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Re: Monthly Insurance
Sorry but I’m going to get this off my chest because it astonishes me how the middle man is always allowed to make easy money :x.
If my customers are interested in this kind of scheme they can pay £10:99 per month to me direct and I’ll look after their appliances without the need for a middleman (insurace company) getting a large slice of my cake.
100 customers paying £10:99 per month direct , now that really is adding value to my business. Less some expenses of course , let’s allow a 10{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} breakdown rate , so that would be 30 repairs per year or 2.5 per month.
Allow £40 per job for parts at trade price (labour is free of course :)) and that makes £100 per month expenses.100 customers = £1099 gross less £100 expenses = £999 net profit per month , nice earner I’d say :D.
Yeah , cloud cuckoo land I know but it is exactly the same deal for the customer at the end of the day or am I missing something?
Bryan
Re: Monthly Insurance
Bryan wrote:Yeah , cloud cuckoo land I know but it is exactly the same deal for the customer at the end of the day or am I missing something?
Yes, you can’t legally do that now so far as I am aware.
You need to be FSA registered and underwritten, if you’re interested though you can do that of course but the last I heard it wasn’t exactly cheap.
The reason is that if you go bust then there’s no cover for your customers and there is legislation that must be adhered to for such things. We used to do it many years ago for several hundred customers and, trust me, administrating this isn’t easy nor is it cheap due to the time and effort required. Labour to do it all doesn’t come for free I’m afraid, there are costs which you haven’t taken account of in your equation.
For example, how much will leaflets cost you? How about online processing? A database system to record things? The accounting required to monitor payments? Need I go on? 😉
Honestly Bryan, you don’t want to be running this on your own, been there, done that and won’t do it again.
K.
Re: Monthly Insurance
Ok Ken , take your point but I still think this deal is stacked way in favour of the middle man (as usual). 9{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} to 91{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} split in favour of the insurance co. with a few £55 repairs thrown at us during the time.
I know you’ll disagree but I think this is a classic case of us selling ourselves too cheaply as you often point out 😕
Anyway , good luck
Bryan
Re: Monthly Insurance
Its loud and clear that you don’t agree with this Bryan and, that’s fine it’s your choice as no-one is forcing anyone to use this scheme. But I’d like to make a few points…
1/ Who else is paying £55 across the board?
2/ Who else is offering us anything like this deal?
3/ It’s cheaper than British Gas etc.
4/ It’s a saleable asset when you retire/give up or whatever, what other contract or insurance scheme offers US that?
5/ How many other schemes offer a spares markup, many are now cost price?
What the insurance company makes I couldn’t give a fig about, I’m interested in what I make, what value it adds to my business and the service it offers my customers. To me it’s a tool from my repair business standpoint, not a moral crusade.
If I make money out of it, great, that’s what I’m in business to do and. like I said, it’s better value than any other product out there so I do my customers a favour at the same time.
But I’m sat in a position with repairs where I can capture my customers, have them tied to me, get paid more money for repairs I hoped but couldn’t guarantee I’d get and I get a steady monthly income without putting diesel in the van, or even moving. Seems like a good deal to me.
It also means that people are more liable, once on such a scheme, to have a repair than just throw the machine away and buy a new one, which is better for me as a repairer.
I’m sorry Bryan but there’s way too many good points in this for us to ignore it and it finally offers us all the chance to compete with the rest of the market. A market, I’ll also point out, that has robbed us of over 2 million chargeable customers.
Thanks very much but I’d like my little slice of that market back and I’m sure that British Gas et all do not share your moralistic sentiments over robbing us of that work and valuable revenue stream.
K.
Re: Monthly Insurance
Bryan wrote:Ok Ken , take your point but I still think this deal is stacked way in favour of the middle man (as usual). 9{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} to 91{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} split in favour of the insurance co. with a few £55 repairs thrown at us during the time.
I know you’ll disagree but I think this is a classic case of us selling ourselves too cheaply as you often point out 😕
Anyway , good luck
Bryan
There is one other major item that has been missed off of the cost equation here guy’s and that is I.P.T. (insurance premium tax).
This little known stealth tax is charged on all insurances of this type. It is charged at 17.5{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} the same as vat only thing is that you are not allowed to claim it back as a cost like you can with vat. So in all fairness your going to have to knock that figure off your profit first Bryan.
Sean
Re: Monthly Insurance
Good point Sean, sorry I forgot that one.
The cost of the policy for three I think had to rise slightly, but it’s the same deal and still considerably cheaper than the competition.
One thing I did mean to say, that is missed here and don’t misunderstand me, I’m not having a pop at anyone especially you Bryan as all you did was ask the question, I’m only explaining the thinking, is that this is three appliances, not one that we’re talking about. So your figures may be warped slightly there as well.
Then take into the account all the other costs.
The “middleman” as you put it isn’t making anything like the money that you allude to, but he shoulders all the risk. That’s the insurance game for you, it’s all about stats and taking a punt, you play the numbers and hope you come out in front. But you don’t always do so, just ask Lloyds.
And, like any other product, insurance is just a product the only difference being that it’s an intangible one, there’s no goods that you can touch other than a policy document on a 10p bit of A4 paper. But it isn’t the paper that’s of any value, it’s the product that is. Like any other similar product, say AA membership for example, you pays your money and takes your chances with the only real value being shown when you need it.
