Car insurance address change

Javahouse

I am with Wiser Choice. An address change has cost me £50. This was an admin fee and nothing to do with an area being rated differently. Something to bear in mind with the budget insurers.

forgotmyname

Read the forum posts, There are some that charge more than that.

Not a bad deal. It could have been much worse.

stuartjl

Javahouse wrote: »

I am with Wiser Choice. An address change has cost me £50. This was an admin fee and nothing to do with an area being rated differently. Something to bear in mind with the budget insurers.

Esure were charging me £600 to change my address. £50 is very good going indeed

dunstonh

stuartjl wrote: »

Esure were charging me £600 to change my address. £50 is very good going indeed

You are mixing up charges. The OP is on about the admin charge. Yours was a premium increase.

kingstreet

In the race to the bottom, comparison sites have "encouraged" insurers to remove all the "free" things which used to be included in their rates, such as administration costs.

If you don't want to pay admin fees, find an insurer which does not charge them, but as a consequence the premiums may be higher.

It is fair to expect those who generate the work to pay the fees, as the bulk of policyholders probably go the whole year making no alterations.

The regulators see it that way too. As long as you are made aware of such charges at the outset and accept them, as you do different excess options and charges for things like DLP and courtesy car, you can make an informed choice.

angelmouseus

It is all very well people saying you were made aware of a charge for a change of address but I certainly was not on the phone....because I knew I would be moving within 12 months. I expect a charge of perhaps £5 or £7.50 but not the £50 that Wiser Choice car insurance quoted.:mad: My insurance for a year cost £300 so as a percentage that is huge. We all know it takes a press of a button to make the change too. I asked them how much to cancel and Wiser Choice said £50. Well duh, what did they think I was going to do.....lady went to a "supervisor" who altered it to £20.
Next year I'll look for one that doesn't make mid term change of address charges like this.

dunstonh

It is all very well people saying you were made aware of a charge for a change of address but I certainly was not on the phone....because I knew I would be moving within 12 months.

Whilst they are only required to tell you the cancellation charge for phone based ones, they do send the documentation verifying their fees out for you to read during the cancellation period. You are, of course, allowed to ask them their fees over the phone as well.

If you didnt like the £50 charge then why did you not cancel it during the cancellation rights period?

We all know it takes a press of a button to make the change too.

And how much does it cost them to allow them to press that button?

I agree that £50 is certainly higher than it could be. £25 is more typical.

Next year I'll look for one that doesn't make mid term change of address charges like this.

There are still a few left that don't. Not that many now but expect to pay higher premiums because of that requirement.

_Andy_

"I expect a charge of perhaps £5 or £7.50 "

So by your logic companies should only charge what you 'expect' for a service or product?

Quentin

dunstonh wrote: »

.......There are still a few left that don't. Not that many now but expect to pay higher premiums because of that requirement.

There are some of the cheap (and nasty) ones who don't make an admin charge if you do the change online - eg. swiftcover/axa/aviva/quotemehappy

Vicmeldrew

angelmouseus wrote: »

It is all very well people saying you were made aware of a charge for a change of address but I certainly was not on the phone....because I knew I would be moving within 12 months. I expect a charge of perhaps £5 or £7.50 but not the £50 that Wiser Choice car insurance quoted.:mad: My insurance for a year cost £300 so as a percentage that is huge. We all know it takes a press of a button to make the change too. I asked them how much to cancel and Wiser Choice said £50. Well duh, what did they think I was going to do.....lady went to a "supervisor" who altered it to £20.
Next year I'll look for one that doesn't make mid term change of address charges like this.

It's alright for them to mug you so long as they are transparent and tell you in advance.


What they don't get is how much they will lose long term when customers vote with their feet on renewal. Still, that's the mentality of the financial services.

Sadly they have a captive audience.


I think AXA have decided to change direction and are going more towards an ethical approach. Of course they tend to be one of the dearest for car insurance (in my experience).