Car Insurance

[john stones 1 - Moderator]

Never made a claim in my life, my provider sent me a renewal price with a £55 increase on last year, why i asked ? well it's the governments fault they've done blah blah..odd that when i put my details in online with the same company the increase is only £29 ?

Went with a different company again and got it for a £1 increase on last year.

Compare the Ratbags.com.....simples.

[Tony Bennett]

i had the same with my car insurance last month.

the company i was with ( for old folks) put mine up by 30% using the same excuse.

a quick shop round and i got it for less than last year.

Tony B

[Colin Bernard]

For the last few years I gave been with a well known High St chain and it's the same every year. They send me a renewal quote of maybe £100 more than last year. I then go on to 'simples' and find quotes well under. I then phone up the current insurance agent and lo and behold they suddenly find they can get within £20 of the lowest quote I've found.

When questioning why we have to do this each year I was once told it was the business model - a lot of customers are lethargic about looking around and so to save hassle just accept the renewal, leading to better profits.

I guess because of this they can afford to give better rates to those who make the effort to shop around?

[Former Member]

[This posting has been removed]

[BackinBlack]

Likewise, received renewal, shopped round found acceptable price/quote, phoned current Insurer. Informed them I wouldn't be renewing, they ask what they need to do to keep my business, make it cheaper I say, then the bargaining starts, ending when they offer a cheaper rate than last year. Bit of a saga but worth it.

It's become an annual game I almost look forward to, frustrating though it is.

I wonder how many customers they lose by these tactics?

[Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator]

Yeap - my experience is exactly the same. Crazy renewal, I question it, immediate reduction (but still a substantial increase) so I cite the fact that I have a quote from a mainstream competitor for much less - sudden reduction.

Last year I told the company to "keep it" - and went else where - probably makes no difference but it made me feel better!

BEB

[Former Member]

[This posting has been removed]

[Richard Wood]

'Business model' , yep - milking customers out of as much as they can get away with
& serves 'em right for not shopping around.
No wonder insurance companies have a bad rep.

They also try their tricks when you try to make a legitimate claim.
Chancers.

Edited By Richard Wood on 03/08/2017 15:50:56

[Don Fry]

No legitimate business persons, seeking profit. Where there is a choice between providing the senior management with double digit pay rises year on year, the only thing on their mind is avoiding as much tax as possible.

Tug yer forlock peasant.

[John Bisset]

The really strange bit is that I get that same issue, yet I am using two companies which are part of the same group. Every renewal, whichever company I am not using gives me a slightly better deal than I can get staying with the existing company.

I have even been inadvertently transferred to the wrong company when talking to them by phone, so it's not as if they don't talk to one another. I can't see how this benefits them - new business from your colleagues isn't new business chaps! In fact it costs them, because every time, they send out a new policy handbook etc.

Weird.

Once upon a time 'loyalty' was rewarded by lower premiums. .

 

Edited By John Bisset on 03/08/2017 17:03:35

[Colin Bernard]

What was amusing with the last renewal was that the lowest quote on the comparison site was from the company providing the renewal!!

I had great pleasure in telling the agent that she had to match their own price!! No excuses then.

[gangster]

I believe that they lure new customers with lower premiums than they try to charge new customers. I am in fact with the same company I have been with since 1972. They did try it on a few years back on both of our cars. When pressed they went through the whole quote thing and came up with a quote considerably lower. The cover was the same. When pressed she agreed they they were treating me as a new customer. Since then the quotes have been so fair. £202 each for two cars. When I went to insure a third car it came up with £148. Somehow it automatically attracted the 79% Ncb. It has been nice to Not go through all the meerkat and haggling business. Service from them is great too

[Tony Cook]

Highly irritating, I think most people have the same problem each year..I feel for the older generation not into computers and the internet. My in-laws used to remain loyal to one Insurer and we stumbled across what they paid. stopped them in their tracks and helped them on line saving them over 300 quid...yes 300 quid. We help them now with all renewals, home, car whatever.

[Shaunie]

My business insurance as an autoelectrician, which is road risks, contents and liability combined was gradually racking up with my broker and every year I got a renewal quote and statement saying " we can confirm this is competitive". It was £2800 then £3400, then £3800 culminating in £4300. My next renewal they wanted £4800! This was the straw that broke the camels back and went to a broker whose first response was "that's far to much" first quote was £2800, with "we can do better than that" ending at £2000! My current insurer said " we can match that", my reply "tough, you've ripped me off for too long, I'm going elsewhere out of principle" this is a big company with a three letter name that is the same forward and backward. Six years on my premium is substantially the same! A good broker is worth his weight.

Shaunie.

[Braddock, VC]

Try direct line for quotes, I have 4 cars on it, if they up the premium I go on line and get a quote from them which is inevitably lower.

They lost my home insurance this year though as they really tried it on.

[cymaz]

This year I went with the Post Office. Fully Comp on a 1.9 tdci Zafira was £187....good value I thought. Last year Hastings hiked up the premium by over 20% for not claiming!

[Keith Lomax]

There are a couple of things going on here.

Firstly, it is indirectly the government that has caused the prices to go up. When insurers make a large payout for ongoing medical support following a serious injury, they have been allowed to anticipate that this is not all paid in one lump. Therefore they can invest a slightly smaller lump sum (reduced from the settlement figure by a "discount rate" which earns them interest to add to the capital, from which they then pay the medical fees. Two things have changed - interest rates have stayed low and are forecast to do so, and life expectancies have increased. As a result, the government have reduced the discount rate to below zero - ie. they now have to invest slightly more than the settlement figure. Because this extra cost has to be met by the premiums, these must go up.

