New Car = Horrific Charges??

gothgirl123

Having recently sold his car, my husband rang his insurance company to ask what charges there would be for cancelling his insurance. We both owned a car, sold both and purchased a new one.

He was told that there would be a cancellation fee of £50 (which we expected, not due for renewal until April) and because he got a discount of £280 when he renewed (they wanted to keep him as a customer) they would charge him that as well if he was to cancel.

So to cancel his policy would cost us over £300!

Can insurers do that? We can't find anywhere in his policy documents where it warns you that you would have to repay any discounts made at the time of renewal.

They also say that our new car will cost an extra £12 per month, even though it's a much smaller engine and lower insurance group.

Needless to say, we WILL NOT be renewing with them come April.

Buzby

What was the discount for? I seriously doubt it can be reapplied simply because you change vehicles - but the devil may be in the detail. As to the cost of the new vehicle, this will probably a greater value than your old one (assuming all else is equal).

InsideInsurance

So given an april renewal you are talking another 6 payments? An extra £12 a month therefore is £72 extra for the year of which by the sounds of it £50 is an admin fee and so for the new car they are charging an extra £22

An extra £22 doesnt sound a massive amount given you are talking about a £280 discount and therefore have high insurance costs.

Insurance groups listed for a car is almost useless as almost no insurer uses them. A smaller car with smaller engine doesn't mean its cheaper to repair or is involved in less accidents or has better security etc. Obviously it would help to know what sorts of vehicles we are talking about but if you are getting down into the sorts of vehicles that new/ young drivers get then they often attract higher premiums due to the disproportionately high claim rates they have

gothgirl123

They're saying the discount was so that he'd stay with them; his renewal was a stupid price, rang to not renew after finding it cheaper & they brought it down to match so he wouldn't leave

gothgirl123

The £50 admin fee is on top of the additional £12 a month. If we took out a new policy for the new car, we can get the same cover for £37 a month, which is better than the £62 they're now charging us!
I don't think its fair that they can charge us for the discount they gave at renewal if we were to cancel, that's my original rant!!

InsideInsurance

Given it is an annual policy and an annual premium it is massively easier to talk in annual numbers!

So, you were quoted £780 at renewal but after speaking to them they offered to reduce it to £500. Did they say anything at this point about how the reduction was made or obviously in any way if it was repayable?

Now you've spoken to them about doing a change of vehicle for the remaining 6 months any they are saying itll cost you an extra £122 which is made up of £72 increased premium and £50 administration fee?

The fact you are saying they are saying it is £12 per month + £50 one off charge doesnt sound right for the CoV as the admin fee would normally be split across the remaining months too.

That aside though..... you need to get an exact breakdown from them of the £300 cancellation cost. Whilst evidently it sounds high, if they are adding £280 back on top of it then it doesnt sound high enough.

Ultimately, if they said nothing about it being a repayable discount and there is nothing in writing to you about it being repayable then basically it isnt. Once you've gotten the breakdown from them and it states its includes the repayment of the discount then lodge a formal complaint.

Buellguy

InsideInsurance wrote: »

Given it is an annual policy and an annual premium it is massively easier to talk in annual numbers!

So, you were quoted £780 at renewal but after speaking to them they offered to reduce it to £500. Did they say anything at this point about how the reduction was made or obviously in any way if it was repayable?

Now you've spoken to them about doing a change of vehicle for the remaining 6 months any they are saying itll cost you an extra £122 which is made up of £72 increased premium and £50 administration fee?

The fact you are saying they are saying it is £12 per month + £50 one off charge doesnt sound right for the CoV as the admin fee would normally be split across the remaining months too.

That aside though..... you need to get an exact breakdown from them of the £300 cancellation cost. Whilst evidently it sounds high, if they are adding £280 back on top of it then it doesnt sound high enough.

Ultimately, if they said nothing about it being a repayable discount and there is nothing in writing to you about it being repayable then basically it isnt. Once you've gotten the breakdown from them and it states its includes the repayment of the discount then lodge a formal complaint.

What he's just said (although I still object to the 'admin' cost, how much to press a button on a computer. Oh and out of interest to change address on my bike insurance the 'admin' charge was only 24 quid)