Accidental multiple insurance policy admin charge woes
Discussion
Ullo Phers,
Much to the amusement of my work colleague who was witness to the process I just had to undertake to cancel 2 of the 3 car insurance policies I’d agreed to go ahead with, I have been left having to pay various admin charges of what I feel is an excessive amount.
In essence the story goes; got my car remapped just before my insurance was due for renewal. Initially I’d originally agreed to renew my policy with Admiral given they seemed the cheapest on the comparison sites and paid up front. However I then read how various specialist companies offer better rates for tuned cars so then went with Adrian Flux thinking I could easily cancel my Admiral policy given it hasn’t started yet as there’s a 14 day cooling off period. I hadn’t read the small print (who bothers?!) which apparently says there’s a £25 admin charge. So on the same premise I then got to learn of Greenlight insurance whom turned out to be cheaper again, so went ahead with this (again paid up front) given I simply thought I could also cancel my Adrian Flux insurance for the same reasons without an issue. I’ve since found out they charge a whopping £45 admin fee to cancel the policy, again despite the fact it’s not even started yet.
On the whole I’m still £30 up on the original Admiral policy (and my colleague got a great laugh) so not the end of the world. But I’m pretty narked at having to cough up £70 for some auto-generated documents to be emailed to me for a policy which hasn’t even started yet. Surely these companies shouldn’t be able to go ahead with these policies if they’re already set up elsewhere? Or they should at least make you aware of the implications on the phone rather than relying on you to read the small print when it arrives by e-mail (at which point it’s too late anyway).
I realise this situation is down to me being somewhat ignorant, but I don’t feel I’m totally to blame and therefore shouldn’t have to pay so excessively for my mistake. Anyone have any input on this? Can I challenge them with their acceptance of the contract? Or can I flat out refuse to pay the charge given they’re not legally allowed to proceed with the policy anyway (potentially difficult seeing as they’ve already got my money)?
Much to the amusement of my work colleague who was witness to the process I just had to undertake to cancel 2 of the 3 car insurance policies I’d agreed to go ahead with, I have been left having to pay various admin charges of what I feel is an excessive amount.
In essence the story goes; got my car remapped just before my insurance was due for renewal. Initially I’d originally agreed to renew my policy with Admiral given they seemed the cheapest on the comparison sites and paid up front. However I then read how various specialist companies offer better rates for tuned cars so then went with Adrian Flux thinking I could easily cancel my Admiral policy given it hasn’t started yet as there’s a 14 day cooling off period. I hadn’t read the small print (who bothers?!) which apparently says there’s a £25 admin charge. So on the same premise I then got to learn of Greenlight insurance whom turned out to be cheaper again, so went ahead with this (again paid up front) given I simply thought I could also cancel my Adrian Flux insurance for the same reasons without an issue. I’ve since found out they charge a whopping £45 admin fee to cancel the policy, again despite the fact it’s not even started yet.
On the whole I’m still £30 up on the original Admiral policy (and my colleague got a great laugh) so not the end of the world. But I’m pretty narked at having to cough up £70 for some auto-generated documents to be emailed to me for a policy which hasn’t even started yet. Surely these companies shouldn’t be able to go ahead with these policies if they’re already set up elsewhere? Or they should at least make you aware of the implications on the phone rather than relying on you to read the small print when it arrives by e-mail (at which point it’s too late anyway).
I realise this situation is down to me being somewhat ignorant, but I don’t feel I’m totally to blame and therefore shouldn’t have to pay so excessively for my mistake. Anyone have any input on this? Can I challenge them with their acceptance of the contract? Or can I flat out refuse to pay the charge given they’re not legally allowed to proceed with the policy anyway (potentially difficult seeing as they’ve already got my money)?
Admin charge is fair, especially £25 (£45 is a tad high IMO) The problem I have with insurance companies (Adrian Flux in particular) is the fees for if you want to cancel and you're past the 14day cooling off period.
A friend of mine insured his car (with One call) for £3600 (paid monthly) he rang to cancel on the 14th day, apparently it was the 15th day of insurance and they wanted him to pay 25% of his policy outright + fees. It was something like £980 for 2weeks insurance... If this was the case, you'd have an argument
A friend of mine insured his car (with One call) for £3600 (paid monthly) he rang to cancel on the 14th day, apparently it was the 15th day of insurance and they wanted him to pay 25% of his policy outright + fees. It was something like £980 for 2weeks insurance... If this was the case, you'd have an argument
TwigtheWonderkid said:
VeeFource said:
I hadn’t read the small print (who bothers?!)
No such thing as small print. You mean normal sized print you didn't bother to read.
TwigtheWonderkid said:
VeeFource said:
I hadn’t read the small print (who bothers?!)
No such thing as small print. You mean normal sized print you didn't bother to read.StottyEvo said:
TwigtheWonderkid said:
VeeFource said:
I hadn’t read the small print (who bothers?!)
No such thing as small print. You mean normal sized print you didn't bother to read.VeeFource said:
I guess I value my time higher than some in which case. If it means I occasionally end up in this predicament then it's still worth it as far as I'm concerned. Thanks for helping spin another positive I can take away from this though
Can't value your time that highly if you're wasting it trying to get out of 70 quid's worth of fees...BJG1 said:
VeeFource said:
I guess I value my time higher than some in which case. If it means I occasionally end up in this predicament then it's still worth it as far as I'm concerned. Thanks for helping spin another positive I can take away from this though
Can't value your time that highly if you're wasting it trying to get out of 70 quid's worth of fees...StottyEvo said:
TwigtheWonderkid said:
VeeFource said:
I hadn’t read the small print (who bothers?!)
No such thing as small print. You mean normal sized print you didn't bother to read.mongoosehunter said:
StottyEvo said:
TwigtheWonderkid said:
VeeFource said:
I hadn’t read the small print (who bothers?!)
No such thing as small print. You mean normal sized print you didn't bother to read.
The word you're looking for is sage.
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