Hastings Admin Fee's

[dacouc]

Jamie it is great that you are here to help. But can you feed it back to Hastings management that they appear to be the most complained about company on CAG, with most complaints being about the claims service. Something is not quite right with the way claims are dealt with, which is causing extreme frustration. It may simply be a case of ensuring better communications throughout the claims process, so the policyholder can be fully engaged as to how the claim is going to be dealt with.

 

I doubt they will be bothered as it appears to be their M.O

 

In other news their CEO has just bought David Beckhams old mansion for £11m

 

They're living proof that you can't polish the proverbial but you certainly can roll it in glitter

[MintyCymru]

I am happy to say that, although Hastings uphold their policies, in my case they feel it could have been better managed and therefore have cleared the fee.

 

Thank you for your help Jamie.

 

Jase.

[Hastings Direct. Joe - Soc]

Thank you for the update Jase, I am very glad to hear that this matter is now resolved. Many Thanks, Jamie

[dacouc]

I am happy to say that, although Hastings uphold their policies, in my case they feel it could have been better managed and therefore have cleared the fee.

 

Thank you for your help Jamie.

 

Jase.

 

I wonder what your chances of getting your complaint resolved if you had not complained on a very widely read consumer website...

[miganto]

I have just been landed with a £35 admin fee for changing my address. My main gripe? My policy only has 3 weeks left on it... I have tried to argue the cause but they are stating it has to be paid, even though they are unable to find my bank details because I pay my policy upfront and have changed cards in the past 11 months 1 week.

 

I feel some leniency is in order here, I would gladly have waited 3 weeks and had another company (or even them!) change my address for free if I took out a new policy.

 

I believe this is money grabbing at the highest order.

[Hastings Direct. Joe - Soc]

Hi miganto, thank you for taking the time to post here about your experience with Hastings. I am sorry to hear you are unhappy with the administration fee charged, if you would like to discuss this further please get in contact with us directly. help@hastingsdirect.com Many Thanks, Jamie

[miganto]

Hi Jaime,

 

I already had - which is why I was annoyed that even though there are only 3 weeks left (2 now) it couldn't be wavered as a show of good spirit. It's certainly meant that myself and my family will not be using Hastings again and if this isn't dropped before the cancellation date, a topic on the work board will be made (roughly 8,000 people use it regularly) to show the true spirit of Hastings.

[Hastings Direct. Joe - Soc]

Good morning miganto, I'm terribly sorry that the email hasn't been received. If you could please email your details again to help@hastingsdirect.com I will review this today for you. I'm sorry that you remain unhappy. Thank you, Jamie

[ashmk]

It is greed. Take you money and spend it elsewhere. I've just done the same with Admiral over 30 quid. Now they lose 2 premiums from me. Even if they make good after complaining on a public forum they have shown their true colours.

Edited April 15, 2014 by honeybee13

[ANTH040]

I also have just been hit by this fee.

 

We can confirm that your policy has been changed in line with the details you've provided. These changes have resulted in an additional charge of £26.68, Our £35 administration fee is included in this price.

 

All I did was changed address, wish I never bothered! Moved to a better area and have little money after the move so things like this just feels like a kick in the teeth. Will not renew it.

[unclebulgaria67]

I also have just been hit by this fee.

 

 

 

All I did was changed address, wish I never bothered! Moved to a better area and have little money after the move so things like this just feels like a kick in the teeth. Will not renew it.

 

Try finding a company that does not apply these charges. When you shop around, phone companies to ask for full details of their various admin charges. These details will not be found on comparison sites. These charges were introduced when comparison sites started, as companies wanted to reduce their premiums, so they were in a good position on these sites. The consequence was hidden charges.

[Hastings Direct. Joe - Soc]

Hi All,

 

Thank you for posting, I am very sorry to see that you are unhappy with the charges that have been applied when you have made a change to your policy. We try to be as transparent as possible and as such we highlight our administration charges at the point of sale both online and over the phone. Please see attached a link detailing our fees for your reference http://www.hastingsdirect.com/ourFees.html

 

Many Thanks,

Jamie

[caro]

Hi Jamie. Could you please advise why Hastings continue to apply a surcharge for credit card payments given the OFT stance that all charges should be included in headline prices? In fact why do you need additional charges for new car policies (for example), and are they not included in the price of the policy? Also, can you confirm that failed cheque and direct debits actually cost Hastings £20, and if so provide a breakdown of the costs? On the face of it these would appear to be penalty charges, but I'm happy to be proved wrong on this.

