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

[Engineer1964]

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

I know where your coming from Snooper, but say for aguement sake the insurance for my care is underwritten for £200 thats the trade price, then the insurance company add their costs and profit on top so say £50, so today i managed to get fully comp cover for my 2003 disco 2 ES for around this price.

I'm sure the underwriters quote is general amongst all insurance companies, then why was i getting quotes of over £899 today?? thats a hell of a massive mark up, and even my insurers now are asking for £650+

Its like buying a product trade from the wholesalers and coming up with a retail price, with anying else the retail price is normally approximately the same for the same product and service give or take a few quid, I can see why insurance has to be different and running into the Hundreds of pounds difference.

Imagine the amount of people that actually belive them when they say that their over inflated prices are the cheapest they can find, surely thats mis-selling?? as well as falling foul of trades discription. It states nowhere on my renewal form that they just get a quote from the companies they use, it states

"We have found you the best quote on the web for your car insurance Requirements"

Strange that i found one £450 cheaper, and i don't work for an insurance company, perhaps they could give me a job doing their renewals, they may not make so much, but they'll keep all their customers for a further year

 

[the snooper]

i agree they are just ripping the public off and it is about time it was stopped just like they sting all young driver when most are quite safe its just the few we hear about that give them a bad reputation

 

[Nomad]

every time i go to insure everything they ask whats the value of it. the usual reply i give is market value in good condition , and what may that be they say i say i don't know u are the insurers u tell me when its time for a claim and its wrote off they say look in the admag and thats the going rate irrespective of what u have spent on it

I often drive oddball motors (always legal and roadworthy but errm ... cosmetically challenged )
Current daily motor http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh36/Nomad_Geordie/CopyofPICT2093.jpg

Spent a while one year hunting for cheapest legal cover I could get for a 1.8 Sierra diesel.
10+ years no-claims, driver aged 40+, clean license for lots of years, garaged at night, declared value £100 (yep - £100 !), only needed basic 3rd party cover so I could drive legally.
Lowest quote I got was £350
And the papers keep running articles asking why there are so many un-insured drivers

mini-rant over, best wishes to all for 2012

 

[Nomad]

Oops - forgot to mention the other contender for the "stupidest question" award.

For many years my insurers have wanted to know how many miles I will be driving in the next 12 months.
I can tell you how many miles I drove last year (living in the city and using public transport for work so car was rarely used) but I've just moved to middle-of-nowhere and need to use the car to go anywhere (work or social).
Let me just look into my cystal ball to make sure I give an accurate and honest prediction

Ho hum

 

[hotrodder]

Spent a while one year hunting for cheapest legal cover I could get for a 1.8 Sierra diesel.
10+ years no-claims, driver aged 40+, clean license for lots of years, garaged at night, declared value £100 (yep - £100 !), only needed basic 3rd party cover so I could drive legally.
Lowest quote I got was £350

What has the value of the car got to do with third party liability? Does a car worth £100 break less bones than a £100000 car if it runs you over?

As has already been said third party only is typically more expensive than full comp cover. 'Bangernomic' type cars can also be more expensive to insure than something worth a few quid. Think about it from the evil insurance company POV... if the car is worthless/there's only 3rd party cover the driver is less likely to put a claim in themselves i.e. the insurance company is more likely to hear about a minor prang days or weeks later and from an accident mangement company. Result, the claim ends up costing them more because of the delay- think more time spent in a hire car at 6 times the going rate etc etc

In 2008 the Telegraph said

"The average car accident insurance claim for a young male driver is nearly £4,500 compared with £2,700 for their female peers. For drivers aged over 30, the average claim is £1,400 for men and £1,200 for women.

Didn't bother trawling google for more up to date numbers but safe to they'll be a fair bit higher today

 

[Engineer1964]

I often drive oddball motors (always legal and roadworthy but errm ... cosmetically challenged )
Current daily motor http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh36/Nomad_Geordie/CopyofPICT2093.jpg

Spent a while one year hunting for cheapest legal cover I could get for a 1.8 Sierra diesel.
10+ years no-claims, driver aged 40+, clean license for lots of years, garaged at night, declared value £100 (yep - £100 !), only needed basic 3rd party cover so I could drive legally.
Lowest quote I got was £350
And the papers keep running articles asking why there are so many un-insured drivers

mini-rant over, best wishes to all for 2012

Wow is that a Hillman???

Sometimes Fully comp can actually work out cheaper than 3rd party /F&T also if you add a second driver too, Have you looked at comparission sites, your £350 quote is dearer than my fully comp Disco 2 ES, Insurance Group 24

Take a peek here to work out the insurance group for your car http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/advice/car-insurance-groups/

Surely you could get Classic car insurance for that??? http://www.adrianflux.co.uk/classic...an+insurance&gclid=CMTf_MmTpq0CFYEmtAodEnarWA

 

[Robotstar5]

Sometimes Fully comp can actually work out cheaper than 3rd party /F&T also if you add a second driver too,

'tis true, got my premium down about £30 by adding Mrs Robo, apparently you are a lower risk if in a stable relationship.

