A report compiled by Which Money Magazine exposes the high costs some insurance providers charge their customers.
At Sharrocks we have always taken a fair and careful approach on charging customers and will not apply a charge for small changes such as a minor correction to a policyholder’s name.
It is true that administering an insurance policy does carry a cost to an insurance provider both in terms over covering basic overheads and also certain services a good insurance provider may offer. For example at Sharrocks we take a pride in acting as a consultant when one of our clients has a claim, we will negotiate with the insurer and our client and not simply transfer this to an insurer. We also check the insurance market each year re-quoting and working with alternative insurers to make sure our clients have the best terms we can offer both aspects are covered by our administration fee we charge when a policy is accepted.
Customers may ask why is this not included in the commission taken by the insurance provider when the policy premium is paid. This is true and in an ideal world this would be the answer. But different insurers offer different commissions, which may not cover the cost of administering the average policy during the year making this unprofitable for the provider. Equally as clients and insurers seek lower premiums the sums earned from them are reduced but the amount it costs to manage an insurance policy remains the same.
Additional charges should be clear and fair but this report suggests that customers must look closer when purchasing an insurance policy. Customers can no longer just look at the premium cost but also the other costs an insurance provider may levy against them during the course of the policy period.
At Sharrocks we are clear about the charges we apply and ours are stated on our website and then on every piece of correspondence we send to our clients both via email and in the post. Indeed we believe our charges are lower than average but we also offer services some providers will not offer. For more information about our own charges please see a link to our Terms of Business below.
BBC News – 16/8/2015 – Car insurers charge eye-watering fees, claims Which?
Sharrocks Current Terms of Business including a list of charges
