Car insurance paper document fees

Why am I charged for paper documents?

There are of course reasons why you might be charged for hard copies of your documents. The entire process involves a human and technical chain that doesn’t come cheap – from the person who prints your policy, stuffs it in an envelope and posts it, to the actual postal costs, and let’s not forget the paper and ink needed to produce the document in the first place. Scale it all up for an insurance provider dealing with tens of thousands of policyholders and suddenly you can see why you might have to pay for the privilege.

As unfair as you may think it sounds, insurance providers have had to become increasingly competitive when it comes to the price of premiums; as a result, traditional admin costs which may have been included within the premium have been stripped out to give consumers a leaner, more attractive price. But those costs haven’t simply disappeared, insurance providers have just started charging for it directly. Look on the bright side – at least it’s a more transparent way of charging for things.

So does everyone charge for paper documents?

In a word – no. Your terms and conditions should make it clear if there are any additional fees for sending you a paper copy of your agreement or for reprinting it. If they do charge you for it, they should explicitly state what those charges are.

Not all insurance providers follow the same rules when it comes to charging you for paper copies. Some may only charge you for reprints and whilst others won’t charge you for the actual document, they do expect you to fork out for the postage if you want it delivered first class or special delivery (but second class may be free with some providers).

The fees themselves vary – from as little as £5 through to a whopping £26. Some insurance providers won’t charge because customers have the facility to print off documents themselves. Others don’t charge you at all for sending documents through the post.

Here’s the small print – concentrate

So, the moral of the story is that you really need to read the small print. We know it’s not riveting bedtime reading but technically, you’ve already agreed to your policy’s terms and conditions by taking it out in the first place. Next time it comes to searching for car insurance, make sure you take some time to investigate exactly what those ‘admin’ charges cover – unless you like surprises of course.