Admiral trying to charge extra for previous year's cover

InsideInsurance

Quentin wrote: »

but why can't you still shop around for the best deal

Presumably they are talking about the extra £400 they are being charged for last year and the fact they cant shop around for last years premium now they've "remembered" about their undisclosed facts.

vaio

InsideInsurance wrote: »

Hopefully will help to make you remember to declare all points, claims, vehicle modifications etc in the future and £400 to pay now is a lot less than the cost of them voiding either policy and you having to pay inflated premiums on all insurances for the rest of your life for non-disclosure

I'm not sure that, even in the world of insurers, they can make up an unreasonable number and force you to pay it on pain of having your insurance record blighted.

OP....as mentioned previously, you are obliged to pay it, if you have doubts about the reasonableness of what is being asked for then run some dummy quotes having adjusted all the dates so they are as close as possible to the circumstances applying at the time in question.

This won't be exact but will give you an idea of what the sort of increase you should be looking at. If it's significantly less than what they are asking for then I'd suggest you pay to clear your record and then lodge a complaint to recover the excess.

Quentin

vaio wrote: »

...... run some dummy quotes having adjusted all the dates so they are as close as possible to the circumstances applying at the time in question.

This won't be exact but will give you an idea of what the sort of increase you should be looking at. If it's significantly less than what they are asking for then I'd suggest you pay to clear your record and then lodge a complaint to recover the excess.

Dummy quotes done now cannot accurately reflect what the original charge would have been over 12 months ago.

(And the back payment being requested now presumably isn't just for the premium undercharge, but will include admin charge (or charges) for each policy being amended mid term, and maybe interest etc)

vaio

Yep, it's not going to be exact but it will give an indication.

For instance, when I last had points it made it made next to no difference to my premium, if a dummy quote shows the same with the OPs insurer then he should question where the £400 comes from.

The other point for the OP to check is when he "won" his points as generally they don't need reporting to insurers until renewal so points acquired this insurance year will affect next years rather than this years premium

anandp

Quentin wrote: »

As has been pointed out, this is all your own fault, but why can't you still shop around for the best deal for your renewal?

(If you just renewed, then you are in the time allowed to cancel)

The £400 is for last year. Admiral want to charge an extra £1300 for this year's so I have already asked them to cancel the policy and I will pay their £22.50 cancellation charge.

anandp

InsideInsurance wrote: »

Presumably they are talking about the extra £400 they are being charged for last year and the fact they cant shop around for last years premium now they've "remembered" about their undisclosed facts.

Yes this is exactly what has happened and its the inability to shop around which is frustrating more than the actual charge itself.

If insurers declared what the increased premium would be at the onset of the policy if you had 6 points instead of 3, then at least that would be a frame of reference.

I may just do what vaio suggests and do some testing of the current market and see what difference the extra points make with a dose of reason to allow for the fact that we are 12 months after the original purchase!

anandp

vaio wrote: »

The other point for the OP to check is when he "won" his points as generally they don't need reporting to insurers until renewal so points acquired this insurance year will affect next years rather than this years premium

Is this true for Admiral? As 3 points did occur mid-year as it were and this should make a difference.

vaio

it'll be in the policy t&c

mine has three bits

I must tell them before adding new drivers or cars etc

I must tell them asap about accidents etc

I must tell them at renewal about convictions etc

vaio

from the admiral site....

Please tell us before
■ if you are going to modify your car, even if the alteration is only cosmetic
■ if you are going to change to a different car
■ if you are going to change what you use your car for (e.g. if you start using it for business travel when you were not covered for this before)
■ if you would like to add another driver to your policy
■ if you are going to take your car abroad (see Section 5 Going Abroad)

2 Please tell us immediately
■ if you or any driver named on your policy, are involved in an accident or loss, no matter how trivial, and even if you do not wish to make a claim
■if you sell your car
■ if you change your address
■ if you or any driver named on your policy, change occupation
■ if you or any driver named on your policy, stop being resident in the UK
■ if you or any driver named on your policy have been disqualified from driving, your entitlement to drive has been suspended or withdrawn (revoked), or your driving licence status has changed

3 Please tell us when you renew your insurance
■ of any motoring convictions or fixed penalties you or any driver on your policy had during the year, or any pending prosecutions
■ of any accident, theft or loss, regardless of fault, that you or any driver on your policy have made, excluding any claims made under this policy
■ If any details shown on the Motor Renewal Confirmation Form are incorrect.....

anandp

Been in touch with Admiral saying I don't believe their £400 uplift for the previous year for just an additional 3 points was justified. An increase yes, but not that much.

They escalated but stuck to their guns. I've now requested confirmation in writing and put in a complaint. Is the amount worth taking to the ombudsman?