The Great 'Car Insurance Cancellation & Administration Fee' Hunt

tobeloy

Am so miffed, rang endsleigh today as we are moving home well we are moving 6 doors down from our old place, anyway the girl goes through the rig-maroll of the quote and wahey nothing has changed policy wise however they do want nearly 30 quid for admin fees????

They are changing 11 characters on a computer screen and I said they can email me my documents so I will print them off therefore no need for postage and their ink but nooooooooooooo they dont wanna do that, how can they justify charging that for 11 characters on a screen.

I threaten to cancel and they want 50 quid for leaving ??? I sai if i bought something from tesco and went back for a refund do you see them charging me 50 quid because I dont want it.....I am really peed off to say the least arrrrrrrrrrrrrgh !!!

dunstonh

how can they justify charging that for 11 characters on a screen.

Very easily.

How much did that computer and keyboard cost?
How much does the person sitting there pressing the buttons cost?
How much does the building they are in cost?
How much do the supervisors that monitor and control the staff cost?
How much does the staff benefits cost?
and so on. However, one other thing is profit. They are are allowed to profit on a transaction.

The actual pressing of the buttons does not cost much. However, the facilities to allow those buttons to be pressed do.

I sai if i bought something from tesco and went back for a refund do you see them charging me 50 quid because I dont want it

Which is not comparable to being charged for changing or cancelling insurance. You try and return something to Tesco that you are in a 12 month contract for (they sell mobile phones and Sky) and see if you get your money back.

I am really peed off to say the least

Why? What you would prefer; Higher insurance premiums with no admin charges for everyone or lower insurance premiums and admin charges only when you have an admin event?

tobeloy

So being a dedicated customer for a number of years means nothing then.....and yes I know they have overheads but add up the amount of so called admin charges they make every hour more than covers the costs.

dunstonh

So being a dedicated customer for a number of years means nothing then.....

Not a jot. Provider loyalty has gone just as consumer loyalty has.

and yes I know they have overheads but add up the amount of so called admin charges they make every hour more than covers the costs.

How do you explain the fact that car insurance has never been cheaper in real terms and most insurers have been making losses for quite a few years?

dacouch

I agree totally with Dunstonh and would add that Insurance Companies and Brokers will say they quote you a price to insure your vehicle or home for twelve months with the costs of setting it up built into the premium. They do not include in the price the costs of making adjustments to the policy which as Dunstonh advised cost money in staff costs etc. This is why they make a charge to adjust the policy.

Changing address on a household policy will need you to either sign a new proposal form or receive and read a Statement of Fact. So this means they have to pay postal costs etc and may have to send you letters chasing the return of the form as most people tend to need a few prompts

For the record £30 admin fee is fairly high, when you shop around next when you weigh up the cost of the premium have a look at the administration fees (All companies publish them and supply them to you when your are obtaining a quote). You will find some companies fees are as low as £5 however the average is between £15 and £25, there may even be some companies that do not charge.

flyingflea

First Direct cancellation fee: £15 (free within first 14 days)

Source:

https://firstdirect.equitygroup.co.uk/affinities/firstdirect/pdf/car_insurance_policy_wording.pdf

seashore99

If I cancel within the 14 days, do I get charged the admin fee+cancellation fee? or does this differ on the Insurance company?

dacouch

It varies from company to company, it normally says in the policy wording on the page that explains how they or you can cancel the policy

Porcupine

Additional data point for the OP:

Footman James (classic car policy underwritten by QBE)
Admin fee: £15
No idea about cancellation fee

fluffytrollop

:mad:is this some sort of record?
Adrian Flux 'gave' me a policy - I didnt return the forms, which in small print said I woul dbe blagged for the haemorrhaged cash if i didnt but that's my fault, so they took two lots of £48. I didnt get a direct debit notice, telling me they were about to plunder my account, so now that I'm up on my feet again after a back injury I have been checking my bank an found that this had happened.
So I rang Adrian Flux...they want a cancellation fee of £99. Or I can stay with them for £200 more than last year.

I thought that they had to tell you if they were going to set up a direct debit with your old details? Or even if they were going to change the payments?