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Insurance conversation!!

2K views 9 replies 7 participants last post by  nirru25 
#1 ·
Ok, my insurance is up for renewal. I receive the usual renewal quote from existing insurers. Its gone up by nearly £90 to £346 from last year. I have never had any speeding fines or points etc etc. Totally clean license, always has been.

So conversation goes as this (not exactly word for word but you will get the gist of it:

Me: why has my insurance gone up so much from last year when I have not claimed?

Insurer: well, prices have increased (that usual one!). Oh ... and you changed your car twice last year and that increased the premium.

Me: I beg your pardon? what has changing my car in the last year got to do with the increase in my premium for this year?

Insurer: changing car has affected this years premium and increased it.

Me: "laughing" ... so what you are saying is that because I sold and bought another car Im being asked to pay more (again) in the next years policy?

Insurer: Yes

Me: Are you aware that the car I sold originally has exactly the same specification as the car I own now and yet you are saying its insurance is worth £90 more

Insurer: ummm yes.

Insurer: would you like us to requote on that?

Me: ummm yes please!!

Insurer: we can reduce it by £20. Would you like me to carry on with the cover

Me: (laughing) .... ummm no!!

Insurer: Im sorry we aren't more competitive this year, try again next year.

Me: I don't think so, thank you very much.


I couldnt believe what I was hearing. If this is standard practice these days its clearly another way of getting money out of you, they will obviously try anything now these main stream insurers.

This insurance company were previously quite fair and reasonable, but it seems they are just getting greedy like the majority of them.
 
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#2 ·
I always thought that if you paid on time, had no accidents and just wanted to roll over the insurance, you would be treated as a good customer, one they wanted to retain.

Found that the opposite is true, the premiums go up, no discount and when you talk to them, you are told that the new company that has quoted £50 - £70 less than the current insurer, "have given you a new client bonus"?????

But you have a track record with the existing insurer, all set up, and they still dont want the business.

Makes you wonder how many people just accept the new quote and pay up.

:wave:
 
#3 ·
insurance companys dont like renewing peoples insurance. dont no why. u will find it cheaper. to start fresh with another company. when my insurance is up i get crazy quotes. from them. as well. and then i say sod that ill go somewhere else. but when i use go compare. the same company i use comes up cheaper so i phone them back and ask them to explaine what quote ive just got. there answer is. its cheaper because your a new customer... so i find it cheaper to go somewhere else every year.
 
#4 ·
My girlfriend had a similar situation and she mentioned that it was cheaper online with them (same company). So they just said to cancel her existing policy and take out a new one with them online (like she was a new customer)! Why?

Makes no sense whatsoever. Why not keep with the people who have been existing with them especially if they have been a non claimer?

I do usually go elsewhere each year but have stayed with LV for the last two years as they have been very competitive. But time to move on again.
 
#5 ·
Its a bit like if you take your wife/husband off a policy, the price will go up.

Insurance companies must be a law to themselves, any other business gets a customer base and wants to keep them. Insurance companies drive the customers away after a year???

:wave:
 
#8 ·
any other business gets a customer base and wants to keep them. Insurance companies drive the customers away after a year???

:wave:
They've worked out that the customers that don't shop around and pay the increased premium make them more money than the business they drive away. But like I said in my earlier post. These companies operate as Cartels. They go by different names but it's the same pool. Even the so-called comparison websites are owned by the insurers themselves. They are not independent.
 
#6 ·
Absolutely no doubt in my mind the insurance companies are profiteering the same way as British Gas and other energy firms have been ripping people off in recent years. The convoluted reasons they give for the inordinate premium hikes are even more incomprehensible than the oil companies' excuses for the price of petrol at the pumps. It amazes me that motoring and consumer organizations have been so utterly passive and ineffective in challenging big insurance. Insurance is effectively a closed cartel which is allowed to do as it pleases. And because insurance is compulsory they've got out nuts in a vice!

Re Online quoting. It gets even crazier. If you take a reference number from a quote you got online from Swinton's and take it to their high street branch, they wont talk to you! They'll say they have nothing to do with the online side of the business. But if you buy the insurance online...surprise, surprise, the next day you'll get a phone call from the same Swinton's branch (the one that told you they operate seperately from Swinton Online) and they'll ask you to bring in proof of your NCB etc to their office. Infact, Swinton Online will tell you that your local Swinton's branch will be happy to help you regarding your policy!! And I speak from recent experience.

Of course, had gone for a quote to your high street Swinton's directly you would have ended up paying up to 40% more. That's why they tell you they have nothing to do with the online business. It's a scam. They're preying on people's ignorance of the system. There needs to be some kind of legistlation to regulate how these rip-off merchants operate and make insurance pricing transparant and consistent.

P.S. How exactly do uninsured drivers push up premiums for insured drivers? What am I missing here? Are they saying that because they're not getting any business from uninsured drivers they are forced to bump up your premiums to compensate for their loss of earnings? Try applying that logic to grocery shopping!
 
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