 

[knowot]

being ripped of at moment my wife took out a policy with me as a named driver, agreed the quote and took out policy, then the upped the quote by £140 to keep the policy, £103 to take me off the policy and now want 100 to cancel the policy.

seems like extortion to me

 

[the snooper]

being ripped of at moment my wife took out a policy with me as a named driver, agreed the quote and took out policy, then the upped the quote by £140 to keep the policy, £103 to take me off the policy and now want 100 to cancel the policy.

seems like extortion to me

seek advice then take legal action if possible

 

[madkayaker]

'tis true, got my premium down about £30 by adding Mrs Robo, apparently you are a lower risk if in a stable relationship.

has made a hudge difference to my policys liveing with the misus

 

[the snooper]

its all a load of rubbish and shouldnt be allowed what next 30% discount for wearing shoes as apposed to trainers as it shows you take life at a slower pace

 

[Robotstar5]

what next 30% discount for wearing shoes as apposed to trainers as it shows you take life at a slower pace

Sounds good to me

 

[hotrodder]

being ripped of at moment my wife took out a policy with me as a named driver, agreed the quote and took out policy, then the upped the quote by £140 to keep the policy, £103 to take me off the policy and now want 100 to cancel the policy.

seems like extortion to me

seek advice then take legal action if possible

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumer/complaints.htm but it all depends on why the price changed i.e. are they claiming to have made a mistake or that you did with regards to no claims or points or car spec etc. Had something similar the other year when my old insurer was crap with my proof of no claims note which got sorted with a couple of phone calls and emails. Typical admin fees take the **** though... http://www.admiral.com/policyDocs/admMulticarACFly.pdf

 

[Engineer1964]

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumer/complaints.htm but it all depends on why the price changed i.e. are they claiming to have made a mistake or that you did with regards to no claims or points or car spec etc. Had something similar the other year when my old insurer was crap with my proof of no claims note which got sorted with a couple of phone calls and emails. Typical admin fees take the **** though... http://www.admiral.com/policyDocs/admMulticarACFly.pdf

Just seen the admiral fees, They really take the Pee, £22.50 just to cancel within the cooling off period.

I tell you why don't we have a list of fee's also we can give them when we sign up for example

1. £5.80 per minute everytime we get put on hold
2. £35.00 for every letter we need to write, because there is no answer on the Phone Number
3. £30 for a copy of my No Claims Bonus just to prove i ain't lying

See my point, The way Insurance companies intend to get money from us one way or another, even though making such stupid charges and fee's

I really think someone in the government really needs to see just the way insurance are getting their money, I really don't think they are regulated enough

 

[hotrodder]

I'm with Admiral for the daily driver because they were a LOT cheaper than other companies outside of the Admiral group. Unsurprisingly when something is a lot cheaper there's usually a reason why but they explain all these fees on the phone before you buy the policy. All the various admin charges were explained again in the small print for my renewal this year (which was actually cheaper than as new customer!).

I'll say it again, for the last couple of years motor insurance has been paying out around £1.20 for every £1.00 taken in premiums. Of course they're going to put the price up. What's needed is to tackle the cause i.e. no win fee bottom feeders, dodgy/lazy doctors and whiplash, hire cars at several times the going rate, proper penalties for driving without insurance, fraud and the like etc etc. With all the legal bull that accompanies claims these days it can cost insurers more in legal to fight them than to pay up.

EDA The government tax insurance premiums @ 6% so i doubt they want to see premiums reduce

 

[Shox Dr]

I heard the Gov also takes £20 from every policy issued for some reason

 

[brightspark]

I heard the Gov also takes £20 from every policy issued for some reason

the reason is bloody greed lets see where we can add another tax cos we have taxed everything else .even private health schemes and sickness insurance premiums are taxed

 

[Nomad]

What's needed is to tackle the cause i.e. no win fee bottom feeders, dodgy/lazy doctors and whiplash, hire cars at several times the going rate, proper penalties for driving without insurance, fraud and the like etc etc. With all the legal bull that accompanies claims these days it can cost insurers more in legal to fight them than to pay up.

Got to agree with that - but why are insurance repairs always so expensive?
Anytime I ask for a repair quote at a garage the first question is "Are the insurance paying" - if I say yes the price immediately goes up.

I've got very limited experience at claiming but I would say a lot of the fault is down to Insurance company incompetence / indifference.

I have a claim going through now (first in about 12 years - a parking bump where the named driver on my policy reversed into 2 neighbours cars behind her at walking pace - bless her )

* My insurers tell me that due to the age of my car, it will be written off if I make ANY claim for repairs.
- they don't mind if I do claim, but the car will be written off for the cost of a bumper bracket, paint touch-up on the bumper, and labor.
That even rules out DIY repairs unless I pay for them myself

* Car 1 - the driver tried talking to my insurers to arrange a cheap repair at the local "insurance approved" bodyshop so no hire car needed. Insurers refused to discuss anything with her (data protection), driver wants no hassle so has now hired a no-win no fee crowd to sort things out (who instantly add their fees and hire car charges)

* Car 2 - driver left for 3 weeks holiday abroad not long after the accident, he arranged for his approved repairer to collect the car once my insurers had agreed to pay. I confirmed this with his garage and my insurers.
Spoke to him when he got back from holiday, repairs not done
My insurers now say he has to claim off his insurance and the costs will be claimed back from my insurers.
Que lots of bad feeling and another set of car hire charges that were totally avoidable.

So in my case my insurance company want to write my car off rather than repair a bent bumper bracket, and they have managed to cause problems for the 2 other cars involved resulting in additional fees and 2 sets of hire-car charges which would otherwise not have been needed.
Yep, I'm all in favour of targeting the root cause of the extortionate bills but don't assume it's always some motorist trying to scam the system

 

[the snooper]

the 2 drivers that your driver reversed into could have taken their cars anywhere they wanted for repair, that is nothing to do with your insurance then recoverd that amount from your insurance.
i have dealt with these insurance companies as i have repaired accident damage then just forwarded my invoice to the companies who have settled no problem apart from time taken to pay up

 

[rtbcomp]

@Nomad - sounds like a cue for a letter to your MP.