High insurance costs .........

[Haliotis]

5 hours ago, Big_D said:

This is so true. Many people seem to be in such a hurry nowadays, and seem to think they are the only car on the road. Common courtesy seems to have disappeared.

For the size of the UK and its relatively high level of population, our roads are crowded which means that courteous driving is essential, and the “only car on the road” is the least safe attitude to take.  Drivers seem to have no pride in their driving ability or record.  With technology making it easy to hold a driver’s history, perhaps it would be a good idea if records were logged on a central base, similar to those for pilots.  Then, rather than the crude method of simply applying premiums based on age with a 5-year blame-free period, a much fairer assessment could be made based on a driver’s total driving time on the roads.  This might probably create a self-imposed attitude for drivers to drive carefully to protect their record.  Surely that wouldn’t be a bad thing?

[Big_D]

I totally agree with you Albert. 

[Haliotis]

Got my renewal notice for my car insurance today.  Have been with TescoBank for two years now. Halfway through this years premium I changed from a VW Caravelle to my current C-HR.

The renewal notice showed my last years (current) premium to be £524.04, and my renewal premium to be £1126.36.

So I rang the insurers and said how shocked I was at the increase.  The agent offered to look into it and see what could be done.  Nothing in my circumstances had changed, and the only adjustment I could make was to reduce my annual mileage from 8,000 to 6,000. Based on my mileage over the last few years I am happy with this.

A revised figure of £874.42 was offered, which I have accepted.  This is much cheaper than any of the comparison sites (see my earlier post).  I am thankful for the reduction, and have to say that Tesco Bank were the most helpful of all the insurers where I have questioned the premium. But, if this was possible on enquiry, why wasn’t the lower figure offered in the first place?

The use of a car is an essential commodity for most people, and the loss of being able to afford a car can cause real hardship and isolation; particularly for the elderly.  Therefore, should not a responsible government take the necessary steps to put an end to these wild premium hikes. I understand that there are elderly drivers who do lose the ability to be safe on the roads, but there should not be an arbitrarily across-the-board penalty automatically applied to all elderly drivers.

After all, the government have been raising the pension age based on people living longer and in better health than their forebears, but car insurers seem to think the opposite. I wonder why?

[Bper]

Speaking to a neighbour regarding cars and insurance they told me they just pay the renewal premium without questioning the price. I asked why they do not use comparison sites and why pay more then they need to. The answer I got was." I can't be asked with all that bother".

This makes me ask how many people do the same and do not look for alternative quotes and just pay the renewal, I bet it's more then we think.

This surely only adds to the insurance companies knowing they can get away with charging higher premiums. 

[Haliotis]

Well, just out of curiosity, I have looked on the Confused.com comparison site.

Admiral, who I have insured with in the past:- £1,991.35

Bell (highest):- £5,713.20

WEhy do they bother to put forward such ridiculous premiums and, more to the point, do any drivers actually pay for these high premiums?

 

[FROSTYBALLS]

29 minutes ago, Haliotis said:

WEhy do they bother to put forward such ridiculous premiums

It is an easy way to discourage drivers that don't fit with the customer groups they wish to insure - as simple as that.

[Cyker]

Yeah, that's what's called the "Go Away" quote  

But with quotes like that, just check you didn't accidentally put "Aston Martin" instead of "Toyota" in the make...!   

[Haliotis]

About 4 years ago, when I tried Aviva for a quote, they said they could not insure me - no reason given.  I went back to them and said that they could have simply given me a quote that would obviously be rejected, and now I have to say I have been declined cover.  They said this was not the case, and actually sent me a letter to support it.

So I do not tell an insurer about this refusal, and have kept the letter safe in case I did have a problem.

[Bper]

4 hours ago, Cyker said:

Yeah, that's what's called the "Go Away" quote  

But with quotes like that, just check you didn't accidentally put "Aston Martin" instead of "Toyota" in the make...!   

I get the same reaction when I keep asking for a energy bill reduction.

[Cyker]

2 hours ago, Haliotis said:

About 4 years ago, when I tried Aviva for a quote, they said they could not insure me - no reason given.  I went back to them and said that they could have simply given me a quote that would obviously be rejected, and now I have to say I have been declined cover.  They said this was not the case, and actually sent me a letter to support it.

So I do not tell an insurer about this refusal, and have kept the letter safe in case I did have a problem.

Be careful about that - The being refused insurance thing is a very specific legal meaning, and what you're talking about where they just didn't want to insure you is not that, so don't tick that!!

 

[Rhymes with Paris]

4 hours ago, Cyker said:

Yeah, that's what's called the "Go Away" quote  

But with quotes like that, just check you didn't accidentally put "Aston Martin" instead of "Toyota" in the make...!   

Or even worse, the ridiculously powerful Yaris Tsport.

[Haliotis]

“The Go Away quote” - I like that.  Better than hitting the proposer with a refusal, and doesn’t cause the worry that I experienced.

[Bper]

I’m not trying to say that the customer service in my bank is bad…

But when I went in the other day, and asked the woman behind the counter to check my balance… She leaned over and pushed me.

[Haliotis]

29 minutes ago, Bper said:

I’m not trying to say that the customer service in my bank is bad…

But when I went in the other day, and asked the woman behind the counter to check my balance… She leaned over and pushed me.

