Muddymike wrote:
On 02/11/2020 19:11, Harry Bloomfield wrote:
My home insurance for the current year, is quoting £6 more than this
time last year - OK not too big a jump, but they are adding on an extra
WHAT? They are also suggesting they will auto-renew, unless I stop them
by ringing to stop them.

Anyone ever heard of a 'Renewal setup fee'?
Perhaps insurance "renewal" or "set up" fees are a way of keeping the
quotes down as these fees do not attract insurance premium tax?

I think the trick is that you don't get those fees back if you cancel within
the cooling off period. So if you book some insurance, let it run for a
day, and then cancel, you lose 1/365 of the premium (which might be less
than a pound) but also the setup fee. The fee compensates for the work the
insurance company has to do in setting up and then cancelling the policy
(posting you the paperwork, you calling them to cancel etc).

The regulator has jumped on various attempts to increase these fees so
they're kept at a 'justifiable' level. I can't really see a justification
for a 'renewal setup fee', but maybe the same cooling off applies to a
renewal. Or perhaps this is just a new wheeze the regulator hasn't ruled
against yet.

Theo