Car insurance admin fee

dauphin

You were at least informed of the fee after the event, so if they agree to your withdrawing from the contract without penalty (should you wish to do so) that would put you back in the position you would have been in if they had disclosed the fee in advance and you had declined to proceed.
As you would not have been able to get that premium without agreeing to the fee, you haven't really lost anything and any rebate on the fee would represent something of a windfall. Maybe if the transcript of the telephone conversation bears out your recollection, they might agree to some sort of goodwill gesture if you pursue a complaint, but I wouldn't bank on it!

Quentin

juehankie wrote: »

thanks, is this really the only option?.. full refund and go elsewhere?... seems harsh..

That is the best case scenario - you may not get a full refund if the paperwork or phone conversation does comply.

What do you hope to get out of this?

juehankie

Quentin wrote: »

That is the best case scenario - you may not get a full refund if the paperwork or phone conversation does comply.

What do you hope to get out of this?

I would hope to pay a fair admin fee... I feel £168 is extortionate.. don't you?

juehankie

dauphin wrote: »

You were at least informed of the fee after the event, so if they agree to your withdrawing from the contract without penalty (should you wish to do so) that would put you back in the position you would have been in if they had disclosed the fee in advance and you had declined to proceed.
As you would not have been able to get that premium without agreeing to the fee, you haven't really lost anything and any rebate on the fee would represent something of a windfall. Maybe if the transcript of the telephone conversation bears out your recollection, they might agree to some sort of goodwill gesture if you pursue a complaint, but I wouldn't bank on it!

just to pick up on a small point.. I wasn't informed of the fee until I saw on the paperwork things didn't add up so I asked them. to date I haven't actually been given a breakdown of any costs. but they have admitted I SHOULD have....

Quentin

juehankie wrote: »

I would hope to pay a fair admin fee... I feel £168 is extortionate.. don't you?

It isn't an admin fee, so that isn't really a debatable point.

Though it cannot be "extortionate" - you told us you their quote was the best you could find!

If this is a matter of principle for you, then bear in mind that from what you say, they cannot reduce their charge to you, so all you can do is see if they will agree to let you out of the deal without paying their cancellation fee.

Though if they refuse then you will be left with having to either pay up the cancellation charges or escalate your complaint (either to the FOS or through the court), which could take months, and even if you win will still end up out of pocket by having to pay more for your policy elsewhere!

vaio

or keep the policy and then make the required result of the complaint/FOS referral the return of the £168 charge on the grounds that you didn't receive the required notice prior to buying the policy

Filip

The OP agreed to the premium, and openly admits that it is the cheapest they'd had. Why should Adrian flux reduce their fee (which they have a right to charge), for the sole purpose of making the policy even cheaper than the next best price! Be happy with the fact that you paid less than you got elsewhere! Lodging a complaint against the company that have given you the 'best price' really takes the biscuit! If you do complain I suggest you may find them less inclined to offer you a good deal in the future.

vaio

Filip wrote: »

The OP agreed to the premium, and openly admits that it is the cheapest they'd had. Why should Adrian flux reduce their fee (which they have a right to charge), for the sole purpose of making the policy even cheaper than the next best price! Be happy with the fact that you paid less than you got elsewhere! Lodging a complaint against the company that have given you the 'best price' really takes the biscuit! If you do complain I suggest you may find them less inclined to offer you a good deal in the future.

I suppose the OP would argue (with some justification) that whilst they thought they had agreed a premium what they had actually been sold was premium plus broker fee.

Further, it appears that if brokers are going to charge fees on top of premium they need to be transparent and detail these fee prior to the sale.

That being the case then the only sensible sanction I can think of for not disclosing the fees is for the broker to forfeit them if they don't disclose as required.

As the punter has done nothing wrong it would be perverse for them to be disadvantaged by having to cancel/rescind the policy and seek cover elsewhere.

in_my_bumble_opinion

If you're annoyed by this, just wait till they start firing off letters asking for pictures of your car, odometer reading, copies of your driving license, various declarations, etc.

How this company ever got a good rep on here is beyond me. They're awful.

rudekid48

Good grief :wall:

I could understand if they had tried to hit you with a higher figure than you had been quoted. You were happy with the price quoted you and decided to buy as it was cheaper than everyone else, I'm sure you could find something more important to whinge about if you tried - maybe you could count the number of beans in the tins that you buy and make sure that theyt don't mislead you by leaving one or two out....