Infuriating policy idiot of the week award!

InsideInsurance

kwmlondon wrote: »

If the policy has not begun they will always refund you in full without an admin fee as they have not actually set up the policy.

Not sure what would be the case if I'd done this a month ago - must ask next time I get insurance. Would be good to know.

It is down to individual insurers/ brokers to decide their terms. Whilst your statement is true for most it is not true for all.

Certainly some companies are paying per transaction fees which are non-refundable to them and it is their business decision on if they want to pass those on to those that buy and cancel or absorb them (aka charge them to those that buy and stay).

mattyprice4004

So you're posting to say you've won the idiot of the week award? Awesome.

You must be so proud!

kwmlondon

mattyprice4004 wrote: »

So you're posting to say you've won the idiot of the week award? Awesome.

You must be so proud!

Well, if you don't stop and enjoy the plaudits now and again what's the point in living eh? I'll put it next to my "pipe-smoker of the year" trophy and enjoy a small bag of tangy haribo to celebrate!

kwmlondon

Actually, I genuinely thought that the distance selling act covered anything I'd bought online or over the phone and that there was a 14 day cooling-off period with any insurance policy or suchlike. My experience bears me out as I've always been able to get a full refund when I've changed my mind about an insurance policy and have never been charged any kind of fee.

Personally, I'm of the opinion that if an insurance company CAN charge for something, it WILL charge for something so if they could have done they would have made me pay for cancelling. However, I may be wrong - it's happened before and I can cope with the concept without being rude to others.

Next time I take out insurance (motorbike comes up next, I think) I'll speak to the company I take it out with and find out what the score is.

Is that okay with everyone?

Hezzawithkids

Whatever the rights and wrongs of OPs actions I think there's another underlying point here, which is the over-use of the "p-word" whenever you try and get any sense out of call centre staff these days, no matter what you are buying. I get sick and tired of being told that I can't do something sensible (like the OP was suggesting) because "it's not our policy". My reply to this lately has always been along the lines of ""Policies" are only there because your organisation doesn't trust you enough to resolve this problem for yourself, instead they've given you a list of do's and dont's so that you don't need to use your own brain. It's not your fault that they do this. So let's talk about what I want now shall we?"

Sometimes I win, most times I don't. But at least I feel empowered by trying and I won't be giving up any day soon.

InsideInsurance

kwmlondon wrote: »

I'm of the opinion that if an insurance company CAN charge for something, it WILL charge for something

An insurance could charge for getting quotes, it could charge for using credit cards, it could only use premium rate telephone lines, it could strip out many features of a policy and charge for them as add ons that are fully payable on cancellation (outside of cooling off) etc

There are some insurers that do some of these things but you'll find none do all of them. No company, an insurer or otherwise, will simply charge for everything but will compare itself to market norms and do cost benefit analysis on any changes (eg compare revenue from premium numbers and saved call volumes -v- the revenue generated from cross/ up selling lost from the reduced call volumes and those that refuse to insure with companies only charging premium numbers)

losgiganteskid

InsideInsurance wrote: »

An insurance could charge for getting quotes,

Assume you mean "giving" or "providing" quotes - in any event - it does.

It charges all existing policyholders !

InsideInsurance

losgiganteskid wrote: »

Assume you mean "giving" or "providing" quotes - in any event - it does.

It charges all existing policyholders !

There is an operational expenses and yes customers cover the cost of operations however there could be a more direct pay £X to get a quote from DL, pay £Y to get a quote from Admiral etc, inevitably without a reduction in premium for those who are existing customers to follow the OPs line of logic that if a (insurance) company can charge for something they will.

UsernameAlreadyExists

Why are customers expected to cover "operational costs" all the while insurers are banking massive profits? Oh yes, that's right ... "business", greed, and legalised scamming. I nearly forgot.

InsideInsurance

UsernameAlreadyExists wrote: »

Why are customers expected to cover "operational costs" all the while insurers are banking massive profits? Oh yes, that's right ... "business", greed, and legalised scamming. I nearly forgot.

Because they are a business not a charity? Since when was all business a scam? I am sure you make equal accusations against all the supermarkets (that make bigger profits than insurers), car manufacturers, clothing shops, web designers, bloggers, train companies, airlines, accountants.... actually pretty much everyone given we live in a capitalist country and most products/ services are from for profit companies