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

downliner

And i think i've just figured out why most of us receive endless calls that always start with "I understand you've had an accident that wasn't your fault" even if you don't own a car.

At first i thought this was just an alteration of the PPI calls but it turns out insurers that have drivers with telemetry boxes automatically inform their providers in the event of a collision and in those few minutes afterwards the drivers receive a call to ask if they were just involved in a vehicle collision.

Now if you don't have a car this would not really concern anyone aside from the irritation factor however it's these calls that are fishing for your personal information (security verification they call it) which is then sold to 3rd Parties.

As an example of who gets this information lets look at Eldon Insurance services. The owner was Leave.EUs campaign manager Aaron Banks who happened to have the personal information of over half of the electorate (23.1 million people).

This is a little off topic with the whole GoSkippy/Debenams insurance debacle but if you do own an insurance policy that requires a telemetry box to be fitted to your vehicle then also make sure you store the number of your insurance company otherwise you may be giving personal information to some 'acting on behalf' of your insurer who 'detected a collision' from your black box.

downliner

Quentin wrote: »

You don't get it,!

You haven't been charged £500 administration fee to change your car

As explained, you will have been charged an admin fee for making a midterm change and your chosen new car is meaning an increase in your premium!

That's b*llocks.

I just went with an entirely different provider and ended up paying less than i have in the last 2 months with Debenams/Skippy the kangaroo insurance company.

£431 to change a car two months into an insurance policy is extortionate and then to find the policy cheaper elsewhere with no ridiculous fees for changing arbitrary details we all have to change in our lives like Employers, Vehicles and Addresses says even less good for that insurance firm.

Don't get me wrong the initial quote is the convincer and very reasonable which is why Eldon partners show up at the top of most comparison sites but they charge the worst rates for changing details. Add to that their customer service is diabolical with constant cutoffs and non-English speaking agents but what do you expect when they operate from South Africa?

It's a bit like the bait and switch con where a carpet cleaning company offers to clean your entire homes carpets for £25 only to find that when they come in and do the job they tell you it will only bring the dirt to the surface and you need to go for the full priced option at £350.

This is just a bait and switch on Car Insurance and even more appallingly they direct it to inexperienced first time drivers!

Just bad business ethics to get customers.

These brokers are vultures. If this was indeed an increase in premium as you state then why do they call it a fee and why is it not spread out over the remaining 10 months? Why instead do they demand immediate payment otherwise they threaten to cancel the policy? If it was an increased premium then surely my monthly would go up as opposed to a bulk payment only to find the monthly went up anyway?

Blibble

downliner wrote: »

Don't get me wrong the initial quote is the convincer and very reasonable which is why Eldon partners show up at the top of most comparison sites but they charge the worst rates for changing details.

You got it in one.

However, you had full opportunity to read the policy book before taking out the policy, and therefore the charges for amending details / vehicle mid-term were available to you. Ignorance of these terms being here is not an excuse.

Side point: as Quentin & dunstonh have advised, FoS will not get involved in an insurer's pricing. From a practical standpoint, however, the fee being charged for amending the details of vehicle on policy is usually between £20 - £100 for most lower-end policies, so the fee levied here is not out of the realms of possibility. The rest of the fee is because your new vehicle is, in the insurer's opinion, riskier to insure & is therefore an increase in premium, not an administration fee

rudekid48

downliner wrote: »

And i think i've just figured out why most of us receive endless calls that always start with "I understand you've had an accident that wasn't your fault" even if you don't own a car.

At first i thought this was just an alteration of the PPI calls but it turns out insurers that have drivers with telemetry boxes automatically inform their providers in the event of a collision and in those few minutes afterwards the drivers receive a call to ask if they were just involved in a vehicle collision.

Now if you don't have a car this would not really concern anyone aside from the irritation factor however it's these calls that are fishing for your personal information (security verification they call it) which is then sold to 3rd Parties.

As an example of who gets this information lets look at Eldon Insurance services. The owner was Leave.EUs campaign manager Aaron Banks who happened to have the personal information of over half of the electorate (23.1 million people).

This is a little off topic with the whole GoSkippy/Debenams insurance debacle but if you do own an insurance policy that requires a telemetry box to be fitted to your vehicle then also make sure you store the number of your insurance company otherwise you may be giving personal information to some 'acting on behalf' of your insurer who 'detected a collision' from your black box.

To coin your own phrase - "that's b*llocks" :rotfl:

The whole point of crash detection within telemetry devices is to alert your own insurer about the collision. The severity of the impact will determine the next course of action, which could be a call to the policyholder to arrange collection of the vehicle and offer help at the scene or, more importantly, could prompt an immediate call to the emergency services.

From a purely selfish perspective, telemetry allows an insurer to take control of a claim quickly, meaning that they can intervene before the ambulance chasers get involved and therefore keep the cost of claims down. It also allows much quicker data-led liability decisions to speed up the whole process.

People do not always crash into other people, impact detection can (and has) save lives when a vehicle leaves the road in rural areas or late at night when the driver could otherwise be undiscovered for a long period of time.

Not everything in the world is a conspiracy. Considering you claim to have worked for L&G for 12 years, you have a real lack of understanding as to how things actually work!

Alilock10

Co-op insurance want to charge me £160 for changing my address. I’ve refused to pay this, as even if the area is higher risk, which it isn’t this would mean my car insurance would be £320 higher per annum. They are now threatening to cancel my insurance policy.

si1984

I've recently purchased a new car, using my previous vehicle in a part exchange. As you do, I sorted insurance for the new car prior to picking it up.

I couldn't believe it when I phoned my existing insurer, Carole Nash (broker) / Kitsune (insurer) to be told that there would be a £130 fee for cancelling. I was expecting some sort of penalty / admin fee but I certainly wasn't expecting it to be that high. What makes it even more annoying is that fact that I only have a couple of months left on the policy and as I paid over 10 monthly instalments, the premium had already been settled. I also tried to call them prior to arranging the new insurance but their offices were closed.

I admit, I hadn't really thought about the administration fees when I purchased the policy last year and the policy document does state that they will apply service charge of £79.95 for cancellation after 14 days a portion of the fee is somewhat transparent but I can't find anything in the policy about an additional £50 which is apparently the insurer's admin fee.

What happened to insurance fees needing to be "reasonable" and reflecting the true cost of administration? Surely £130 is excessive?

I'm torn over what to do. Should I amend the vehicle on my initial policy and cancel the new one that I have arranged, given I am still within the 14 day cooling off period? Carole Nash would still charge an admin fee of £37.50 to make the amendment and the policy is not as good (it's also more expensive). Alternatively, I could take the hit, pay the cancellation charge and challenge the unfair fee?

Where do I stand from a legal perspective if I was to leave the vehicle insured until it's natural expiry (1st April)? One of the problems I think I would have with this is the disclosure of my no claims bonus with is currently on my old car until such time as I send proof to the new insurer. I could swap it but doing this would no doubt still incur a charge.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.