Did that deposit you on the floor, and was she called to account for her actions?  Did you teller off, or give the police a statement? 🤪

[Bper]

Albert,

It's safe to say that after chequeing, I banked on her withdrawing from compounding any further interest or bonding over this issue. However, she is not a loan in this and will be in debt to me but all credit to her.

[FROSTYBALLS]

To coin a phrase, hope people are taking note of these comments.

[Cyker]

Well, just ran my car through insurance quotes - Currently with Adrian Flux, who interestingly haven't sent a renewal yet, at just over £500.

Well it's quite the hike this year - I thought the ~£800 I was getting quoted last year was bad!

This year, through GoCompare, Compare the Market and MoneySupermarket, I'm getting quotes of around £1100-1200

Also went through the Toyota Insurance form for lols, they want £2200.

This is quite early and the sweet spot according to MSE should be in a week or so, so will be interesting to see if they go down any when I try again...

For fun, I tried with and without the accident and it basically made no difference to the quotes, so more evidence you should go through your insurance than try to save money by not claiming!

Adding parking sensors as a modification also didn't seem to make any difference - Maybe they already take them into account??

[Haliotis]

Quite some time ago now, I found on line an article that gave a list of modifications which added to the cost of a premium.  One was “rally stripes”, but some of them were modifications which we would probably see as an improvement to safety.

I am considering a Dashcam, and prefer one being hard-wired into the car’s system by my Toyota Service dept. Question is, for insurance purposes, would this be regarded as a chargeable modification, whereas a “stick-on” unit most likely would not?

The fitted one I am looking at also monitors the car’s surroundings when it is parked up, but would this risk leaving me with a flat Battery - the 12v Battery in my C-HR being smaller capacity than in ICE cars?

[FROSTYBALLS]

What changes may be classed as a modification, do vary from insurer to insurer. Some insurers do class a hard wired Dashcam as a modification, whereas a plug in Dashcam (ie. using the 12v power outlet) may not be. Best to check with your insurer.

[Bper]

12 hours ago, Cyker said:

Well, just ran my car through insurance quotes - Currently with Adrian Flux, who interestingly haven't sent a renewal yet, at just over £500.

Well it's quite the hike this year - I thought the ~£800 I was getting quoted last year was bad!

This year, through GoCompare, Compare the Market and MoneySupermarket, I'm getting quotes of around £1100-1200

Also went through the Toyota Insurance form for lols, they want £2200.

This is quite early and the sweet spot according to MSE should be in a week or so, so will be interesting to see if they go down any when I try again...

For fun, I tried with and without the accident and it basically made no difference to the quotes, so more evidence you should go through your insurance than try to save money by not claiming!

Adding parking sensors as a modification also didn't seem to make any difference - Maybe they already take them into account??

20- 26 days before renewal is supposed to be the time to get the cheapest quote. Of course if you can find one that is.

[Haliotis]

4 hours ago, Bper said:

20- 26 days before renewal is supposed to be the time to get the cheapest quote. Of course if you can find one that is.

The “sweet spot” as they call it does not seem to exist this year.  It makes you wonder whether the comparison sites are a good thing, or a curse.  I went to Tesco Bank directly, and got better than any comparison site.  Also, when I questioned my renewal for this year and got a reduction, it was over 2.2 times cheaper than the lowest quote, and many more times cheaper than most.

[Cyker]

Frosty's right about the modifications - It's an absolute minefield as it varies between insurer; There is no consistency at all.

Generally, you at least need to declare anything that increases the value, attractiveness to thieves and vandals, or performance of the car.

However, I've had some that wanted you to declare *any* changes from the factory spec, *including* factory options.

 

On some better news, Adrian Flux has come through and saved me from having to stump up £1200!  

The renewal quoted was still pretty high, but nowhere near the insane prices I was getting from comparison sites, and being a club member helped lower it a bit too  

 

[Big_D]

8 hours ago, Haliotis said:

Quite some time ago now, I found on line an article that gave a list of modifications which added to the cost of a premium.  One was “rally stripes”, but some of them were modifications which we would probably see as an improvement to safety.

I am considering a dashcam, and prefer one being hard-wired into the car’s system by my Toyota Service dept. Question is, for insurance purposes, would this be regarded as a chargeable modification, whereas a “stick-on” unit most likely would not?

The fitted one I am looking at also monitors the car’s surroundings when it is parked up, but would this risk leaving me with a flat battery - the 12v battery in my C-HR being smaller capacity than in ICE cars?

I got a discount for having a Dashcam. So, in my case this wasn't seen as a modification. Same with my son.

[Cyker]

That's still a modification, but as you've found there are modifications which can reduce the premium!

Things like trackers, parking sensors etc. can often reduce the premium slightly.

The problem is there's no way to know if it will or not until you get the quote as it varies so much between insurers!

A lot of insurers offer a small discount for dashcams, but often only if it's a specific model on their list - Very often Nextbase ones for some reason.

[Haliotis]

Glad to hear you got good result from Adrian Flux, Cyker.  Just the opposite for me - higher than many of the comparison sites quotes.  My driving record is very good, so assuming it is because of being 88 years old.