[Hastings Direct. Joe - Soc]

Hi Jamie. Could you please advise why Hastings continue to apply a surcharge for credit card payments given the OFT stance that all charges should be included in headline prices? In fact why do you need additional charges for new car policies (for example), and are they not included in the price of the policy? Also, can you confirm that failed cheque and direct debits actually cost Hastings £20, and if so provide a breakdown of the costs? On the face of it these would appear to be penalty charges, but I'm happy to be proved wrong on this.

 

Hi caro,

 

We are constantly reviewing our products and the fees customers pay. As part of our review process we consider many factors including customer feedback, the costs we incur in processes and guidance from our regulators. Our failed payment charge was set based on this process and our credit card fees follow the OFT guidance in that we don’t charge customers more than the cost we incur for their chosen payment method. We regularly review our sales process to ensure we are communicating our fees clearly to our customers before they make the decision to buy and our arrangement fees are always included in the quotes customers receive.

 

Many Thanks,

Jamie

[caro]

Hi caro,

 

We are constantly reviewing our products and the fees customers pay. As part of our review process we consider many factors including customer feedback, the costs we incur in processes and guidance from our regulators. Our failed payment charge was set based on this process and our credit card fees follow the OFT guidance in that we don’t charge customers more than the cost we incur for their chosen payment method. We regularly review our sales process to ensure we are communicating our fees clearly to our customers before they make the decision to buy and our arrangement fees are always included in the quotes customers receive.

 

Many Thanks,

Jamie

 

Why do you feel the need to highlight arrangement fees as a separate item? Why not just include it in the price? Do Hastings bank charge Hastings 1.25% for all credit card transactions? Why does it cost Hastings £20 to process a failed cheque or DD. Surely a company of that size must have automated process to deal with this which should keep costs lower. I'm afraid that I'm not impressed by Hastings making their charges clear. They need to be fair too.

[IAmATeaf]

I've just taken out a policy with HD and before I took it out I rang up to enquire about a few things like changes and was made aware of the "admin" fee. In terms of changes I asked about adhoc adding say my son to the policy so for example he could drive my wifes car during the university summer vacations and was told no problems but there would be an "admin" charge.

 

I rang HD yesterday to enquire about adding my son onto the policy for 2 months whilst he's home and this is where things get interesting especially as I enquired about doing just this before I took out the policy.

 

I'm now being told that I can only add a person for a max of 28 days at a time, so I can't do a single 2 month addition and that each addition would incur the "admin" fee and I'd have to do the 2nd addition nearer the time when the first is about to run out. I asked why I couldn't just do 2 lots of 28 days right now and incur only the single "admin" fee but was told that this can't be done. More worryingly I'm being told that there's also a limit max of 3 of any changes to the policy. It makes a mockery of explicitly ringing up to enquire as I wasn't told about any of this.

 

If 28 days is the limit for HD why exactly can't I add my son on for 2 lots of 28 days with the same phone call and only incur the one "admin" charge?

 

I know I'm griping after the event but with the average delay of a min of 15 minutes listening to piped music on hold on the telephones no matter what time I ring I'm beginning to get a bit cynical that this too is some sort of money making exercise.

[veganite]

Only 15 minutes of music?

Hastings state that the charges are made so that quotes are kept competitive. Although I would agree with you concerning your money making exercise beliefs!

[Hastings Direct. Joe - Soc]

I've just taken out a policy with HD and before I took it out I rang up to enquire about a few things like changes and was made aware of the "admin" fee. In terms of changes I asked about adhoc adding say my son to the policy so for example he could drive my wifes car during the university summer vacations and was told no problems but there would be an "admin" charge.

 

I rang HD yesterday to enquire about adding my son onto the policy for 2 months whilst he's home and this is where things get interesting especially as I enquired about doing just this before I took out the policy.

 

I'm now being told that I can only add a person for a max of 28 days at a time, so I can't do a single 2 month addition and that each addition would incur the "admin" fee and I'd have to do the 2nd addition nearer the time when the first is about to run out. I asked why I couldn't just do 2 lots of 28 days right now and incur only the single "admin" fee but was told that this can't be done. More worryingly I'm being told that there's also a limit max of 3 of any changes to the policy. It makes a mockery of explicitly ringing up to enquire as I wasn't told about any of this.

 

If 28 days is the limit for HD why exactly can't I add my son on for 2 lots of 28 days with the same phone call and only incur the one "admin" charge?

 

I know I'm griping after the event but with the average delay of a min of 15 minutes listening to piped music on hold on the telephones no matter what time I ring I'm beginning to get a bit cynical that this too is some sort of money making exercise.

