Saga motor insurance Watch out

[devonwoody]

I have an insurance renewal on our car later this month and the usual the present company want a 25% increase so I said I would look around.

Telephone Saga because they are always pestering me.

They told me they could give me a quote but it had a £20 arrangement fee which would not be charged if I took out the motor insurance with them today, It seemed if I wanted to go and get some more quotes from other insurers then cost to insure with them would be that £20 higher on another day.

This means they think they have stopped me shopping around. So I did not take out the insurance or get that quote with them.

It strikes me as a dirty trick so not a nice company to be with anyway.

I suppose I have got to use one of those internet price searches?

 

[Jacob]

My Nationwide renewal quote was really high (10 years a customer) so I went to Saga and saved £150. I'll watch out when it comes up for renewal!

 

[mind_the_goat]

Are you sure it really was Saga? Never heard of an insurance company charging to give you a quote.
Just went to their website and got a quote.

 

[adidat]

I have found renewal prices a few weeks before the policy ends, are stupidly high! and very irritating when they automatically renew, one time admiral sent me a renewal for 1200 I think the original policy cost 800, and they set up this policy without much notice, what they didn't know was the card they used belonged to my Granddad who was dead, so i had 2 weeks free insurance. and just ignored there demands for payment. nothing came of it.

the biggest joke was the admiral price on compare the market was only 600!

robbing bar stewards!

adidat

 

[mseries]

Maybe it's charge for using the phone for quotes. A way of encouraging the use of their website.

 

[devonwoody]

Are you sure it really was Saga? Never heard of an insurance company charging to give you a quote.
Just went to their website and got a quote.

I had to request she repeated her statement three times and it was a very ambiguous reply each time that would have need a barrister and a judge to sort out. So getting quite low quotes from money market at the moment. and found if you reduce the voluntry excesses to £100 the quote sometimes does not change. They try it on dont they!

 

[Woodchips2]

I've found MoneySupermarket.com http://www.moneysupermarket.com/?p=0&so ... -226445874 good for getting quotations and there's no automatic telephone call from the lowest quote. It oftens results in my staying with my current insurer at a lower price than the renewal quote because they treat you as 'new business'.

Regards Keith

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Points to watch when you switch your insurance -
1/ make sure you have insurance for commuting if you drive to and from work.
2/ make sure you still have third party cover if you occasionally drive other vehicles.
If you've had them before, these tend to be taken off without your noticing.

 

[RogerS]

Always found that Saga are a bit like Direct Line and cherry-pick their customers/cars. They have always come out very expensive for any quote I've tried - car, home etc. Personally I think they trade on their name.

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

This is all IMHO. Beware Saga.....I'm not going to bore you all with stories of people over 80 that I've helped by using comparison engines to reduce their Saga home insurance premiums but in 2 cases I got them from £450 down to less than £70 for the same cover. I might be wrong about this but it seems the old original Saga, which was setup by some philanthropic type whose aim was to help the elderly, was bought by venture capitalists to capitalise on the silver vote and indeed a generation that's not internet savvy and therefore typically doesn't use comparison engines.

Time after time I've "rescued" people in my Mother in laws circle who have been kippered by them for home and car insurance. It's a scandal waiting to happen.......where's Esther Rantzen when you need her???

 

[RogerS]

This is all IMHO. Beware Saga.....I'm not going to bore you all with stories of people over 80 that I've helped by using comparison engines to reduce their Saga home insurance premiums but in 2 cases I got them from £450 down to less than £70 for the same cover. I might be wrong about this but it seems the old original Saga, which was setup by some philanthropic type whose aim was to help the elderly, was bought by venture capitalists to capitalise on the silver vote and indeed a generation that's not internet savvy and therefore typically doesn't use comparison engines.

Time after time I've "rescued" people in my Mother in laws circle who have been kippered by them for home and car insurance. It's a scandal waiting to happen.......where's Esther Rantzen when you need her???

I agree with you 100%

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Saga? Rather like Age UK recommending expensive tariffs. They're big business.

 

[Lons]

I've never had a competitive quote from Saga and they always seem surprised when I say they aren't even in the ball park. What Bob says rings true, they are out only to make as much profit as possible.

Anyone who allows their insurance company to automatically renew is just plain lazy in my book and deserves to pay the premium that they always will for that "service".
I never go through comparison sites, they are biased towards those who give the most commission and don't offer all companies, i spend an hour ringing around and invariably get what I feel is a good deal.

Bob