Car insurance query

Eireann81

I am just off the phone with my insurance company and interested to hear peoples view on the situation.

I rang up to change my policy onto a car I bought today. I was expecting to pay the usual €40 admin charge but she told me it would cost me €93 to change. 2 days ago I got an online quote for the new car of €315. Before I rang up I got an up to date online quote on my previous car of €327. I asked the girl should why I was being charged an extra €53 instead of getting refunded €12 and she explained that I only paid €284 (+ €40 admin) at my last renewal on my previous car (September '12). I accepted and paid the charge as I was in a rush. After thinking about it I realised that I had been overcharged (imo). So I rang back and argued my case but they wouldn't budge.

My argument was that the difference between what I paid in September (€284) and the quote on the new car now (€315) is only €31, whereas I got charged €53. I just kept on getting told that rates change daily and I can't compare the different quotes. I quizzed her then that they must compare the €315 to something to arrive at €53 but it was like talking to a brick wall.

I don't blame the customer service rep as they can only do what the screen tells them. She consulted her team lead which was also a dead end.

It's not the small amount of money that concerns me, it's the principle and wondering if they do this to everyone. Has anyone else here had a similar experience? Or maybe I'm completely wrong about the whole situation


To make things clearer:
Paid at renewal in September 2012: €284 + €40 admin fee (€324)
Quote on same car today online: €327
Quote on new car: €315
Additional premium charged to change to new car: €53 + €40 admin (€93)

wonski

Eireann81 wrote: »

I am just off the phone with my insurance company and interested to hear peoples view on the situation.

I rang up to change my policy onto a car I bought today. I was expecting to pay the usual €40 admin charge but she told me it would cost me €93 to change. 2 days ago I got an online quote for the new car of €315. Before I rang up I got an up to date online quote on my previous car of €327. I asked the girl should why I was being charged an extra €53 instead of getting refunded €12 and she explained that I only paid €284 (+ €40 admin) at my last renewal on my previous car (September '12). I accepted and paid the charge as I was in a rush. After thinking about it I realised that I had been overcharged (imo). So I rang back and argued my case but they wouldn't budge.

My argument was that the difference between what I paid in September (€284) and the quote on the new car now (€315) is only €31, whereas I got charged €53. I just kept on getting told that rates change daily and I can't compare the different quotes. I quizzed her then that they must compare the €315 to something to arrive at €53 but it was like talking to a brick wall.

I don't blame the customer service rep as they can only do what the screen tells them. She consulted her team lead which was also a dead end.

It's not the small amount of money that concerns me, it's the principle and wondering if they do this to everyone. Has anyone else here had a similar experience? Or maybe I'm completely wrong about the whole situation


To make things clearer:
Paid at renewal in September 2012: €284 + €40 admin fee (€324)
Quote on same car today online: €327
Quote on new car: €315
Additional premium charged to change to new car: €53 + €40 admin (€93)

You compare new customer online quote with what they charged you for change of the car. It isn't working this way.
They offered you a quote, you can accept it, or not.
Nothing you can do really.

40 Euro admin fee is a ripoff in my opinion, too.
Do you have to pay it every time you make a change to your policy?

advertsfox

I had to pay the €40 admin fee to Aon Insure (Aviva is the policy holder) when going up from a 1.8 to 1.9 (no change in policy costs).

This year, I rang to change the 1.9 to a 1.2 and I got a refund of €25 - no admin fee for changing over. Who's your insurance with?

Eireann81

wonski wrote: »

You compare new customer online quote with what they charged you for change of the car. It isn't working this way.
They offered you a quote, you can accept it, or not.
Nothing you can do really.

40 Euro admin fee is a ripoff in my opinion, too.
Do you have to pay it every time you make a change to your policy?

I forgot to mention that she assured me that online quotes are the same as what they will give me over the phone.
She put in the details of the new car and told me that it would cost me €53 to change car + €40 admin.

Yes anytime I make a change to the policy it costs €40. I agree it is a ripoff for 5 mins of a customer service rep's time on the phone.

I know nothing I can do about it now. I was just wondering if I was right in thinking that I got screwed. At this stage I'd actually prefer to find out that my logic is wrong and I didn't get screwed.

Thinking back, I could have just cancelled my policy. I presume it's €40 to do that. They'd refund me the remainder of my years premium and I could have taken out a new policy on the new car for €315! It's a bit of hassle to go through for the sake of €20 but as I said it's the principle!

wonski

Eireann81 wrote: »

I forgot to mention that she assured me that online quotes are the same as what they will give me over the phone.

As we can see those quotes aren't the same.
Also, are these full quotes, or just quick ones where you did not put your name and adress on the form yet?

I am always quoted very good prices, but the one on final payment page is a bit higher.
As for cancelling insurance, you will lose your NCB for that year, so not sure if it is worth it.

Eireann81

advertsfox wrote: »

I had to pay the €40 admin fee to Aon Insure (Aviva is the policy holder) when going up from a 1.8 to 1.9 (no change in policy costs).

