Insurance renewals

[badgers_nadgers]

What's the point in even printing out the piece of paper with a renewal quote of double what I paid last year? Why on earth would I just let that go without getting a quote from someone else?! Who on earth wouldn't notice that their insurance hadn't doubled? Why the **** is wrong with these people?

[NineOneSix]

10/10 for Rant

4/10 for execution


They're hoping you won't look at it and continue with the installemtns or payments

[badgers_nadgers]

I know, but who on earth wouldn't look at it. They should have just left well alone, I thought the renewal was due in may, so they'd have had a couple of months if they hadn't warned me!

[Joss]

Yep this happens to me every year too. Once I have found a new reasonable quote I ring them back and they always beat it Why? It just wastes my, the insures time and makes the phone lines busy so other poeple with real problems have to wait. If you can beat my new quote why not just do it straight away

[AnthonyJohn]

Joss, surely your fleet is better off on a multi-car policy

[GhostyDog]

Originally Posted by Joss

If you can beat my new quote why not just do it straight away

because they are thieves

[Joss]

Originally Posted by AnthonyJohn

Joss, surely your fleet is better off on a multi-car policy

Though about it and we'll see this year when it's due

[1of1]

They need to be more answerable / accountable considering it is a legal requirement...

[howell811]

My renewal this year was over £700, funny how they were the cheapest quote last year.

Tesco came out at £420 + Clubcard points

Admiral have been by far the cheapest for me over the last five years with the GTA. I always spend a little time checking out the competition, but I've yet to find a comparible quote for less. I now have a multicar policy with them too.

[badgers_nadgers]

That was actually my wife's policy I was moaning about. I've been swapping between elephant and admiral (basically the same company) for the last few years as they're always the cheapest. Esure were great until I got to nine points.

Strangely, multi car for me actually puts my insurance up and doesn't give me a great deal on my wife's car, so a total waste of time.

Originally Posted by badgers_nadgers

That was actually my wife's policy I was moaning about. I've been swapping between elephant and admiral (basically the same company) for the last few years as they're always the cheapest. Esure were great until I got to nine points.

Strangely, multi car for me actually puts my insurance up and doesn't give me a great deal on my wife's car, so a total waste of time.

Car insurance = black magic

[milowokie]

and don't forget their notice on page 6 of the renewal documents, "if you don't tell us not to fleece you for the next year, we'll do it anyway and hope you won't read your credit card statement for a month, so we only have to give you 11 months of insurance back."

[MalcQV]

The GT (daily) I have been with the same company for about four years now. They constantly wipe the floor with the rest. It just stays about the same every year.

IAM Surety but you have to obviously be an IAM member (I can be a right member at times ).

It is black magic though as stated, post code lottery
I checked a few years back, six miles down the road where my Ex lives it is 20%-25% cheaper which is a good £150 for me.

[CobolMan]

Mrs C got the renewal for her 1.4 Fiesta a couple of weeks ago; it had gone up substantially and was more than my MiTo Cloverleaf. I suggested she tried my insurers and they've reduced it by over £100 with better cover to boot.

[TonyGr]

I am currently with the Post Office for the Saxo and they have used Aviva. Renewal notice £243.95 and the excess has gone up from £150 to £200. Had checked the PO website a few days previous and it came in at £221.59 with £150 excess and still Aviva. Tried Aviva direct on their website because they do a multicar deal and it comes in at £212.00 with £150 excess but no courtesy car (which I don't need) and the Giulietta will be £337.53 (full year equivalent) when it is due in May. PO want £420 for the G. So why should I give the PO the chance to give me back some of the commission Aviva allow them to keep?

[badgers_nadgers]

And also, where are my meerkats?

[The_Abyss]

Inertia is one of the most successful sales tactics in financial services, so don't be surprised that it continues to be deployed. It only works on the lazy or foolish though.

[badgers_nadgers]

Well, it's certainly worked with my bank account. That and the overdraft!

[FredDibnah]

I don't think that it is always an attempt at a rip off TBH (although often they do like to benefit from a bit of inertia). Not that I am defending them at all - but like all insurers, they look across their mix of insured risks and decide what sort of insurance cover they do/do not want to take on.

Insurance is just a big bookies numbers game. The guys in the back room of insurance companies are trying to spread the risk as much as possible. They want an insurance book that minimizes exposure to any single type of risk.

