Insur-rants

[Bper]

We have been looking at the renewal of our car insurance which is due in November. We contacted our existing insurers and they have quoted double the price it was last year. No changes have occurred and this is where I struggle to understand the logic.

In my opinion, how can any insurance company quote a low price the first year and then double it a year later with no material changes. After various quotes from the comparison sites, I have obtained a quote just a few more pounds more than our first year premium. 
This ludicrous situation also occurs with household contents and building insurance and every time I question why, I am told it's the people who assess the postcodes and it's the algorithm they use.

The crazy thing is, if you return for a quote to the original insurance company a year later you will again be receive a low rate. Surely it should be in the financial interests of any company to keep it's customers. What difference does it make to them to keep the same premium or at worst, raise the premium slightly to reflect overhead.

Can anyone throw light on why this happens?
 

[Mojo1010]

My insurer doesn't do this, it's a bit higher in July when it was renewed. This tactic rely on people who forgot or can't be bother to look elsewhere. This is not a recent thing, been happening for years. Good thing is u got rid of them. 

[Markyswan]

I shop around every year to get the best price, been quoted silly prices from same insurer in the past. PM me and I will give you my insurer good price fully comp.

[dannyboy413]

Insurance companies are a law unto themselves. When I receive the renewal quotes for the house and car insurances, I always get quotes from three other companies. If any of the quotes are cheaper than the renewal quotes - for similar cover - I then contact the existing insureres. I tell them the quotes I have received and, in the case of the house insurance, they will usually give me a price similar to the cheapest quote I have obtained. Doing this, I have been with my current house insurer for over twenty years. I do the same for the car insurance. If the company wanting me to renew can not get near the cheapest quote I have received, I end up saying, "thanks, but no thanks" and go elsewhere. 

[2toyos]

1 hour ago, Bper said:

We have been looking at the renewal of our car insurance which is due in November. We contacted our existing insurers and they have quoted double the price it was last year. No changes have occurred and this is where I struggle to understand the logic.

In my opinion, how can any insurance company quote a low price the first year and then double it a year later with no material changes. After various quotes from the comparison sites, I have obtained a quote just a few more pounds more than our first year premium. 
This ludicrous situation also occurs with household contents and building insurance and every time I question why, I am told it's the people who assess the postcodes and it's the algorithm they use.

The crazy thing is, if you return for a quote to the original insurance company a year later you will again be receive a low rate. Surely it should be in the financial interests of any company to keep it's customers. What difference does it make to them to keep the same premium or at worst, raise the premium slightly to reflect overhead.

Can anyone throw light on why this happens?
 

All depends on you're area, vehicle, etc etc, I live in a low risk area, I pay less then £70 a month for a modified MK4 supra, Land cruiser and a Toyota aruis 

[FROSTYBALLS]

From January 2022, insurance companies are no longer allowed by law to quote different prices for new and existing customers.

[Bper]

1 hour ago, Markyswan said:

I shop around every year to get the best price, been quoted silly prices from same insurer in the past. PM me and I will give you my insurer good price fully comp.

Hi Mark we have secured a insurer but thank you for the offer😃

[Bper]

1 hour ago, dannyboy413 said:

Insurance companies are a law unto themselves. When I receive the renewal quotes for the house and car insurances, I always get quotes from three other companies. If any of the quotes are cheaper than the renewal quotes - for similar cover - I then contact the existing insureres. I tell them the quotes I have received and, in the case of the house insurance, they will usually give me a price similar to the cheapest quote I have obtained. Doing this, I have been with my current house insurer for over twenty years. I do the same for the car insurance. If the company wanting me to renew can not get near the cheapest quote I have received, I end up saying, "thanks, but no thanks" and go elsewhere. 

Hi David, yes you are right but this has been going on for years and despite trying  most of the insurance companies out there the same thing happens every year. I would like to know what company you are with .

[dannyboy413]

@Bper The house insurance is with Allianz and the car insurance is with Aviva - I changed from Liberty Insurance at renewal time in January. I am not sure whether it makes any difference, (it shouldn't do really), but I am in Ireland. I think we have the same rules about not charging 'loyal' customers more than new customers.

[Bper]

30 minutes ago, 2toyos said:

All depends on you're area, vehicle, etc etc, I live in a low risk area, I pay less then £70 a month for a modified MK4 supra, Land cruiser and a Toyota aruis 

I would have thought Norfolk was a low risk area but I am reliably informed that if an area reports a few accidents this is recorded within the algorithm and the premiums are reflected by this. It should be based on individual driving record.😂

[Bper]

26 minutes ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

From January 2022, insurance companies are no longer allowed by law to quote different prices for new and existing customers.

This may be true but my issue is why double the premium when no material change has been made and going to another insurer with the same details only raises the premium  marginally. It makes no sense to me.