This year, I rang to change the 1.9 to a 1.2 and I got a refund of €25 - no admin fee for changing over. Who's your insurance with?

Not sure if I can name them? Can mods let me know?

wonski wrote: »

As we can see those quotes aren't the same.
Also, are these full quotes, or just quick ones where you did not put your name and adress on the form yet?

I am always quoted very good prices, but the one on final payment page is a bit higher.
As for cancelling insurance, you will lose your NCB for that year, so not sure if it is worth it.

Full online quotes, using my full name, address, email etc. I have the quotes in my inbox.

As for cancelling, I have more than the maximum number of years they allow for anyway, and As I renewed in September I would only be losing about 7 weeks of NCB.

Yawns

Sorry if you've posted this already and I've missed it but what car did you have and what do you have now. The want to increase your policy by €53 but they also have the admin fee of €40. Must be 123.ie or another broker etc as they usually charge admin fees for changing anything. It's how they make money after all so they can charge lower premiums. Well one way anyway.

djimi

Never ever rely on online quoting systems. No matter what she might tell you over the phone they will never give the same quote as you will get from talking to someone.

When buying a new car ring your insurer (physically talk to someone) with the reg and details of the exact car before you actually buy the car and ask them how much it will cost to change. They will take the details and tell you the difference in price, which should be valid for 30 days. This is the only way that you can be sure how much it is going to cost you. Anything else is just getting a rough approximation and can leave you open to paying anything once you actually get the car.

In this case, what you could do is cancel the existing policy and take out the new one based on the price of the online quote. Youll lose a months NCB but its hardly the end of the world. Although considering they are fleecing you with a high admin charge you might not work out any better off...

Yawns

I was thinking along the same lines djimi, if he was to cancel they'd surely have an admin charge and it'd work out the same or dearer probably.

Eireann81

Yawns wrote: »

Sorry if you've posted this already and I've missed it but what car did you have and what do you have now. The want to increase your policy by €53 but they also have the admin fee of €40. Must be 123.ie or another broker etc as they usually charge admin fees for changing anything. It's how they make money after all so they can charge lower premiums. Well one way anyway.

Went from a Primera to a 5 series. In general you'd expect the BMW to command a higher premium but if you get an online quote for each car from this company, the Primera is actually more expensive. I am just surprised that after getting an online quote with all of the details of the car (including the reg) that they won't honour it.

djimi wrote: »

Never ever rely on online quoting systems. No matter what she might tell you over the phone they will never give the same quote as you will get from talking to someone.

When buying a new car ring your insurer (physically talk to someone) with the reg and details of the exact car before you actually buy the car and ask them how much it will cost to change. They will take the details and tell you the difference in price, which should be valid for 30 days. This is the only way that you can be sure how much it is going to cost you. Anything else is just getting a rough approximation and can leave you open to paying anything once you actually get the car.

In this case, what you could do is cancel the existing policy and take out the new one based on the price of the online quote. Youll lose a months NCB but its hardly the end of the world. Although considering they are fleecing you with a high admin charge you might not work out any better off...

Totally agree with everything you said here. I should have rang. Too late to cancel now as I have already paid the €93 charge. I won't be renewing with them next year though. They are like the "Ryanair" of the insurance industry. Dirt cheap quotes but if you want to change anything, they'll screw you.

Esel

One, Two, Three?

Yawns

That would certainly be my guess that it's 123.ie

I'd have thought the main problem with the company not honouring the new premium price is that it might have been underwritten by a different insurer as brokers generally deal a few different insurance companies.

Random example: So let's say you are insured with Aon.ie and you are on a policy underwritten by aviva. The new low premium quote could be underwritten by axa. Due to the different companies, Aon as the broker won't be able to give you Axa's premium price unless they take the hit themselves which ain't gonna happen. They would be fulfilling their obligation to change the policy details as you ask but they don't have to give you the lower quote from the website unless you wanted to cancel the current policy and take out a new one which will be underwritten by a different insurance company.

I do believe that 123.ie are only underwritten by one insurance company these days but I could be wrong. I think they are solely underwritten by RSA. I haven't been a customer of theirs so not sure.

Eireann81

Yawns wrote: »

That would certainly be my guess that it's 123.ie

I'd have thought the main problem with the company not honouring the new premium price is that it might have been underwritten by a different insurer as brokers generally deal a few different insurance companies.

Random example: So let's say you are insured with Aon.ie and you are on a policy underwritten by aviva. The new low premium quote could be underwritten by axa. Due to the different companies, Aon as the broker won't be able to give you Axa's premium price unless they take the hit themselves which ain't gonna happen. They would be fulfilling their obligation to change the policy details as you ask but they don't have to give you the lower quote from the website unless you wanted to cancel the current policy and take out a new one which will be underwritten by a different insurance company.

I do believe that 123.ie are only underwritten by one insurance company these days but I could be wrong. I think they are solely underwritten by RSA. I haven't been a customer of theirs so not sure.

That's a very good point, hadn't thought of that. Although I do reckon they only use one insurance company. If the cancellation fee is the same as there admin fee I would have been better off cancelling and starting again. All great in hindsight!