for nothing? They're entitled to charge an administration fee, after all it may only have been a mobile phone conversation for you but someone has done the job to arrange the cover and get things rolling.

worbikeman

Yes it was mentioned but since I had no choice but to take their terms (otherwise drive uninsured) it seems unfair - which is why (so I thought) it's called a 'cooling off' period. Allow the policy holder to drive insured (which is paid for by the cover he buys), then he has the chance to examine the terms more thoroughly within a set time limit before signing his life away. Put another way - what if the cancellation fee was £500 or £5000....£5m? At what point would it be unfair on the customer? Surely the cooling off period is there to protect the consumer is it not?

worbikeman

dacouch wrote: »

Did the mobile phone site give you the option to read the terms and conditions (Many insist you tick a box to confirm you've read them) and did they give you the option to read the policy if required from the site?

What reason is it that you want to cancel?

Which Insurer / Agent is it?

I arranged the quote online so it was set up ready when I made the phone call. However, they charged me double what I was quoted online due to an extra piece of info that the online procedure hadnt asked me. I was over a barrel so I agreed.

neilmcl wrote: »

Do you think these people work for nothing? They're entitled to charge an administration fee, after all it may only have been a mobile phone conversation for you but someone has done the job to arrange the cover and get things rolling.

OK. These people are in the insurance game, I havent got them out of bed in the middle of the night. I fill all my details online, they send me the print out and charge me for cover. If you buy a pair of trousers and take them back you arent charged for the 'administration' fee it took to manufacture the trousers.

neilmcl

worbikeman wrote: »

Yes it was mentioned but since I had no choice but to take their terms (otherwise drive uninsured) it seems unfair - which is why (so I thought) it's called a 'cooling off' period. Allow the policy holder to drive insured (which is paid for by the cover he buys), then he has the chance to examine the terms more thoroughly within a set time limit before signing his life away. Put another way - what if the cancellation fee was £500 or £5000....£5m? At what point would it be unfair on the customer? Surely the cooling off period is there to protect the consumer is it not?

That would never be the case because they're only allowed to charge a "reasonable" admin fee. It seems perfectly fair to me. A cooling off period is exactly that, it allows the customer to get out of the policy if they're not entirely satisified, it doesn't mean the insurance co. shouldn't be reimbursed for the work they've already done to arrange that cover for the customer.

neilmcl

worbikeman wrote: »

IOK. These people are in the insurance game, I havent got them out of bed in the middle of the night. I fill all my details online, they send me the print out and charge me for cover. If you buy a pair of trousers and take them back you arent charged for the 'administration' fee it took to manufacture the trousers.

Sorry but your analogy makes absolutely no sense.