The comparison sites (or at lest some of them) are actually owned by the insurance companies - so if they don't get the deal, they get referral commission from the other insurers. eg. the meerkats are owned by BISL - Budget Insurance Services Limited. They now make more money from this than they do selling insurance! Simples!

Another thing that has driven the costs of insurance up are so called "uninsured loss recovery" (ULR) activities. If you are not at fault in an accident, and a third party has been identified who is clearly at fault, then your insurance company will refer you to a ULR company (often their own subsidiary). They will then negotiate on your behalf to get you a hire car, often more expensive than the one that the third party would arrange (on which they get commission), for your car to be repaired at their choice of bodyshop (on which they get commission), for their preferred lawyer to negotiate any financial settlement (on which they get commission), etc. Because everyone does this, it inflates the costs of settling every claim because those providers have to inflate their costs to cover the commission. These inflated costs then go back into the premium.

[Michael Little]

My car insurance is currently £900 down from £1100 last year, even if the company i am with are the cheapest i still ring and always get more discount. Just say you have been to a high street insurance broker with a figure you want to pay and ask them to match it. If they can't match it ask them whats the best they can do to keep my business. A lot of the insurance brokers on comparison sites are sister companies and linked so i always say i have been to an insurance broker.

[Keith Lomax]

Posted by Shaunie on 03/08/2017 21:23:47:

My business insurance as an autoelectrician, which is road risks, contents and liability combined

Shaunie,

Have your read the small print of the liability insurance?

My stepson's business is in car valeting, and we had paid premiums for many years for liability insurance. We found out last year that it specifically excludes the vehicle being worked on, and had since a change of wording a few years previously. We tried and failed to find another company that could offer it, and even those charging four or five times the premium did not include it. They consider this risk to be "poor workmanship". The cover only extends to things (the example they gave me) if your water runs across the pavement and somebody slips on it.

I suspect that in your trade it will be very similar.

And I wonder how many people take their cars do the garage forecourt or supermarket car park "hand car wash" and don't realise that a bit of grit on the sponge or chamois that scratches your paintwork is not insured?

[tigerman]

Do not get me started on Car Insurance Companies .Biggest rouge you will ever fine .Any excuse to increase your premiums and the slightest thing will stop them paying out and they have you by the dog's ******** because it is law to have insurance ,you can not win!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Phil Claridge]

just over a year ago, i was insured by swinton with an LV policy. my car wich i had ownly bought 11 days ago was written off while parked outside my house by a mad BMW driver doing about 70mph in a 30 limit he hit a line of cars, mine was the 3 cars he wrote off all 5 that were parked and his own this happened at 1630 just after all the school children had come home. by some miracle no body was hit. he pushed the second car in to mine then across the pavementinto a wall. he then tore my off side rear wheel and suspension right off my car and crushed the rear off side. i took photos and witness adresses. as i was calming down at about 1830 i got a phone call from LV the police had informed them of the accident. igave them the details and e mailed the photos and they agreed there and then it written off. the car was picked up by their truck later that night. this was on monday on thursday about 4pm i got a call saying where do i want the the money sent to bank ore check, they had paid what i had paid for the car originatly what a 5 star service then when i went to insure my new car the next year i wanted to stay with LV but the quote through switon was 150£ more as they didnt do the swinton special any more. as i have a protected no claims discount with swinton i got another deal at £160 less than the LV quote 0h by the way this carnage was less than 6 monthes after a pile up which wrote off 5 cars including the perpetrator who slid about 50 yards on his roof in same 2 hundreds yards of roadi think its time i moved house

[Cliff Bastow]

I had a similar experience a couple of years ago, my wifes car was hit whilst parked outside our house and pushed into a lamp post and written off. All was sorted within a week by the drivers insurance. Great result.

However when my insurance came up for renewal I was told I would have to pay 100 extra as I had had an accident in the last five years. At first I could not understand what they were talking about but when they gave me the car reg I realized it was my wifes car. I said that was my wifes car not mine, they said yes but you were a named driver on her policy!

I explained what had happened and that I would not pay and would move insurers if they persisted. Shortly after head office phoned and said they would waive it this time. Just a con if you ask me!

Edited By Cliff Bastow on 04/08/2017 17:52:47

[Erfolg]

Hmmm. I think I have failed. My quote for renewal, yesterday, was £104 more than the previous charge. This is approx 33% increase on last years charge.

I did the comparison site thing, all the quotes were still higher that last year, although lower than the new renewal fee.

By quoting that I could get the same cover £75 lower than the quoted renewal, the charge came down to approx £50 more. Oh, I thought I had done so well. Then i came on this site and realised, I perhaps did average, could be a fail.

I find the same issue with both gas and electricity, I have to spend hours finding a similar deal. That is because my present provider always seems to think now is the time to cash in on its existing customer base. I send of my meter readings on the 1st of the month, as a religion. I have been informed that my usage is 10% higher than for a similar period last year. I have been going through my fuel usage over the last day or so, I have found that this year I have used less fuel than last year, in all months, existing one, still the total is lower. However that is not what my customer account is saying.

Can anyone be trusted to provide honest information?