Motoring Discussion > It's customer service, but not as we know it Miscellaneous
Thread Author: Dieselfitter Replies: 29

 It's customer service, but not as we know it - Dieselfitter
26-year old daughter with more than 5 years' NCD, no accidents or convictions, has just changed her Ka for a Mini One. With about 6 weeks left on her existing insurance policy, she called her insurer to inform them of the change.

"Certainly Miss, that'll be an extra £144 for the remainder of the period, please."
"What - for 6 weeks? - then I'll cancel the policy and have a refund, please."
"Certainly Miss, that'll be a refund of £56, less an administration fee of £50. Oh, and if you cancel, you'll lose one year's NCD because you haven't completed a full year with us."

Am I allowed to name this star amongst insurance companies?
 It's customer service, but not as we know it - FotheringtonTomas
>> Am I allowed to name this star amongst insurance companies?

I don't see why not, as long as your information is accurate - are you sure you haven't been talking to a clueless oik who's spouting "inaccuracies"? Perhaps it'd be a good idea to call again, and speak to someone different (perhaps not on the "front line").
 It's customer service, but not as we know it - Falkirk Bairn
Try claiming off an insurance policy!

My son claimed for a break-in at home - say £700 - premium due for renewal 2 weeks later leaps by £300.

Queries whether he had insurance or was it an HP agreement over 36 months - premium increase reduced to £100 - previous 12 years premiums and no claims was not deemed to have merit!! You claim therefore you pay increased premiums.
 It's customer service, but not as we know it - RattleandSmoke
My mate drove a Fiesta 1.1 worth about 50p (if I wrote a list of the faults, it would be around 20,000 words) he swapped it for a Panda 1.1 (brand new) with 6 months to go. They wanted £400. He told them to get stuff and found a new insuirance company who insured him for less than £600 for the year.
 It's customer service, but not as we know it - Lygonos
KA - ins group 2

MINI One - ins group 11

Factor in the 'fudge factor' to ensure a bit more profit.

£56 for 6 wks cover = £485 per year.

Are you sure she doesn't have more like 2-3 months left to run ?
 It's customer service, but not as we know it - Stuu
Value of the car has a huge bearing on it. When I changed from my Charade which is group 5 to the Mazda which is group 8, my premium went down £60 a year. Worth £1500 and £300 respectively.
 It's customer service, but not as we know it - Dieselfitter
>>Value of the car has a huge bearing on it.

Funny, Stu, I'd have said the opposite. Last year I sold a 100K+ mile Mondeo for £2K and bought an A6 worth more than 10 times that - insurance went up only a little. The extra premium for almost 3 months was about £15 IIRC.
 It's customer service, but not as we know it - Dieselfitter
>>Are you sure she doesn't have more like 2-3 months left to run ?

No, policy runs out 20-something of June. Premium for this year (for the Ka) is in the £400's and the quote (from her present company) for the Mini One was £1060 for the year. A competitive quote for the Mini is around £500.

I don't have an issue with the quote of £1060 (that's their privilege, and all insurers use carrot and stick to select the market sector they want), but rather with the lack of a reasonable refund and attempt to imply that a year's NCD will be lost.

I can't say, in all my experience, that I've ever been faced with choosing between an unacceptable hike or effectively no refund when trading-up my car.
 It's customer service, but not as we know it - Zero
>> the lack of a reasonable refund and attempt to imply that a year's NCD will
>> be lost.

It will. A the time you cancel and renew with someone else. you dont have that full years extra NCB. Why should they provide you with the years NCB when you havent been with them for that year.
 It's customer service, but not as we know it - Dieselfitter
See your point, Z. It could make a difference for someone with a short insurance history. Fortunately, it doesn't matter as she has >5 years NCD anyway.

I guess insurance is ultra competitive these days, and they have to use any tricks they can to make a living. But I still think a £50 admin fee on a £56 refund is taking the Michael.
 It's customer service, but not as we know it - John H
>>
>> I guess insurance is ultra competitive these days and they have to use any tricks
>> they can to make a living. But I still think a £50 admin fee on
>> a £56 refund is taking the Michael.
>>

forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=893319
The Great 'Car Insurance Cancellation & Administration Fee' Hunt
listing all the known charges that car insurance companies may charge.

 It's customer service, but not as we know it - Dieselfitter
Good MSE link. I see a £50 cancellation fee is not unusual (though towards the top end). But the customer never forgets....
 It's customer service, but not as we know it - Zero
the cancelation fee thing is clearly designed to stop people cancelling and moving to a cheaper deal after a few months. IE take your introductory discount, insure for 4 months, cancel and move to another introductory discount elsewhere.
 It's customer service, but not as we know it - Tooslow
Zero,
though if staying were rewarded rather than joining, then the problem wouldn't arise. They could introduce a bonus when you renewed, greater if you hadn't made any claims, less if you have.

Oh. They do that. But then they up the premiums so that you get your discount but still end up paying more. Darn. Never mind, when I'm in charge... Nah, can't be bothered.

JH
 It's customer service, but not as we know it - Zero
>> Zero
>> though if staying were rewarded rather than joining then the problem wouldn't arise.

Tell me about it, Direct line are pigs for this. Cheap first year, expensive next year. I just keep jumping between Tesco (direct line) and Direct line. Its keeps my bill down and they have to keep paying admin to change my policy - they dont seem to realise this.
 It's customer service, but not as we know it - Lygonos
I was insured with esure a few years back and each year the NCD rose from 70->75%, but the actual premium was higher than switching - so I switched.