 

Hi IAmATeaf,

 

Thank you for your post, we appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts regarding the service that you have received. With regards to the amendment that you have made to your policy, the change that you are referring to is what we would class as temporary cover. The insurer will allow a period of up to 28 days in which you can temporarily add a driver or a vehicle, the other alternative is to permanently add a driver which you can then remove when you chose to.

 

With regards to the fees that we charge for these changes and amendments, these are in place to cover the costs of administration to the policy such as generating and issuing updated documents as well as informing various other interested parties. Any change in price depending on the alteration of risk information will be charged separately by the insurer.

 

I hope that this makes sense but please let me know if there is anything further I can do to help. Also, if you would like to provide your policy details for me to look into this in more details please email help@hastingsdirect.com

 

Many Thanks,

Jamie

[IAmATeaf]

Well I've had a result. I spoke to HD CS on Sunday who made a note of my complaint and a nice chap called Jamie (not the Jamie here) said he would speak to persons higher up and call me back on Monday and true to his word he did. He then conversed with somebody else and they listened to recordings. After which they made the decision that although I hadn't strictly been misinformed when I gave an example of adding my son for say 6 weeks or 2 months before taking the policy their agent when presented with my example of insuring my son for say 6 weeks or 2 months should really of informed me of the 28 day limit and that this would also incur multiple administration fees. So they've decided that they'll only charge me 1 administration fee and any subsequent extension which must be continual, so no breaks they'll not charge any extra fees.

 

So I've added my son on for the first 28 days and before that expires will add him on to continue until it's his University time.

 

So thank you HD for taking the time to listen to me.

[ron1]

Hi,

doing the right thing!!! dont bother changing your address I have been billed £37.38 for the privilege. What makes it worse my policy ends within a month so its great customer service, I should have just left it. Oh and the last kick in the teeth my wife bought her car insurance online last night with Hastings Direct although it doesn't start until the 12th of next month, thought I would update mine while she did hers. What a company! (will have to cancel the wifes policy thats another £35.00).

Any comments Jamie

[Hastings Direct. Joe - Soc]

Hi ron1,

 

Thank you for taking the time to post. I am very sorry to hear that you are unhappy with the charges that have been applied due to your change of address. When you make an amendment to a policy we charge an administration fee for the additional work that is created, this is £35 as standard throughout the year. However, if there is any change to the risk rating calculated by the policy underwriter then a change in premium maybe due, in this case this is reflected in the additional £2.38 which is charged on a pro rata basis depending on how long is left on the policy.

 

If you have 2 policies with us and the address needs to be changed on both we will only charge one administration fee. If you would like me to take a look at this in more detail then please feel free to email me directly with your policy details. help@hastingsdirect.com

 

Many Thanks,

Jamie

[Satriella]

I Only got my car insurance policy about 3 weeks ago costing £171, I have now changed my car (as my husband has been out of work 2 years and is very depressed, it was a case of trying to save money in as many areas as possible) and been charged £59.46. This is a third of the price of the whole insurance! It seems way too much to charge!

[unclebulgaria67]

I Only got my car insurance policy about 3 weeks ago costing £171, I have now changed my car (as my husband has been out of work 2 years and is very depressed, it was a case of trying to save money in as many areas as possible) and been charged £59.46. This is a third of the price of the whole insurance! It seems way too much to charge!

 

If you are not happy, ask for a breakdown calculation of how much you have been charged. Hastings will receive these requests every day, as it is pretty normal for people to request more information. Hastings will supply this to you in writing.

[marconini]

As many others I've had to pay an admin fee for changing my address, right at the start of the policy. £37.13 in my case. Annoying yes, but it is also annoying that Hastings seem to have an ad hoc policy of refunding people if they complain or put posts on websites. How about those with busy lives who don't have time to complain, why should they be paying and the complainants not?

[unclebulgaria67]

As many others I've had to pay an admin fee for changing my address, right at the start of the policy. £37.13 in my case. Annoying yes, but it is also annoying that Hastings seem to have an ad hoc policy of refunding people if they complain or put posts on websites. How about those with busy lives who don't have time to complain, why should they be paying and the complainants not?

 

Admin fee plus whatever rating changes. If you and everyone else who was unhappy made a formal written complaint to Insurers, asking for a full breakdown calculation of what has been charged, then perhaps they might change their business practice.

 

These charges came In a long time ago, as insures wanted to charge people who needed to amend their policies to cover admin costs. They can then offer cheaper annual premiums and do better on the comparison site results tables. If you move house or change car regularly, you will end up paying more than people who don't.

 

According to some reported evidence, companies who charge higher admin fees tend to offer cheaper premiums. Those that don't charge admin fees or they are kept low, tend to charge higher premiums.