Admin charges for changes to policy details - Churchill Car Insurance

[welshlass2]

I have just been charged a total of £75 for changes to two motor policies with Churchill. Firstly my husband changed his car about a month ago, £25 please, then yesterday I rang to inform them that we are moving - we both have a car and a policy each so another £25 each please. Surely thats daylight robbery? Anyway I emailed them this morning asking for a refund of the administrative charges as they could not possibly justify them, added to which the lady on the other end of the phone, used it as a sales opportunity to try and sell us home insurance - what a cheek!!

So whats the chances of getting it back??? Any advice welcome.

Hi Welshlass

Are you sure these charges are relating to "admin charges" and not to do with changes within your individual underwriting criteria

I.E newer car, more expensive, therefore if you wrote it off they would have to pay out more money on a claim, or generally a different car that is in a different insurance grouping to your previous model.

Same applies to your address, higher risk area, more claims (regardless of whether it is a nicer area or not) remember nicer areas tend to have more expensive newer cars,

Re your car insurance, when you changed your address, you received a new cert then you changed your car - another new certificate....2 certificates in 1 month ish...Cost of printing etc etc, I know it doesn't justify £25 for 1 sheet of A4.....But hey ho .. Companies use that excuse.

Have you actually asked them to justify this admin charge as it does seem a little excessive as most companies only charge £12-£20

TG x

[welshlass2]

Hi TractorGirl
No the charge is purely for admin, the motor premium was actually cheaper on the new car, as I thought it would be, but we didn't get anything back because this was "offset against the admin charge". Same for the change of address, no increase in premium, just additional administrative charges.

I have emailed them today asking them to justify the charges, I am awaiting a reply.......will wait with baited breath!!

Thanks for your input though. its really appreciated.

Welshlass

[xrchris]

Do you object on the basis that it as unacceptable to charge an admin charge for the extra work they have done or just the amount of the charge?

[gizmo111]

These are service charges, and you requested a service asking for changes to your policy, they are not penalties and therefore they do not have to break them down for you. Expensive but not a penalty.

[jampot]

But surely all the OP has an obligation to do is to pass on a change of address to his/her insurer, and it is then up to the insurer to update their own records accordingly.

I think, in those circumstances, I'd politely send a recorded delivery letter giving policy details and the new address, and not offer anything in the way of payment.

You aren't getting anything in return for the service. They are.

[xrchris]

Yes but the address at which the vehicle is kept is a rating criteria so you are obliged to notify the insurer.

Gizmo sums it best in their post.

[jampot]

Originally Posted by xrchris

Yes but the address at which the vehicle is kept is a rating criteria so you are obliged to notify the insurer.

Gizmo sums it best in their post.

I did say they were obliged to notify their insurer (!)

But I fail to see why there should be a £25 charge.

You can discharge your responsibility by informing them of the address change. Then the £25 becomes a bit of a "bun-fight"... but you can't be penalised for not notifying your insurers... because you HAVE.

[xrchris]

The bottom line is that a customer is provided full policy documentation and has a 14 day 'cooling off' period in which to inspect the terms (including admin charges for services provided) if the client doesnt like what they see then they are entitled to cancel the policy(commonly on a pro-rata basis but 'may' be subject to a minimum charge) and arrange another with more agreeable terms.

[jampot]

But if all (most) insurers are putting in such large "charges" to change minor policy details, it isn't possible (often) to find one which you CAN switch to. As the term isn't negotiable individually, it could be classed as an "unfair contract term".

My bank (and everyone else's) was quite clear about the amounts it would "charge" for performing various services. Quite clearly these have been shown to be unenforceable, despite being boldly stated in policies.

I'm surprised the banks aren't charging us for a change of address too...

[xrchris]

I generally agree with your argument with the size of some of these admin/cancellation charges but there are many insurers/policies out there that have little or no admin charge at all, especially for something such as a change of address. But rarely (if at all) is this the case with a direct insurer.

The argument with the banks is something entirely different in my opinion and relates to a penalty charge rather than a service charge which is the case with insurers.

[Rob S]

The OP is complaining about a charge of £25 just for the admin element of the policy change. I don't see any reason why the OP can't ask for a breakdown of how the insurer arrive at this figure. Given that some companies allow you to go online and make changes to your policy yourself (Ecar and Ebike) with no charge suggests that this is just another way for the insurers to make more money.

My wife has her motorcycle policy with Ebike and she bought a second motorcycle last December. She was able to go online and add the details of the second bike to her existing policy (Ebike will insure more than one bike on the same policy) and all it cost her was £16. Her policy still had 7 months to run, so a mere £16 to add a second vehicle to her policy was very fair. It certainly puts into perspective a charge of £25 by Churchill purely for "admin".

[welshlass2]

Just a quick update for what seems to be a 'hot potato' of a subject, I did get a refund of one of the administration charges, not quite what I wanted, but better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick!!!!

[makfai]

I see from this and other forums that many people are becoming incensed at the cost of cancelling/amending policies.

We sold our motorhome earlier this year and cancelled its insurance. I was told by Devitt that the insurers would return the premium on a pro rata basis but that Devitt (the brokers) would charge me a £30 cancellation/admin fee. :o

Devitt confirmed in writing that their charge for renewing a policy was £8 and also that the work involved in renewing and cancelling was the same.

I don't have a problem with the underwriters taking a fair amount but the broker charging three times the price for cancellation is clearly not an admin but a punishment clause.

The insurance had been arranged by though the Caravan Club but they were not interested.

[xrchris]

Originally Posted by makfai

I see from this and other forums that many people are becoming incensed at the cost of cancelling/amending policies.

Strange really as this information is readily available before you commit yourself to a policy. After all that is why insurers issue a 'Keyfacts Summary of Cover'.

Also, if someone cannot see this information all they have to do is ASK.

General rule of thumb (although there are exceptions) is that the cheap no frills online/direct policies will more often than not have higher admin/cancellation fees. A prime example of this is NU versus NU Direct. The former have a cancellation fee of £10.50 the latter has a cancellation fee of £52.50.

Edit - I realise some of this may sound a bit harsh but unlike bank charges you DO have a choice with which insurer you choose based on their level of charges AND premium quoted.

[makfai]

Strange really

Don't think it is strange. We have accepted bank charges for years; we have accepted telephone mobile charges for years...these are now changing. What I am saying is that I don't think the charges are reasonable.

[xrchris]

My whole point is a customer has a choice before they are committed to use an insurer with what they would consider to be a reasonable charge (i would certainly say £10.50 is reasonable as in the case i quoted above).

To many people just look for the cheapest possible price and dont look at anything else.

[welshlass2]

Seems to me that we do indeed have a choice, we either pay overinflated prices, or fall into the trap of taking what seems like competitively priced insurance direct from the net and then being well and truly stung for any changes made, despite many being done online, funny how we also see more and more call centres moving abroad to countries where labour is appallingly cheap, yet we are still required to cover the cost of UK equivalent labour rates.