MSE News: The devil is in the details: Insurers charge huge fees for simple changes

rosspaul

Added a cycle a few days ago to my Home policy mid term, extra Premium was £4.00 odd but Hastings charged me £20.82 incl admin charge.
Called them up and challenged them and they have refunded me £10 which I think overall is fair.

User_101122

Just had the same problem with Tesco again this time for a change of employment details.

The premium went down and they wanted £25.00 in admin fees.

Again I challenged the fee and made an official complaint which after an argument it was refunded.

Got the usual "it's in the t's & c's" BS.

Just stick to your guns and refuse to pay. It's worked twice for me now.

dunstonh

Again I challenged the fee and made an official complaint which after an argument it was refunded.

And you create a large cost which will be passed on to everyone with them in increased premiums.

Short term gain, long term pain.

User_101122

Please don't try and tell me that I'm doing the world a favour by paying them £25 for typing in a change of job and pressing enter.

paddyandstumpy

tight4rse wrote: »

Please don't try and tell me that I'm doing the world a favour by paying them £25 for typing in a change of job and pressing enter.

Refer post 22

User_101122

There is a choice here. Not every insurer charges admin fees, but in return they tend to be at the higher range of the premium scale. Personally, I would rather pay a cheaper premium and then just pay for changes that I make - if I make none then I'm quids in...

I'd rather pay a cheaper rate upfront and then raise a complaint and get it refunded if I need to make a change midyear.

That way I get my cake and eat it.

rudekid48

tight4rse wrote: »

I'd rather pay a cheaper rate upfront and then raise a complaint and get it refunded if I need to make a change midyear.

That way I get my cake and eat it.

And the more people that follow your approach the sooner those cheaper premiums disappear.

User_101122

And the more people that follow your approach the sooner those cheaper premiums disappear.

Don't worry mate that'll never happen.

Most people just pay up and don't challenge these things, hence the fact that large companies get away with ripping us off!

What is more likely to end cheaper premiums is personal injury claims and ambulance chasers.

If the fee is reasonable I'll pay, but I'm not paying £25.00 to type two words into a computer irrespective of what the terms and conditions state.

paddyandstumpy

tight4rse wrote: »

If the fee is reasonable I'll pay, but I'm not paying £25.00 to type two words into a computer irrespective of what the terms and conditions state.

So the freephone number that you called, the trained person you spoke to, the licensed system they had to input the information on, the cost of regulation for the business, are all free are they?

You paid a cheaper premium for an explicit cost based model policy, where you pay for the cost of the call centre if you use it.

User_101122

So the freephone number that you called, the trained person you spoke to, the licensed system they had to input the information on, the cost of regulation for the business, are all free are they?

1. The telephone number was not free.
2. The person I spoke to was poorly trained and made several mistakes with the information they give.
3. The costs of licencing and regulating the systems and business do not fluctuate as a result of me changing my occupation.

In answer to your question no they're not free, but at the same time it doesn't cost £25 to change an occupation on a computer system hence the fact when asked to justify the level of the fee they backtracked and waived it.

This forum is for people who want to save money.

If you're happy to throw half a day's earnings (for me) to an insurance company to type in your job tite, then feel free to do so. I on the other hand am not prepared to do this. I work too hard for my money to be ripped off!