On a regular basis, insurers will look at any sort of concentration risk (be it by post code, age of driver, sex of driver, class of vehicle etc) and decide what sort of new or repeat business they want to look for.

They way they target business is by pricing - so if they feel that in the course of the last period they have got a higher number of 28-30 year old male drivers in the East Sussex area on their books - then out of the blue they will be quoting high renewal costs for that category of driver at that time. conversely - if they are light on middle aged women drivers in the Welsh borders they may well be the cheapest for them at that point.

3 months later of course, they may have a different set of targets and actually seek the business of 28-30 year old males drivers in East Sussex. That's why it looks like black magic.

Clearly the bigger insurers have the greatest spread of risks so can be more consistent with their pricing.

[TonyGr]

Agree with a lot of what you say Fred but that does not explain my experience with the Post Office / Aviva that has to be down to increasing profit from inertia which I believe is wrong. There is an increasing tendency nowadays to try to attract new business at the expense of loyal customers. A generation ago it was the other way round with customer loyalty being prized by anyone selling. The construction company I worked for prided itself on the amount of repeat business it got. This was not just down to price but to quality of work. However it was always a condition of pricing that you submitted your best price at tender. Now customers and hence "suppliers" expect a percentage off to be negotiated and this attitude has reached the general public. How long before we go into Tesco and having put the groceries through the checkout expect to bargain a discount. Think what that will do for the queues!

[The_Abyss]

I don't think that's a fair comparison Tony. You have walked around the store, seen the price and decided what to buy. Insurance for cars and houses is largely transacted online now - there's a wealth of information available along with that old 80s tool - the telephone.

FredD is right about insurance - it is incredibly complicated. It isn't just a measure of risk but also a measure of what the company wants to target. That can change quickly, but we insure annually...

Insurance companies are no angels but equally they're incredibly highly regulated and they probably don't deserve the rap they get these days.

Unsurprisingly people normally complain about insurance companies when they:

a) renew their cover and need to pay something
b) have just had an accident

Of course it is not in our nature to praise insurance companies at any other time. We might, just might, praise an insurer for our annual renewal when it is less than last year and cheaper than anyone else, but most will still resent paying it because we have to. We might praise them when they pay out after a claim, but then there's an excess and we're probably annoyed about that.

I could praise my insurer for offering fantastic cover for the past 4 months without any issue or payment problems, for providing staff on a 24 hour hotline ready to answer my call if I lose my keys or run over a load of nuns, or not selling my details on to another company like my mobile provider or going bust or not spamming me with other marketing stuff.

But where's the fun in that.

[TonyGr]

Originally Posted by The_Abyss

I don't think that's a fair comparison Tony. You have walked around the store, seen the price and decided what to buy. Insurance for cars and houses is largely transacted online now - there's a wealth of information available along with that old 80s tool - the telephone.

Fair comment but my gripe is that I have walked round the store and seen the same suppliers product with three different prices on it. Other suppliers prices differ wildly which I accept. SAGA wouldn't quote because my wife only has a provisional licence but that is their choice. Furthermore past experience tells me that when I telephone the Post Office they will reduce the renewal quote to match the online price. Why can the renewal price not be the same as the online price?

[mick.p.]

I had a very similar thing with the AA just last week.
I have a family package. Two kids, the wife and me.
The renewal came through, they wanted £270.
I thought to myself "the kids have left home now so they should sort out their own AA
and I am scint anyway, so I'll give the AA a ring and change my cover" (tight?).
So,I phoned them and asked for a price with for Sue and me.
£130 he said, or he could leave the kids on for £170.
£170 for the samecover as last year I asked. Yes sir, he said.
So why have I just got a renewal for £270, I said.
No idea, he said, not my department.

I felt like saying stuff it, but I (begrudgingly) payed the £170.

Mick.

My nephew is 19 and loves his dubs. Someone he knew had a Mk1 Caddy truck for sale that he bought for £500. A gift because it's really solid and they are quite sought after. His insurance quote bearing in mind it's a completely unmodified 20-odd year old commercial vehicle with a 1.6 diesel engine that has less power than my kettle? Just shy of ten grand. And he hasn't had any sort of bump or a ticket since he passed his test two years ago.