AA’s changing charge ’ridiculous’

A reader called Valentina sent us a mail last week to complain about “a ridiculous administration charge” imposed by the AA. “My partner and I have just received a letter from in which we have been asked to pay a €25 fee to change our address,” she writes. She says she agrees that people are obliged to have car insurance but finds it “pretty amazing how little the Government checks on insurance companies' behaviour towards its customers. I very often have the feeling that we have very little protection on those issues.”

She is not wrong. There is absolutely no legal impediment stopping any company charging any amount for any service it provides. But even so, €25 to change an address? On a computer? We calculated that a new address could by typed into the AA computer systems by a member of its staff in less than 60 seconds and at this rate, the company is charging €1,500 an hour for this most basic of tasks.

We gave the company a shout to see how it could stand over this charge? A spokeswoman said a change of address involved “quite a bit more than simply typing the customer’s new address into our system”. It is we were told logged it in the AA system and a a new set of insurance documentation is organised including a new valid certificate of insurance and a new schedule of insurance. Then the policy has to be assessed to see if a rating change needs to apply as it would if for example if someone living at an address with off street parking moved to an address which does not. Or if someone moves from a low crime to a high crime area or vice versa. She also said there were other companies who charge more for a mid-term change. She is probably right. Have you been charged more? If so, let us know.