Crazy car insurance.

[JustBen]

Is there any logic behind car insurance quotes?

It does just seem to be 'pluck a number out the air and add VAT'

Got my renewals through from Swinton and checked them against the comparison sites, they are £800 more (total) than the majority on there.

how can the cheapest insurer last year be £800 higher this year despite the only changes on my policies being an additional 1 year NCB on each vehicle.

There seems to be no logic in it.

 

[Mr_P]

They used to reward loyalty, these days they just exploit it.

 

[doorframe]

You're not supposed to notice.

They hope you'll just blindly accept the renewal.

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

spot on....they're taking the pee out of people that don't bother to go back to the comparison sites at the end of year 1. Boiler insurance is exactly the same. As is the case with gas and electric. I've just signed up to a 2 year fixed deal but before that I was changing every year on the anniversary of coming off their "special introductory offer" tariff.

Saga are the worst of the lot. I've spent ages helping my mother in laws generation of friends who are all being rogered with a prize winning leek for their buildings and contents through SAGA because the bar sterwards know darn well they're not internet savvy. So they're absolutely killing them with premiums. Believe me this saga thing is a national scandal waiting to break. All because some twit-come-lately wants a bigger plastic conservatory and a boob job for his trophy wife! They want stringing up with what they do to the elderly.

 

[JustBen]

They used to reward loyalty, these days they just exploit it.

Too true.

I've been a lloyds customer for 30+ years now and it hasn't made any difference.
I'm still hoping that one day it may be rewarded.... Maybe.

 

[wellywood]

I know it's expensive but maybe you should consider yourselves lucky. Here in NZ car insurance isn't a requirement. You can imagine the results.

 

[JustBen]

To be honest, the cost isn't particularly high. £450 for 2 cars and both Fully comp with breakdown.

But the difference between £450 and £1250 is a huge one.

Oh and that's with a 'loyalty and multiple policy discount of £50' he had negotiate with the manager y'know. Ha ha

 

[RogerS]

I don;t seem to have this problem. We have two policies...one with Hastings and one with LV ...neither has gone up hardly at all and both are still very competitive. I agree that Saga are a rip-off and I wont go anywhere near Churchill as their claims handling are dung. Direct Line cherry pick customers

 

[Baldhead]

My missus is with Swinton, she has just changed her car from an 2008 Peugeot 208 to a brand spanking new Fiesta and her insurance has gone down by £11.
I told her not to bother putting me on as I now have 3 points on my licence, but when she told Swinton they said she doesn't have to declare my points until she renews her insurance, guess that means I get to drive her car when it needs petrol!

Baldhead

 

[Benchwayze]

My insurance seems to increase by about £10.00 each year. Which I can manage. In a few years I will probably 'lose' the car, and just put money aside for hire purposes, if I need to travel anywhere independently.

 

[carlb40]

The reason the insurance is so high this year over your previous year is more than likely due to that particular insurer wanting to get out of your area. It happens all the time with me. Often doubling the renewal quote from the previous year.

 

[Brian½]

Post codes also have an influence in insurance quotes.
The area of Penwortham in which I live is 2 miles outside the Preston boundary, but has the same post code as Preston.
Because Preston is classed as a high risk area I have to pay more for my insurance. :x

My son lives in Longton which is just over ½ mile away from me but his post code is different to mine and his insurance is over £160 less than mine.

 

[JustBen]

The reason the insurance is so high this year over your previous year is more than likely due to that particular insurer wanting to get out of your area. It happens all the time with me. Often doubling the renewal quote from the previous year.

Why would they want to get out of the area?
Surely they would want as much business as possible?

 

[krashbandikoot]

I have to admit car insurance is utter madness.

Mines just shot up by £300 which isn't funny.

My first year I paid £333, the second £225, this year it's gone up to £480 because the wife got a speeding ticket on an NIP so got the usual 3 points and £60 fine. The thing is, with just me on it; it shoots up to almost £600 which is really taking the water given I've got a full clean licence and passed the test almost 30 years ago.

If I don't declare the wife's points, (just as a test you understand, I wouldn't take out insurance without declaring the points), and have her added on it drops from almost £600 to just £170. Third party fire and theft drops to £110 so it makes no sense at all to me why it's so expensive just because of 3 points for a fixed penalty notice.

 

[themackay]

RE speeding ticket move company ,we have all our cars on a multicar policy 4 cars my son had a speeding ticket a couple of years ago the increase was negligible,my insurance went up more for driving wrong way on one way street(it was about 15 yards long). every year our renewal comes in itis about £1200 I run through confused .com phone company ang get them to match online quotes £800 ish its an annual ritual.there is no need to pay over the odds.When my daughter started driving her first year insurance only cost @£550 I know friends of our paying 8 or 9 hundred you try and tell them where to go but they dont listen.Loyalty does not pay.same with house insurance.

 

[krashbandikoot]

I've tried several other companies and the £480 to £600 I mentioned is about the cheapest I've found.

I might wait until I renew my bike insurance and add it onto my policy with them since I now have 7 years NCD for the bike so that should drop the quote a fair bit.

I do wonder though how single people manage to pay for insurance as it seems having a spouse added on the policy offers generous discounts with most insurance companies.

 

[carlb40]

The reason the insurance is so high this year over your previous year is more than likely due to that particular insurer wanting to get out of your area. It happens all the time with me. Often doubling the renewal quote from the previous year.

Why would they want to get out of the area?
Surely they would want as much business as possible?

It depends on the area. Where i live in brum it is classed as a higher crime rate than london and the whole of the uk. Add to that the amount of uninsured drivers, false PI claims etc. I go through it nearly every year with insurers. Get the renewal quote through, laugh. Call them up, get told the last insurer has put the prices up to stop people buying from them so they don't have to cover that area any longer.

I won't say how much exactly, but last year with an accident and a previous cancelled insurance policy, my 2000 reg 1.6 focus cost me a 4 figure sum to insure it. It still does this year but is just over a 2/3rd cheaper.

My present insurer was found through a specialist broker. The stupid thing is my 'new' insurance company is underwritten by the same one as last year, yet my one from last year couldn't match my new quote. :?

 

[JustBen]

It depends on the area. Where i live in brum it is classed as a higher crime rate than london and the whole of the uk. Add to that the amount of uninsured drivers, false PI claims etc. I go through it nearly every year with insurers. Get the renewal quote through, laugh. Call them up, get told the last insurer has put the prices up to stop people buying from them so they don't have to cover that area any longer.

I won't say how much exactly, but last year with an accident and a previous cancelled insurance policy, my 2000 reg 1.6 focus cost me a 4 figure sum to insure it. It still does this year but is just over a 2/3rd cheaper.

My present insurer was found through a specialist broker. The stupid thing is my 'new' insurance company is underwritten by the same one as last year, yet my one from last year couldn't match my new quote. :?

Four figures on a focus?!? Ouch! :shock:
Have you considered getting a bicycle?
That makes me feel bad for moaning about paying £230 on my focus 1.6

 

[whiskywill]

My insurance was due for renewal last week, a few days after I changed my car. The premium they wanted for the original car was £426, about £40 more than the previous year. For the new car they quoted £474.84. When I told the insurance company, Swinton, that Comparethemarket had come up with a quote for £250 but, unfortunately, they didn't recognise NCD earned on a company vehicle, the sales person I was talking to said he could probably offer a discount but would have to clear it with his manager. About 10 minutes later the offer was £249.86 for exactly the same cover.