vehicle insurance, something i have noticed

[jonnyboy666]

i have just insured my motorbike.

i got the renewal from Bennetts a few days ago and was surprised to see a hefty increase from about £100 to £175 for fully comp on a Bandit 600, no fairing, no claims, no points/penalties etc.

so as you do, i checked compare the meerkat etc, first quote was about £80 plus motor legal expenses (which mean they deal with problems for you) at about £20, this was equal cover to what i had in the previous £100 Bennetts policy and the same as what Bennetts would cover for £175.

so as i got paid yesterday i decided to sort it out today as the policy runs out on monday, so i called Bennetts and they said they'd drop the price to £153, still a bit off i thought so i said i wouldn't bother.

i then phoned Hastings Direct, who came top of the list on the Meerkat website and got fully comp including motor legal expenses for £107 including protected no claims and a reduced excess if i crash etc.

what makes me wonder is why there is such a difference? sometimes i wonder if your current insurer wants you to insure with them again at all? especially as when i used the compare websites Bennetts didn't even come up as an option. they seem not to care about your loyalty to stay with them, and why should you if the price keeps going up?

so do they now force you to change because they know you'll go looking anyway?

because that begs the question, do they take turns being the cheapest for a given type of customer so they all still get a bite of the pie?

or am i paranoid and reading too much into it?


:?

 

[MikeD]

sometimes i wonder if your current insurer wants you to insure with them again at all?

They're all mad keen for new business, and rely on the people who can't be bothered to shop around to subsidise cheap introductory premiums. Probably

Had a mad one a couple of months back -- had to renew my business insurance, which is with Direct Line. Renewal was 20% on last year, but if I stuck all my details back into DL as a new customer it was 20% below last year. Called them up, they couldn't match THEIR OWN premium.

I cancelled the old policy and hit the Buy button on the new one on my screen...

 

[jonnyboy666]

how stupid is that?! :shock:

this is what i mean, they seem to contradict themselves.

 

[silverclaws]

Seems I am not the only one beset with paranoia today, but if questions arise then they should be asked as an answer often soothes the mind and opens the wallet.

My perception of sites such as ''go compare'', ''confused'' and all the others is they take it in turns at who is to be the cheapest, so they all get a slice of the pie.

Insurers don't really care about continued custom anymore, they do enough to dissuade it, but they are certain another will come along any moment, because the law says we have to have insurance, they are to all intents and purposes in a profession where the law allows them to operate and ensures as long as they aren't greedy they will always have custom, a protected business perhaps.

But an idea seeing as we are in the EEC and there part of Europe can we not seek insurance through any other member state, say southern Ireland for example if the greed is too much to bear in the dear old UK. And it is with that I have managed to get insurance for my car, the cheapest possible by quite a big margin through Gibraltar, which is not strictly the EEC, but out of this country.

Why should we be limited to buying Insurance through the UK if for other services and products we can quite easily go to Europe ?

 

[raidan73]

Happened to me too. My car insurance renewal quote was around £440 with the previous year (1st year with them) being about £210.
Because I had used had used a price comparison site last year they automatically emailed me quotes for this year, and who was chepeast - my current company at around £210 again.
I phoned them and they couldn't match it so I went to one of the numerous other companies offering it for around £210.
I agree that they reckon on lots of new business from cheap first time quotes plus a reasonable percentage of people being too lazy or not getting around to shopping around and just accepting the inflated renewals.
I move company every year for every insurance policy I have (car, building, contents) because they never come close with their renewal prices.

 

[uktyler]

Bennetts did something similar to me, come renewal time the price went up, but not by a lot.

What did go up by a big chunk was my 'voluntary' excess. When I phoned them to find out why they told me they bump it up a bit each year.

Changing it back made no difference to the price of my cover, but I still went elsewhere.

 

[IDB1]

It's almost like insurance companies are penalising customers for not shopping around at renewal time.

The Wife and I were no re-insuring the truck and were getting quotes on a Zafira instead.
I'm 45, have 3 (SP30)points, no accidents and 3 years ncb.
She's 38, has an at fault accident and 1 years ncb.

Her quote, from the same broker, with the same company, via the same comparison website, was over £100 a year cheaper than mine.
Each with the other as a named driver.
Also the same company that wanted to charge me £200 to swap cover from a LWB 3.1TD Isuzu Trooper to a 1.8 Zafira for the remaining 3 months of the policy term.

Seems there's no logic

 

[claret73]

No point repeating the above posts, but ditto here...Liverpool Victoria whom I was with for 5/6 years doubled my quote last year, so went elsewhere & I'm under no illusion I'll be changing this year too even though, the accident I had which was no fault of mine they sorted out Superbly, never had service like it!! So I'd like to stay but guaranteed they'll hike my quote for renewal...

 

[azaro]

The insurance companies rely on complacency. A proportion of customers can't be bothered to shop around, so they bump up the quote knowing some will renew automatically.

If you go through a broker, then they take a cut and this will bump it up.

Had this myself with motorbike renewal - 40% increase despite another year's no claims and a decrease in bike value.
Went direct to the insurance company on line and got EXACTLY the same policy with EXACTLY the same company for less than the previous year.
Rang the broker and they could suddenly and miraculously do the policy for the same price. Asked them why they couldn't have done that to start with and got a load of corporate bull!
Told them where to stick it!

 

[kaytronika]

Mine has been creeping up year on year, but still the cheapest.
Not had a claim in ten years, no points, driving a 1.3 Mazda... But I'm in Liverpool, so it's open season for the insurance companies and I get stiffed for a £900 annual bill. I pay it in a lump sum because it's already expensive enough without an additional APR.

Ask why it's so expensive and the only excuse is 'high number of claims in your area'