Cancelling insurance mid term to take out new (better) deal

humfer

Just wondering if there are any downsides? Only reason I ask is that I seem to remember answering 'have you ever had insurance cancelled or ....' on previous insurance quotes

dunstonh

Some monthly premium contracts are actually annual contracts and you may still be liable for different until the annual renewal date even if you cancel mid term. Home and car is usually best left until renewal

lisyloo

Admin fees for cancellation and loss of no claims.

I think the question you mentioned refers to insurance companies refusing to insure you, not the other way round.

samuela66

humfer wrote: »

Just wondering if there are any downsides? Only reason I ask is that I seem to remember answering 'have you ever had insurance cancelled or ....' on previous insurance quotes

I cancelled with Norwich Union my house ins, because I'd sold and no longer needed it, was charged about £50 to cancel............:mad:

Mikeyorks

humfer wrote: »

I seem to remember answering 'have you ever had insurance cancelled or ....' on previous insurance quotes

The operative word is 'had' .... in other words, has the insurer cancelled it?

But that's a bit academic .. the real downside is that you will normally face cancellation charges which outweigh any financial benefits of changing mid-term.

lisyloo

was charged about £50 to cancel............:mad:

Perhaps you think they shouldn't get paid at all.
Perhaps you'd like a higher premium with all these kind of services thrown in (if that's the case then search it out, all these fees are in your terms and conditions).
or perhaps you think other policy holders should subsidise you - No thanks.

My advice is check your terms and conditions before signing up and take it into account with the premium you are getting and any other factors (like coverage and service level).
If you properly research what you agreed to up front then there should be no need for :mad: - it's totally avoidable.

Don't forget that the lender would have stripped these admin costs out of your upfront premium.
To keep the calculations simple - let's say you got a £50 discount on your upfront premium as they removed the costs from that.

bow1508

I don't think you should be charged to cancel either. Sorry but I don't. If the companies remain competative and give you good customer service you would stay with them and lets be honest insurance companies have been making a mint on our backs for years. It's only recently they have hit problems with the climate changes and people taking the decisions to move to the best deal. I had never claimed and mine acted like I had asked for a limb from them and it wasn't even that much. Not a great fan of insurance companies in general but thats my personal opinion you understand.

impy78

Having worked in insurance myself, i totally disagree with cancellation fees - they are totally unreasonable, and they only reason they have them is to discourage you from doing so.

Does it actually cst £50 for me to hit a button and send out a letter?

Nope...it actualy costs about £2, which is how much they are paying the memeber of staff for the time it takes to do the above...

lisyloo

Does it actually cst £50 for me to hit a button and send out a letter?

No it doesn't but I'll provide a list of what you have to pay for below.
If you don't agree then the answer is very simple indeed.
Read your contract up front and don't do business with a comapany whose business practices you don't agree with.

Your share of the costs including

staff time
their pension
their tax & NI
time off e.g. sick, holidays
their training
their manager
their desk & chair
hardware
software
rent
electricity
employers NI
employers liability insurance
paper, stamps, ink & printers
costs of storage of paper, stamps, ink & printers
costs or ordering paper, stamps, ink & printers
share of costs of daily royal mail collection
their share of payroll costs
their share of office cleaning costs
their share of kitchen equipment costs
their share of health & safety costs e.g. provision of fire extinguishers
their share of training for fire marshals and first aiders
their share of hygiene provsision e.g. paper towels, loo roll, sanitary disposal
admin costs for processing your payment
fees e.g. visa for your payment
time off for company meetings
time off for fire drills
share of business rates
etc.

This isn't a definitive list and I've probably forgotten some things but hopefully you get the gist of it.

dunstonh

Having worked in insurance myself

Did you work for free? Did your supervisor work for free? What about your pensions and benefits? The IT staff that put the computers in place? What about the FSA, FSCS and FOS levies/costs? Did your employer not have to pay any of those? and all the other things that lisyloo mentions...

The cost of the transaction itself is cheap. However, putting everything in place to allow that transaction is not.

impy78

lisyloo wrote: »

No it doesn't but I'll provide a list of what you have to pay for below.
If you don't agree then the answer is very simple indeed.
Read your contract up front and don't do business with a comapany whose business practices you don't agree with.

Your share of the costs including

staff time
their pension
their tax & NI
time off e.g. sick, holidays
their training
their manager
their desk & chair
hardware
software
rent
electricity
employers NI
employers liability insurance
paper, stamps, ink & printers
costs of storage of paper, stamps, ink & printers
costs or ordering paper, stamps, ink & printers
share of costs of daily royal mail collection
their share of payroll costs
their share of office cleaning costs
their share of kitchen equipment costs
their share of health & safety costs e.g. provision of fire extinguishers
their share of training for fire marshals and first aiders
their share of hygiene provsision e.g. paper towels, loo roll, sanitary disposal
admin costs for processing your payment
fees e.g. visa for your payment
time off for company meetings
time off for fire drills
share of business rates
etc.

This isn't a definitive list and I've probably forgotten some things but hopefully you get the gist of it.

I worked for an insurance company myself for almost 5 years, and I usually waived the fee, unless the person on the other end was horrible.