In the end though to me, it’s just business. It’s about retaining my customers, building value into my business and offsetting my costs to become more profitable. For me it’s what I like to call a no-brainer.
K.
Re: Monthly Insurance
kwatt wrote:
One thing I did mean to say, that is missed here and don’t misunderstand me, I’m not having a pop at anyone especially you Bryan as all you did was ask the question, I’m only explaining the thinking, is that this is three appliances, not one that we’re talking about. So your figures may be warped slightly there as wellI’m aware that we’re speaking 3 appliances and hope you realise that I’m not having a pop either but simply trying to discuss things in an open and friendly manner , giving you my point of view.
I can honestly say that in 15 years of self employment I’ve never been asked by a customer if I could supply them with some kind of insurance to cover their appliances. I feel that in order to promote this I would have to be a bit pushy and forward , like an insurance salesman if you like , and I suppose I run the risk of loosing some customers for coming across like a bit of a tosser (to coin a phrase :)).
Sure it’d be great if UKW could target the 2 million chargeable customers that were lost to BG but given time I’m sure most of them will appear back in the open private chargeable market anyway.
Bryan
Re: Monthly Insurance
You’re okay Bryan, I don’t mind.
We do get asked, a lot, especially when the kitchen is full of one brand and the customer’s had a couple of problems under warranty. Until now we had nothing to offer other than sending the customer to DAG, for which we get paid less than a chargeable call or send them to British Gas, in which case we get not a bean.
In fact sending them to DAG often now produces the result that the call often comes back through the manufacturer, such as Smeg, who also take a wedge out for passing the call. That’s a true middleman. 😉
But if there’s that many people on such schemes and, that’s only the figures that we have, then surely people want the service whether we agree with it or not. Apparently there’s millions more that insure their boiler etc. as well with BG on top of that figure.
As for being a pushy salesman, engineers never have been really and I guess, like most sales opportunities you make of it what you can or are willing to promote. In the end we all have to promote our own businesses and services in some way anyways, this is merely another service that we can offer.
I just see it as I’d far rather have the customer back with me directly than off with DAG or BG and then I get the work at a rate that suits me with zero risk as well as an income stream for free. 😉
K.
Re: Monthly Insurance
Just a little update.
It’s all good to go! 😀
We hope to have all the stuff back from the printers this week or next, there was a lot to do. John reworked a lot of the marketing stuff so it fitted better with what we do and, though I’ve not seen the final proofs myself, I am reliably informed that they are brill.
If you want more info, look back on this thread for Sean’s number as he’s the fall guy on this one. 😆
K.
Re: Monthly Insurance
Don’t know if this is of any interest but I’ve been reliably informed by a customer this morning that she recently purchased a 3 appliance D&G guarantee for………£9:99 per month.
She took it out because the bearings on her Hoptoint WF washing machine are failing and she’s had her vacuum repaired twice in the last year :rolls:.
Is this a case of D&G undercutting the competition ❓
Bryan
Re: Monthly Insurance
Interesting cos I went to a Brandt cooker for D&G yesterday and he was asking me about exactly the same deal and if he took up the offer would it still be us that repaired the appliances ?
LawrenceRe: Monthly Insurance
I’ve no idea what DAG are up to and, TBH, I can’t much say I care either as they don’t pay us to sell their policies and they pay less than we’re getting for the work as well. Call me mercenary, but I know what horse I’m backing. 😉
K.
Re: Monthly Insurance
We have the packs. 😀
If you’ve expressed an interest Sean should be in touch in the next week.
K.
Re: Monthly Insurance
Hi Lads
Well after a lot of tooing and frowing we now have the multi appliance warranty information packs and I must say that our partners in this venture namley Corporate Support solutions have done us proud.
The packs are professionally presented and fully inform the customer of all the key features, benifits, quality of service and cost of the various packages available to them.
In actual fact there are two packs one for the customer and one for you the service provider offering this new additional service. It will show you the commision rates along with the service rates for any work carried out on the plan along with the spares mark up percentages.
As promised, at this point in time the deal is only available to either UKW subscribers or ISE selling repair agents.
Some of you may be wondering “Why ISE agents ?” The reason is in short, that they are the people who have indirectly made this deal possible.
Due to the high volume of warranty cover ISE purchase from C.S.S. on every ISE machine sold.The only stipulation that C.S.S. have made is that any service provider carrying out work on this deal is a Repairs@ member who is therefore a signatory of the UKW Service Charter.
We may in time widen the franchise or even give it its own special forum so that we dont annoy people with these ridiculous new additional services, benifits and products ( Only joking Bryan ! ) 😆
For those of you who have already expressed your interest or who contacted me recently, then expect a phone call or e-mail in the next few days so that we can have a chat about the finer point of this little lot.
Just in case you havent heard anything by the end of next week my direct no is 08452261080 which is a local rate number. Speak to you soon !
Sean Delaney
Re: Monthly Insurance
Keep watching your post, I sent out the multi appliance insurance packs out to everyone that said they wanted them. They should all be arriving today or tomorrow. If you have any questions then post them up here in this forum within the subscribers because you are the only people who have them at this point.
The original idea from CSS, was for an individual pack for each customer but it was thought that guys would not want a stack of packs cluttering up their vans.
So what I have done is sent you out two packs. one for the agent with your individual agent number inside the front cover and a seperate customer pack with additional copies of application forms, customer letters, and Key facts documents inside.If you need more packs or refills then just let me know by pm here on the site and I will get them off to you.
Sean
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