Using higher discounts on a higher premium may fool some, but not all customers.
 It's customer service, but not as we know it - Redviper
When i moved into my partners house, my car was no longer parked on the front street on housing estate, its now parked in a secluded car park at the rear of the house, away from the main road, and the main street at the front of the house.

I live in the same town, same postcode area (there are 3 of them in Darlington) and my insurance company now say my car is in a "higher risk area"!!!! so my premuim rose and it was a £25 admin fee for the pleasure of doing so.

No repeat business from me!
 It's customer service, but not as we know it - Harleyman
Those "admin fees" really bug me. Even Carole Nash, for many years my motorcycle insurer of choice, nabbed £30 off me last year when I bought a scooter and added it to my multibike policy. Had the cheek to say that it wouldn't affect the premium but they'd charge me the fee anyway!

Annoying if you change your wheels regularly, either by choice or circumstance; and perhaps yet another reason why some just don't bother insuring?
 It's customer service, but not as we know it - Ted

When the head gasket went on the Vitara, I knew it would take a while to do as the garage I use was very busy. ..... bought a cheepy cheep-cheep little car and transferred the insurance across, ' That's fine, Sir and in fact the premium will be about £50 less '
When the Vit was ready, I transferred it back and was charged an extra £70 odd 'cos it was a more powerful car !
Never saw the £50 ! of course.
No repeat business there, either.

Ted
 It's customer service, but not as we know it - R.P.
Carole Nash - both bikes and the car are insured with them - got a 20% discount on the car as the bikes were insured. Rates were very competitive especially when you factored in their vehicle recovery scheme (which is pretty good - see CB650 thread). Prices are hiked on renewal the bikes were priced at 440 quid this year (managed to beat them down to 319 including £50.00 leathers insurance) - They also charge for changes "up to £40.00" - Depends what happens at renewal time for the car in August otherwise will move elsewhere.. NFU are pretty competitive may look a them in August.
 It's customer service, but not as we know it - mattbod
Who is this insurance company? My insurance goes up every year rather than down and have to pay it monthly. Nearly £700 for a 32 year old for a Skoda Fabia VRS. I will have to shop around or see a good broker.
 It's customer service, but not as we know it - Fenlander
These annoying admin charges are why I always use our small town broker. Modest office with three local staff and they mostly get close to price comparison quotes without arm twisting. They do not seek business other than from a small radius and find ways not to take on folks who look trouble.

They have direct policy arrangements with all the major insurance folks, print certificates while you're there, change policy/driver/car details with a smile and never a fee.

Truly a local service for local people.
Last edited by: Fenlander on Wed 5 May 10 at 13:11
 It's customer service, but not as we know it - -
Don't think NFU know what an admin fee is.
 It's customer service, but not as we know it - Harleyman
>> Don't think NFU know what an admin fee is.
>>

I've done my home insurance through them for a couple of years; worth a try.

Will let them quote for car at renewal if only to legitimise this post with a motoring reference! ;-)
 It's customer service, but not as we know it - -

>> I've done my home insurance through them for a couple of years; worth a try.

With them for that too Harley, and had a claim (lightning strike believe it or not), straight fair dealings as with their car cover.
 It's customer service, but not as we know it - Jacks
>> KA - ins group 2
>>
>> MINI One - ins group 11

>>

No the MINI One is group 5 (my wife has one) and they're quite cheap to insure.

Mini Insurance groups

tinyurl.com/2wns8kv

Jacks
 It's customer service, but not as we know it - WobblyDog
In the good old days it all seemed a lot simpler. You spoke to your "contact" at the broker and trusted them to get you a decent renewal each year. If anything changed during the year you phoned your contact (usually first name terms) and it was sorted - never mention of an admin fee.

Then Direct Line came along and with good marketing and a decent product we were suddenly convinced the broker had been ripping us off for years and so made the switch.

Then loads of direct insurers came along, tempting us with introductory offers and then subtly increasing the premiums substantially for year 2 onwards, relying on the inertia of a percentage of their customer base. Churn became the industry buzzword.

Then the advent of the comparison website - gave a bit of power back to the consumer - we were now able to switch every year and play the insurers at their own game. But now we're in a situation where you need a comparison site for all the comparison sites....and are they as transparent as they seem with their kickbacks, commissions and even ownership by the companies we're trying to compare!

I've now gone full circle. For the last couple of years I've used a broker. When I phone them up they know who I am from my telephone number. I don't have to listen to "this call may be recorded for training purposes blah blah blah...", I don't have to select option 1, then 2 and then listen to electronic Greensleeves for 10 minutes....I know I pay about £30 more than if I went direct but that's a price I am happy to pay if I can avoid the bi-annual madness (two car household) of the insurance renewal.

Think I'll have a lie down now...
 It's customer service, but not as we know it - Buddy
Well said, WD. I left the deal direct route several years ago and returned to local broker, after discovering I could get a cheaper premium from existing company if I went online and pretended to be new customer. As you say, these companies are conmen who rely on customer laziness. My broker almost matched online price and I got to deal with a helpful, (often) smiling human being.
 It's customer service, but not as we know it - Lygonos
Parkers is outdated - insurance is now measured from group 1 to 50.

That's the old 1 to 20 scale.
 It's customer service, but not as we know it - Typ 8L
1 to 50? I remember when it used to go up to Group 7 :-)
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