There's a lot of fine print when it comes to purchasing and maintaining a car insurance policy. If you fail to meet the terms and conditions of your insurer then you might end up having to pay an additional charge. So to help you steer clear of any such issues, here are some of the most commonly used car insurance fees.
The first and probably most frequently encountered is the cancellation policy. Most insurance companies will charge a fee for cancelling your policy midway through the agreed term. This is usually a standard rate coupled with an additional fee, usually based on the time remaining until it expires.
This can be costly, which is why it is often cheaper to use your current insurer when changing vehicles - at least until it is up for renewal again. When it comes to updating your policy, there might be a small charge included, however more often than not this will be waived as a new quote will be provided to cover an additional 12 months.
Just as with most direct debits, you will incur a charge if you fail to pay your monthly fee on time (this of course isn't relevant to annual policy holders). This will vary from company to company, but typically you can expect to pay in excess of 25 pounds. For this reason it is very important that policy holders always ensure that they have sufficient funds to cover their payments each month.
Insurance companies will also often put a deadline on when forms should be returned and signed. Typically this would be around 14 days so as to give you plenty of time to read, sign and send it back to the insurer. If this deadline is breached then an administrative charge may be applied to the account to cover re-sending any documents and following up on your issues.
A fee may also be incurred if you should ever need to have your documents reprinted by your insurer. Again, this is just a nominal administration fee and will generally cost around 10 pounds. This might be important if you have lost yours or they have otherwise been destroyed by accident. Obviously you will need to have access to your insurance details in the case that you are involved in an incident, so ensuring that you have all the necessary documents in place is vital.
You might also need to change some details on your policy at some stage during its lifetime. For example if you move home you will need to declare this to your insurance company to ensure that your cover isn't invalidated. You may even make alterations to the chassis or engine that would require a change in your insurance so as to make sure your vehicle is properly covered.
In most instances the insurance company will apply a flat administration charge to update the policy and provide you with the revised copy. Whilst this isn't entirely universal, the vast majority will have a policy that involves administration charges and so it is best to check the small print before rushing in to any changes.
These are just a selection of the charges that may be applied to an account. In the most part, if your policy remains consistent and you don't miss payments, you should never really encounter any fees. The size of charge will largely depend on your insurance company and their terms and conditions. It is therefore a good idea to check these beforehand, understand your liability and make sure you do what you can to avoid ever getting caught out by the costly car insurance fees.
The first and probably most frequently encountered is the cancellation policy. Most insurance companies will charge a fee for cancelling your policy midway through the agreed term. This is usually a standard rate coupled with an additional fee, usually based on the time remaining until it expires.
This can be costly, which is why it is often cheaper to use your current insurer when changing vehicles - at least until it is up for renewal again. When it comes to updating your policy, there might be a small charge included, however more often than not this will be waived as a new quote will be provided to cover an additional 12 months.
Just as with most direct debits, you will incur a charge if you fail to pay your monthly fee on time (this of course isn't relevant to annual policy holders). This will vary from company to company, but typically you can expect to pay in excess of 25 pounds. For this reason it is very important that policy holders always ensure that they have sufficient funds to cover their payments each month.
Insurance companies will also often put a deadline on when forms should be returned and signed. Typically this would be around 14 days so as to give you plenty of time to read, sign and send it back to the insurer. If this deadline is breached then an administrative charge may be applied to the account to cover re-sending any documents and following up on your issues.
A fee may also be incurred if you should ever need to have your documents reprinted by your insurer. Again, this is just a nominal administration fee and will generally cost around 10 pounds. This might be important if you have lost yours or they have otherwise been destroyed by accident. Obviously you will need to have access to your insurance details in the case that you are involved in an incident, so ensuring that you have all the necessary documents in place is vital.
You might also need to change some details on your policy at some stage during its lifetime. For example if you move home you will need to declare this to your insurance company to ensure that your cover isn't invalidated. You may even make alterations to the chassis or engine that would require a change in your insurance so as to make sure your vehicle is properly covered.
In most instances the insurance company will apply a flat administration charge to update the policy and provide you with the revised copy. Whilst this isn't entirely universal, the vast majority will have a policy that involves administration charges and so it is best to check the small print before rushing in to any changes.
These are just a selection of the charges that may be applied to an account. In the most part, if your policy remains consistent and you don't miss payments, you should never really encounter any fees. The size of charge will largely depend on your insurance company and their terms and conditions. It is therefore a good idea to check these beforehand, understand your liability and make sure you do what you can to avoid ever getting caught out by the costly car insurance fees.
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