Do car Insurance company's want our custom???

[Engineer1964]

I had never bothered with breakdown cover until last year, then joined the AA.
Then the renewal this year was almost double the price !! My response was to call them and ask why. Got the stock, the online price is for new customer ballax. So I asked why existing customers were less important or valuable to the AA. The nice young lady struggled to answer that one !! So I said that unless I get the same price as a new customer I would cancel and go to a competitor. My member ship was renewed at the new member price !
I guess I'll need to go through the same thing next year though

God forbid the supermarkets ever getting the same as the insurance companies, You go for a tin of baked beans one week at 40p the following week they are £4.20

That is so sad that they offer a low price for new customers and then saying that you need to pay extra if you stay with them, defeats the object really and how can you trust a company that rips people off like that ??

 

[the snooper]

God forbid the supermarkets ever getting the same as the insurance companies, You go for a tin of baked beans one week at 40p the following week they are £4.20

they already do some of asda's stuff goes up and down by around 50p not quite the same scale or is it over a year ?

 

[Robotstar5]

If I remember right I read about a guy talking about when he changed his corsa for a toyota Hiace his insurance was cheaper even tho it was 2 litre as opposed to 1 litre

I went the other way, from a 3.9V8 (Disco) to a 1.8 (MGZS) premium went up just over 30% for a 50% drop in capacity

 

[tigler]

What insurance group though ?
Regarding supermarkets, try Aldi. If unfamiliar brands are not a problem for you then most things are cheaper. There is the added benefit of some decent tools on the shelves on occasions !

 

[hareng]

when i pass my test ive been quote £2600 for a £300 1.1l 106, :O

If thats the online price you can add to that. Got my nipper a price for a 1.4 306 £2300, he phones direct and ended up close on £2800 - idiot.

I always put the mrs name on the policy, passed her test in 86 never had any insurance since and never drove since in 25 years, always brings the price down. White lie did give her the keys to a new then in 1989 XR2, incredible dual carriageway white line down middle of the car constantly swerving. Point being it would be far cheaper for her to insure but cant physically drive!

 

[hotrodder]

I don't see what the big deal is, 'punishing' loyalty (new customer discount) is nothing new, and it's not like it's an insurance only thing. At least with insurance you're prompted by a renewal letter to have a shop* around each year unlike energy companies. At least you aren't tied into longer contracts as with some phone/interweb stuff and at least you have a choice unlike water

The gist of how premiums are calculated is really quite simple- they ask a bunch of questions and compare the answers with MASSIVE amounts of historical data to build a risk profile and charge accordingly...

If you're a girl then statistically you'll make smaller claims (multi-tasking hamfistedness, not being able to park etc ) that don't cost too much and as a result be charged less than boys (don't crash as often but when we do, we do it properly). Despite the statistical correlation this has been classed as sexist and will be outlawed from sometime next year. Presumably girls will have to learn to crash properly and the boys will have to learn to multi-task

The value of the car can be a minor detail in the grand scheme things as third party liability is unlimited. In fact cheap cars can be more expensive to insure than more expensive ones for the same reason that third party only is pricier than comprehensive cover- statisitics

Insurance group/engine size versus premium doesn't make sense sometimes but it does if your under 21 and trying to insure a 1.1 Saxo etc (hint, every other testosterone fuelled youth in the universe is crashing Saxos, not so many are crashing an old Volvo).

There's even a rationale for a non fault accident bumping up your premium- statistically being in an accident makes you more likely to have another one. It even kinda makes sense if you think about it... for example the last of the late brakers is more likely to be hit from behind than the driver who brakes gently leaving plenty of time and space.

FWIW most of the comparison sites are owned by insurance companies/their parent companies and while useful they often don't paint a complete picture. Motor insurance underwriting losses have been in the region of 120% for the last couple of years i.e. paying out £1.20 ish for each £1 taken in premiums. No doubt those figures won't include all the hidden crap (Admiral group are particularly good at this taking a Ryan Air approach with everything being 'extra') and of course there's the revenue from selling your details to ambulance chasers etc (hey, if they didn't get referral fees from the pond scum someone else would)





*Actually, please don't. If everyone shopped for the best price every year then i'll have to pay more. Remember, the price of insurance can both increase or increase

 

[graffian]

I went the other way, from a 3.9V8 (Disco) to a 1.8 (MGZS) premium went up just over 30% for a 50% drop in capacity

MY first car insurance was going to be in a mk1 escort, they wanted £300! I ended up insuring a Charger for something thing like a hundred quid;-)
7 times the capacity for a third of the cost.

 

[Robotstar5]

IThere's even a rationale for a non fault accident bumping up your premium- statistically being in an accident makes you more likely to have another one.

