Legal & General pet insurance cancellation admin fee

stevetuk

I took out pet (dog) insurance on Saturday 10th May for a rescue hound, and arrangements did not follow through so I cancelled the policy yesterday (13th May).


The policy T&C state that cancellation within 14 days of the policy inception incurs a £30 administrative fee.


Am I entitled to require a breakdown of how this fee has been determined and why it is reasonable/justified? Can I contest this? The policy was ordered online, is it not covered by Distance Selling Regs?


TIA

Quentin

You have no grounds to contest this (assuming you accepted the Ts + cs when buying the policy)

DSR don't apply.

But it won't cost you anything to make a formal complaint which you can escalate to the fos if you are unhappy with their reply.

Once the FOS get involved you never know, the insurer might make a goodwill gesture to end the matter, rather than spend time and money dealing the the FOS.

dunstonh

Am I entitled to require a breakdown of how this fee has been determined and why it is reasonable/justified?

No. They are not required to justify it. Although it would be very easy for them to do so as it is recognised that the bulk of the cost on policies is incurred up front.

Can I contest this? The policy was ordered online, is it not covered by Distance Selling Regs?

DSR doesnt apply to financial services. The FCA regulations incorporate their own version. You can complain. You may get lucky but £30 seems reasonable enough.

stevetuk

Okie doke. It's pretty poor customer service but I guess that's all it is if it's legitimate and 'fair'. I'll complain anyway and see where I get...

dunstonh

Why is it pretty poor? They have incurred costs. They either charge you or they put their premiums up for everyone else to pay for you.

*Scarlett

I appreciate it is pretty annoying to have to pay an admin fee (for anything!) but companies do have costs associated with setting up a policy.

If you have chosen a really low cost policy then the chances are that fees will exist or be higher.

The fees would have been stated when you accepted the policy online. I know it's easy just to click that you accept t&c's but it's always advised to read them in case there is something that you don't find acceptable (no matter how tedious!)

Assuming the admin fee has been stated when you took the policy out then I think you just need to accept it but you'll know better for next time.

iBeast

It does cost them to set up the policy, i assume you knew it was a contract, they have to cover their own costs.

stevetuk

Working in IT I'm intrigued to know what the costs incurred are and how they break down - just out of curiosity. You mention they exist: do you know what they are and how they come to a nice round £30? Stating it is so, presumably you have some grounds for that?