Direct debit 'costing insurance customers'
Published On 11 March 2007
Customers who pay their home insurance by direct debit are being charged an average of £31, according to Abbey.Approximately 9.3 million pay their home insurance by direct debit, totalling some £290 million in charges every year, Abbey claims.
And many customers may not even be aware that that they are paying the charge, the high street bank has stated.
Prasad Shastri, head of insurance marketing at Abbey, said: "Using direct debit to buy home insurance is not a service you should be paying for.
"There is no point using a competitively priced insurer if they then go and add to your annual bill using back-door methods."
Insurers that charge customers an added fee simply for paying their premiums should be avoided by consumers, Mr Shastri added.
Meanwhile, analysis by financial website MoneyExpert shows that motor insurance customers are paying up to £182 in fees when switch to paying their premiums by direct debit.
