£25 change of vehicle fee on car insurance

stuu_2

i change my cars quite often but keep getting stung for £25 everytime i change my car, i ask them but they wont wave the fee, has anyone managed to get refunds on this & is this charge fair??

ikkle87

Hi there, when you change vehicles on a policy insurance companies can charge you an admin fee (direct lines used to be 12.80) it is normally outlined within your policy booklet. Also if your car is a slightly higher car grouping than the one currently on the insurance that can raise insurance premiums. I used to work in car insurance and have known people move a few doors down the street but because it came in as a different postcode the premium went up. So it may be ratings wise due to the increase but if it is bang on £25 everytime then its probably admin. Best thing to do is write to the CRD your insurers to complain.Also I would suggest looking at your policy booklet as often insurers put a limit on how many change of vehicles you can have on 1 policy year.

Oscar_The_Grouch

Is it that you buy, do up and sell cars alot, or just like driving different cars? If you are doing up cars then selling them, you may find yourself in trouble with a private car insurance policy anyway, as they may consider you to be a motor trader.

Having said that, a motor trade car insurance would mean that you could drive as many cars as you liked without needing to inform your insurers of the change; you are covered for any vehicle whether you own it or not. It's costly though, so I recommend you speak to a commercial insurance broker and see if there is anything they can help you with.

stuu_2

Oscar_The_Grouch wrote: »

Is it that you buy, do up and sell cars alot, or just like driving different cars? If you are doing up cars then selling them, you may find yourself in trouble with a private car insurance policy anyway, as they may consider you to be a motor trader.

Having said that, a motor trade car insurance would mean that you could drive as many cars as you liked without needing to inform your insurers of the change; you are covered for any vehicle whether you own it or not. It's costly though, so I recommend you speak to a commercial insurance broker and see if there is anything they can help you with.

no im not a motor trader, even though the £25 may well be outlined in my policy booklet it still doesnt make it fair, infact in my opinion, its a complete rip off, just another way of insurance companies to take the !!!!...

dunstonh

stuu wrote: »

no im not a motor trader, even though the £25 may well be outlined in my policy booklet it still doesnt make it fair, infact in my opinion, its a complete rip off, just another way of insurance companies to take the !!!!...

So perhaps they ought to go back to the old way of having higher premiums and everyone pays and not just those that make the amendments.

The FOS have had complaints about admin fees like this before and have ruled them as being fair (upto £50 not including insurance risk element).

Quentin

Or find a company that doesn't impose charges as was the question asked originally!

From a recent article in the observer:

Zurich, RAC Direct and Hastings make no administrative charges

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2008/apr/13/motorinsurance.motoring1

raskazz

Hastings do charge £40+IPT for admin in addition to any change in the risk premium for changes that affect the risk.

What makes it even more galling for the consumer is that they do not make it clear that they charge in such a manner. Their Terms of Business merely states:

"What will you have to pay us for our services?
If the policy is cancelled or amended mid term there will be an adjustment to the premium which will include an element to cover the administration
costs."

iNath

Quentin wrote: »

Or find a company that doesn't impose charges as was the question asked originally!

From a recent article in the observer:



http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2008/apr/13/motorinsurance.motoring1

Apparently the RAC charge £12 and Zurich £15. I've been researching the costs
See here

thefirs

I moved house a couple of weeks ago, and knew I had to notify the motor insurers to be sure of continuous cover. We had a large drive before but now need to park one of the cars(first come first served) on the road, so could no longer say "parked on driveway" in response to this standard question, and I expected to have a minor increase in premium.

One car is registered in my name, the other in my wife's, with the policies being in the respective names.

The insurers have non-geographic (= effectively premium rate) customer service numbers so I phoned my company from work...net result, a demand for an extra £16.80. The increase was £1.05 extra risk, £15.75 admin charge.

She works from home, so we had no choice except for her to call on the home phone. After 8 minutes of Vivaldi I instructed her to hang up, and drafted a letter (second class) for her to sign advising of the move, the parking, and coincidently .. do ask me to call your CS line because of the wait. A letter acknowledging the change arrived today, saying "no premium change".

The irony is that although we have two different providers (major banks), they are both the same underwriter, Churchill Insurance.

I really wonder whether the method of advising the change was the diference? It takes time and trouble for a call centre operator to ask for more dosh by post, whereas their simple "...there's a small administrative charge for this change.." can be quickly slotted into a call funded entirely by the policyholder.

shelly

stuu wrote: »

no im not a motor trader, even though the £25 may well be outlined in my policy booklet it still doesnt make it fair, infact in my opinion, its a complete rip off, just another way of insurance companies to take the !!!!...

If you feel it isn't fair why did you agree to the terms and conditions?

Easy solution is don't change your cars so often.

mistyarthur

you could get insurance that covers you on any car upto say a 1.6 through ecarinsurance and its not overly expensive either, only cost an extra £50 ontop of the cheapest quote for me.