How Does An Insurance Company....

[humbersloop]

...justify fifty five quid for a cancellation fee on a car insurance policy?

I think I've just been mugged

[snags]

They don't have to justify it, it's probably written in the small print of your policy.

[factor-fiction]

It seems steep but I'm sure they'll have something in their Ts and Cs. I would expect maybe £30, but even that probably exceeds the true cost. I suspect the high charge is intended to act as a deterrent to cancellation

[pixie373]

They're buggers, aren't they? Very quick to take money, very slow to pay out. Would it have been worth waiting to end of policy and not renewing?

[DJHawkes]

it's daylight robbery and should be investigated the way they investigated bank charges. The amount of paperwork they create at cancellation is impressive but it only takes a few clicks on a computer screen to generate the cancellation and the paperwork. If they are a broker and have to inform the actual underwrtiters or insurance company then that is only a short pro-forma email. They add on so much at the start of the policy to cover themselves anyway and it should be done the other way around, they charge you a potential cancellation fee up front and then credit it back to you at the end of the year if you've not cancelled.
The number of companies that get involved in your policy without you knowing, especially after an accident, is ridiculous, the whole show has gone bananas and it's all on their side, if you try to make a claim they avoid you like the plague. whether it was a no blamer or not.

[factor-fiction]

I think there are issues with people who take out policies on instalments and then cancel part way through but still retain a certificate, so the insurers have to try to receive the certificate.
Although with the police using the insurance database I'm not sure whether the issue is less important now.

[ummmm]

It cost me £15 to change cars. We pay our insurance annually and they didn't change the amount.

[humbersloop]

I'm sure it's there in the small print somewhere, in futhorc runes, on page 304 I expect

Had to insure two cars concurrently for a fortnight. Original policy fully paid up front, ditto second policy on new vehicle.

thanks for your bleedin' custom

[factor-fiction]

I think the argument will be that the contract period is 12 months, and with such contracts there is a cost to cancellation. Some mobile, broadband, satellite providers may expect those cancelling to pay all the years remaining premiums or give no refund if paid in full.

[Old_Geezer]

There can be no justification. Power allows you do do what you wish regardless of whether it is right. snags summed it up. Think yourself lucky the cancellation fee wasn't 100% of the remaining term, or £500 whichever is larger.

[humbersloop]

note to self: stiffen gratitude sinews

[grasscarp]

When was the last time you read the terms and conditions of anything. I never do and suspect not many of you do either. What do they say - the devil is in the detail......

[pixie373]

It's also hard to know whether the small print applies to just that Insurer, or whether it's standard. How much small print would you have to read to find exactly what you want?

[snags]

Read it all. I do. Twice. Then I go and sit in a darkened room and weep silently once the realisation hits that I don't have a life.