Car insurance - £73 = charge for credit??

asp746

i've just renewed my car ins.

i've got a newer car and the premium is £595.

I opted to pay over 12mths. Now, i've received a copy of a consumer credit agreement that they want me to sign and it say's Total charge for credit is
£73.22.

now i've had insurance over the years and never noticed the premium included a charge for credit.

i'm really upset - i'm skint as it is so to be paying tha amount albeit over 11 mths is a lot and i feel totally ripped off.

anyone else heard of this?? The thing is if i cancel the policy i've already paid £78 for the first payment which covers 28th Jan - 28th Feb so not doubt they'll bill me again for cancelling the policy. When i took the policy out over the phone i wasn't told of the premium including this £73.

anyone else heard of this?? I'm with KwikFit by the way and the subsidiary is with Zurich

asp746

sorry, i just noticed this is in the wrong forum - if anyone can move it for me

thanks

Burlesque_Babe

I think it is standard if you take out a policy with any insurer over 12 months - it is the interest charged on you taking out the credit rather than paying it in one big chunk. If you do a quote online, you'll always see the charge mentioned when you click 'pay in 12 monthly instalments'.

I remember many moons ago one of Martin's emails or blog entries covering the subject.

flutterbyuk25

Yeah it is more or less standard to charge this fee because they cover you in full from day one yet you have not paid in full. There are one or two companies that don't charge it so make try googling that or look in Martin's insurance bits.

What I used to do when my insurance was a lot was pay it in full using a 0% on purchases credit card then pay off x amount a month for the length of the 0%. So maybe you could try that if you can get a 0% card? but cut card up as soon as you've made the purchase so you don't go spending further on it!

HTH

x

MissEyre

Some insurers make a big deal out of not charging if you pay over 12 months-think Virgin were doing this a while back. But I agree, it's annoying, especially when you split it over the year so you can manage your money and payments better!