Debit card charge

martynrob

Sorry if this is the incorrect section but I was wondering if someone could help me out.

I recently missed a premium on my car insurance due to being off work sick.(I do have insurance but there is one months deferred period)

When I phoned up to pay the outstanding amount I was informed that there was a £3 charge for using a debit card.

Is this correct as I always thought that you could only be charged for using a credit card and that debit cards were not included in this.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Ebe_Scrooge

A company can charge pretty much what it wants for processing transactions. In *general* most companies charge for credit cards but not debit card, as the fees imposed on them by the credit card companies are higher. But there's nothing to stop them charging if they want to ( as Ryanair famously / infamously did ).

Yes it seems a bit sneaky, and I'm not saying I agree with it, but I guess one could argue that you're free to choose a different company next time.

How do you normally pay the premiums ?

thebritishbloke

Ebe_Scrooge wrote: »

A company can charge pretty much what it wants for processing transactions. In *general* most companies charge for credit cards but not debit card, as the fees imposed on them by the credit card companies are higher. But there's nothing to stop them charging if they want to ( as Ryanair famously / infamously did ).

Yes it seems a bit sneaky, and I'm not saying I agree with it, but I guess one could argue that you're free to choose a different company next time.

How do you normally pay the premiums ?

Under new regs they can only charge you what it costs them. I think the regs say they can't charge you more than 50p for a debit card transaction IIRC.

Ebe_Scrooge

thebritishbloke wrote: »

Under new regs they can only charge you what it costs them. I think the regs say they can't charge you more than 50p for a debit card transaction IIRC.

I stand corrected, thankyou.

I guess they could probably argue that it's 50p card fees, plus £2.50 "administration" fee ? Like when they charge fairly high sums for changing your address or stuff like that ? Always seems exhorbitant to me.

YorkshireBoy

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/cards/2013/04/credit-and-debit-card-fee-clampdown-begins

sinizterguy

There's an admin fee involved in answering the phone, looking up the files and taking a payment which should have been made previously.

Seems reasonable.

If it doesn't, you should have chosen a different insurer (as these charges would have been disclosed to you in the 'small print' - you did read through all of that to make sure this policy was suitable for you, didn't you ?)