[Bper]

16 minutes ago, dannyboy413 said:

@Bper The house insurance is with Allianz and the car insurance is with Aviva - I changed from Liberty Insurance at renewal time in January. I am not sure whether it makes any difference, (it shouldn't do really), but I am in Ireland. I think we have the same rules about not charging 'loyal' customers more than new customers.

I will try Allianz when the house insurance is due and have tried Aviva a number of times for both house and car insurance,they were one of the highest quotes. Don't know if it makes a difference that you live in Ireland. 😃

[Derek.w]

It used to be as the car aged the premium reduced provided no insurance clams.

Alas thats not the case now!.

[Bper]

1 minute ago, Derek.w said:

It used to be as the car aged the premium reduced provided no insurance clams.

Alas thats not the case now!.

Derek, how right you are it takes ages on so many comparison sites now to find a competitive price.

I find it bizarre that these companies are prepared to lose potential long term customers when all they have to do is offer a decent price. Bring back the years of sensibility. 😒

[dannyboy413]

@Bper Bob, whenever I have got a quote from Aviva in the past, they have always been one of the dearest, but, for some reason, when I renewed in January, they were one of the cheaper quotes, with a good level of cover. (not that I am complaining 😀).

[Bper]

46 minutes ago, dannyboy413 said:

@Bper Bob, whenever I have got a quote from Aviva in the past, they have always been one of the dearest, but, for some reason, when I renewed in January, they were one of the cheaper quotes, with a good level of cover. (not that I am complaining 😀).

David how does that make any sense, what annoys me is many people go for the cheapest quotes on all itypes of insurances which is understandable.  However how many bother to check the level of reviews on claim payouts from that insurer.

One of the cheapest for household contents and buildings had a 5 star rating for cost of policy but a 0 for any claims. Primarily none payment on claims due to errors on policy that many customers complained that they had filled the details out correctly.

[FROSTYBALLS]

3 hours ago, Bper said:

In my opinion, how can any insurance company quote a low price the first year and then double it a year later with no material changes.

They used to do this to attract new business, and the price was usually a lot lower than the renewals they offered existing customers.

2 hours ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

From January 2022, insurance companies are no longer allowed by law to quote different prices for new and existing customers.

However, as per my earlier post above, insurers cannot now charge new customers less than they charge existing customers. 

[Hybrid21]

11 hours ago, Bper said:

This may be true but my issue is why double the premium when no material change has been made and going to another insurer with the same details only raises the premium  marginally. It makes no sense to me.

Probably a change in relevant customer criteria with the insurer and they need to adjust the price accordingly to keep to their own rules 👍

[Cyker]

It's not that unusual TBH; I've never been with the same insurer for more than a few years as at some point they always have a massive hike in premium for no apparent reason.

The way they calculate a premium is so nebulous now they may as well be pulling a random number out of a hat!

 

[Bper]

Just an update on my rant. I contacted our insurance company this morning and was told I would have to wait up to two weeks for the renewal quote as this was not yet available. I explained that the nearer to the renewal date, other insurance quotes will increase. I decided to contact them again but this time to ask for a new quote. This came back at over two and a half times the original price.

Asking why it had over doubled in price, information was not available to them. She checked on the system and my renewal was now available.  I asked how come 10 minutes earlier it was not but again they could not confirm why. The new price with full recovery included was an additional £80. 

Considering the breakdown recovery was included by Toyota when we first purchased the car, this came out excluding the new breakdown cover, £41 more than the original.

'From January 2022, insurance companies are no longer allowed by law to quote different prices for new and existing customers'. This did not apply in this case.

To conclude, we are going to renew with our current insurer but it proves how many hoops you have to jump through to get a decent price.
 

[FROSTYBALLS]

7 minutes ago, Bper said:

'From January 2022, insurance companies are no longer allowed by law to quote different prices for new and existing customers'. This did not apply in this case.

As it was a change in legislation effective from January, it applies to all UK insurers.

[Bper]

18 minutes ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

As it was a change in legislation effective from January, it applies to all UK insurers.

To be honest I forgot to bring this up in my discussion with my insurer as I was more concerned in securing a good renewal. But this is one of the biggest insurance companies and they did not in my case inact the new legislation. 

I hope the comments within this subjects post help any other members should they find themselves in a similar position with insurance companies. 😀

[Hybrid21]

My car insurance is with Saga at the moment and was a fixed for three years deal, which seemed reasonably competitive.

[Bper]

2 hours ago, Hybrid21 said:

My car insurance is with Saga at the moment and was a fixed for three years deal, which seemed reasonably competitive.

I tried saga but the price was to high. We had them on buildings and contents one year but the next premium was one of the highest.😒

[Hybrid21]

1 hour ago, Bper said:

I tried saga but the price was to high. We had them on buildings and contents one year but the next premium was one of the highest.😒

Yes Bob, I have always found that Saga building insurance is way too expensive, although I daresay probably good level of cover.

I have been using Policy Expert for a few years and find their quotations hard to beat 👍