insurance rip off

stranger12

hi all,
I have cancelled my insurance with a broker and they have charged me the following:

£47.xx cancellation fee going to insurance

£50 their setup fee

£38 commission paid to the insurer itself

I read the full t&c and need to read it again as I last read it 5 month ago. does this sound right to you ?

so I paid £500 for a year and after 5 month when I am cancelling I am receiving only £200!

AdrianC

What do the docs for that policy say about cancellation fees and charges? You agreed to those when you took the policy out, and they are the definitive guide as to what's acceptable.

Buy, yes, it sounds like about the right ballpark.

Your sums don't add up, though. Purely pro-rata, £500 per year after 5 months would be just over £291 due back. Less those fees would give you £156 back.

stranger12

so you agree they are a rip off?

AdrianC

stranger12 wrote: »

so you agree they are a rip off?

I didn't say that.

I said the numbers you've given don't make sense, but the docs for your policy will tell you what you've agreed to pay.

Nobbie1967

Sounds pretty fair to me of you're getting £200 back from a £500 policy after 5 months. Both the broker and the insurance company have admin costs irrespective of the length of the insurance.

onomatopoeia99

When I first took out car insurance (1988) I remember the refund on cancellation was nothing like pro-rata (it was stated in the paper policy document), and if you cancelled in the last two or three months, there was no refund at all.

EdGasket

Yes it's a rip-off; the nature of the beast I'm afraid. You never have got back a pro-rata amount for any unused insurance making what you pay for time covered effectively more expensive.

Iceweasel

We've had this kind of discussion on here many times.

What you are being charged for in effect is a 5 month policy.

No way are they going to refund pro-rata and give you back 7/12ths of an annual policy.

If insurance worked like that it would be easy for anyone who wanted cover for one month to pay for a year, then cancel after the month and get 11/12ths back.

Try asking how much a 5 month policy will cost from any insurance company and see what answer you get.

I sympathise with your situation - but that is just how the insurance business works.

If you want to deem it a rip-off then OK - it's a rip off.

What did you expect to get back?

londonTiger

the cheek of the broker to ask you to pay their comission. The comission is an back office deal between the broker and the insurer. In sales you win some and you lose some. They should not be able to reclaim the comission from the policyholder.

AdrianC

londonTiger wrote: »

the cheek of the broker to ask you to pay their comission. The comission is an back office deal between the broker and the insurer. In sales you win some and you lose some. They should not be able to reclaim the comission from the policyholder.

The OP agreed to that when he bought the policy. It would be in the cancellation terms.

stranger12

Reading and putting it yhere does not make it morally sound

They are so poor and evil and will do anything to rip you off

My last time ever buying insurance from broker

Adrian are you part of adrianc which might be doing same kind of rip off that keep defending them?

I didn't expect to get the pro rate back but neighter expected to pay their commision and double cancellation charge to them and insurer