Insurance & Bank Charges

[Bearcat]

My friendly insurance broker in the uk sent me my quaterly bill and demanded I pay their bank charges re transfers of money to their acc.

I thought this outragous and politely declined as I pay my own bank charges also.

Any one had a similar experience?

PA18 Dublin

[dublinpilot]

Bearcat,

I'm assuming you paid via an "Interpay" or other electronic international payment?

Some of these electronic international payments charge the recipient quite significant banking fees, and deduct it before depositing it into the other party's account. So lets say you transferred them £2,500, all they will see being lodged into their account may be £2,440.

Obviously if margins are tight, this can make a significant difference. If you were owed £2,500, would you accept a £2,440 arriving into your bank account, as full settlement?

If you have a UK bank account and were able to pay with a cheque (as most of their customers would be), then the broker would only be liable for a few pence in bank fees for lodging the cheque.

Chose your method of payment carefully. There is an option on most of those interpay documents where you can pick up all the charges connected with the transfer, and ensure that the amount lodged into their account is the full amount intended.

dp

[Bearcat]

Fair point DP....I was irritated they went about it.....just pay our charges or else. For me the" or else business "was no hassle as I would have gone else where. Never come across this style before.

[dublinpilot]

Just a though....if you don't have a UK current account, then next year check if they can accept a credit card payment. This is the easiest, and from your point of view cheapest, way of making an international payment.

Another option is a sterling bank draft. It will cost you about €2 to get at your local bank, and to your broker will be the same as receiving a cheque. One word of caution though, is not to post a bank draft, even registered post. Bank drafts are like cash. Once they go missing, your bank will not cancel them and will not refund you. If it's lost, it's lost.

Looks like your insurer could have done a better job of explaining the problem to you. All to often people wind up their customers by demanding something, rather than properly explaining the problem and the options available.

dp

[IO540]

Standard problem in all international bank transfers. Even Euro to Euro, much to the suprise of many people who thought that the Euro was a single currency :O

In my business, if the transaction is below about £200 we ask the customer to add £10 to cover bank charges. This tends to cover it. Above that we write it off, as the cost of developing international customers who tend to be smart, fussy and careful people and thus are often the best long term customers.

The normal loss within the EU on a SWIFT transfer is £6, if each side pays its own charges (the default). It's possible to tell your bank (if you are paying somebody) to debit all charges to your account (so the recipient gets the full amount he's expecting) but banks are increasingly staffed by total morons these days...

[dublinpilot]

much to the suprise of many people who thought that the Euro was a single currency

:=

Aw come on now IO! The Euro is very much a single currency. I can travel to any Euro country, put my hand in my pocket and pull out Euro notes that I got in Ireland and spend away. ;) What we don't have is a European wide clearing bank system, and this is where the problems arise.

Try spending Northern Irish Sterling, Manx Sterling or Channel Island Sterling in different parts of the UK and see how far you get! :rolleyes: Not very far which I discovered to my embarrassment :O

dp