Had one a couple of years ago, Mrs Robo's car parked on drive when uninsured car loses it on bend, clears grass verge and wipes out back of her car
Now when getting quotes it's classed as her fault even though she was sitting indoors at time

 

[Buzza]

Right,heres my story,i've been with my last insurance lot for 3 years,just kept on renewing it as the increase each year wasn't that much.
Last september gone my renewal went from £23pm-£34pm,WTF
so got on to them with "why the big hike"? Got fed the usual bull blah blah blah.
So went on that site with the meerkat,put exactley the same details in,up it pops........WHOS at the top of the list with a monthly repayment of only £21pm.......yer,the same company
Back on the phone again
"OI,why have you that price yet quote me more"?
"because your an existing customer and that offer is only for new customers".
"thats ball locks"
"sorry sir thats the way it is".
Right next plan,i found this way around it,the same day it expires ring them up in the morning and say please dont renew my insurance i want to cancel it i'm going elsewhere,once they've finished with the bull they try and give you,hang up.
Now wait till just before midnight when it runs out,go back online get that cheap quote up and apply,i got it and was covered straight away as a new customer fully comp for £21pm,up your's
Dont ask me how i got away with it but i did,oh and i still haven't received my meerkat yet

Had the same situiation earlier this year, phoned them to ask why and the girl just casually said let it expire and renew it online it will be cheaper. not sure if she still works there

 

[Engineer1964]

Ok just a quick update... I initially got my quotes from money supermarket but today i tried confused.com and was suprised to find an even cheaper quote which works out at only £28 a month which is pretty amazing concidering my renewal quote was for £75 a month.

So i guess the moral of this is... Don't try just one comparrission site try a few and watch your quotes come down Mine have by £14 a month to what i'm already paying now

 

[rtbcomp]

Is there a comparison site that compares the comparison sites

 

[rocketron]

My new quote arrived Christmas Eve, from AGEAS(Saga), gone up by 42% from last year's. Next paragraph says "if you have had a cheaper quote, please contact us for a different quote". WTF's going on here I said. So phoned them up at 9.30, this morning with a fictitious quote from a known company, for the same amount as last year's. They immediately matched it: no questions asked. I repiled it wasn't good enough, was going to change because of their lack of effort in giving me their best deal, and put the phone down. Within 10mins, a "senior manager", called Jerry (for fxxx's sake, not using surnames now!) asked how much I expected to pay? I replied at least £25 less than last year for the same cover or better. We haggled, would you believe, and I got it for £25 less!!!!!!

 

[Robotstar5]

Is there a comparison site that compares the comparison sites

Here's one that gets them in one place - Money Saving Expert

 

[Engineer1964]

My new quote arrived Christmas Eve, from AGEAS(Saga), gone up by 42% from last year's. Next paragraph says "if you have had a cheaper quote, please contact us for a different quote". WTF's going on here I said. So phoned them up at 9.30, this morning with a fictitious quote from a known company, for the same amount as last year's. They immediately matched it: no questions asked. I repiled it wasn't good enough, was going to change because of their lack of effort in giving me their best deal, and put the phone down. Within 10mins, a "senior manager", called Jerry (for fxxx's sake, not using surnames now!) asked how much I expected to pay? I replied at least £25 less than last year for the same cover or better. We haggled, would you believe, and I got it for £25 less!!!!!!

Jesus i bet that made you wonder just how much is for actual insurance and how much commission is, and basically it looks like they can simply add as much as they think they can get away with.

Not sure if this falls into the mis-selling area as insurance is clearly a financial product, has insurance got its own ombusman or is it the same as the FSA ??

It may be wise to give them a call and see what they have to say.

Basically they know how much the underwriter will insure that car for and then just ramp up the price to see how much money they can make on top, such a con in my eyes

 

[madkayaker]

It's the FSA

 

[mantakev]

What's going on with car insurance!
Last year £450 for my Jeep
This year ( same people driving, same house, extra year no claims etc) I keep getting quotes of 900+
My current broker came back with £895, wooooo bargain
One guy I just spoke too said it may be because it runs on LPG and asked if I knew any specialists LPG insurers?
I told him according to the front page of HIS web site HE was one
Car insurance is based on a room full of monkeys pulling out slips of paper with numbers on from bananas and giving them to the monkey on the phone
" Here is your quote Sir "

 

[Engineer1964]

It's the FSA

Thanks madkayaker, I may make an official complaint at the over inflated prices which do not represent the true cost of the actual insurance and see what their reply is...

I mean how can an insurance company say they've found be the best cheapest quote, when i've found one myself which is about £400 cheaper, and another shock from the company that are not on comparission website because they like to offer the discount direct, (Direct Line) their best quote was £899.32 a massive £650+ more than the cheapest quote i've managed to get today

Surely they can't make up figures like this willy nilly???

 

[the snooper]

they can say they have found their best quote because it is from a certain amount of insurance providers they deal with, they dont get quotes from all companys

 

[brightspark]

i must be the only one happy with my insurance company and price buisness insurance with key cover and breakdown cover 380 quid .no one else can beat it in the last 8 years . comercial vehicle direct it even went down one year

 

[the snooper]

the dreaded quote i will have one on the floor at work, im going in tomorrow just to pick it up and see how much they are gonna rip us off this time im reckoning aroung 5 grand