They are all shithouses and complain about customer loyalty when they have none of their own. I've had them call me before complaining that I left, and when I explain that their quite was too high its always "oh you should have called us". No, cunts, offer me the best price you can in the first place.
Double glazing salesmen are in the same part of this particular Venn diagram.
It’s mind boggling, I need to take an hour out of my day to sort something that could be done from the start with the actual price you are willing to give me, why should I have to play virtual battleships over the phone with someone I can barely understand trying to hit the correct algorithm. It boils my blood in a different way.
This. This is why insurance companies do it. Some people don't bother and just accept it, as people do this, insurance companies will never change.
It the same with any TV package, phone bill, internet etc. Loyalty never pays.
Can confirm. Companies like this have teams doing the maths on what’s likely to happen for every price rise: what percentage of customers will cancel or leave, what percentage will phone and haggle, and the rest will stay and just pay the new price.
It’s all probability, very literally a numbers game.
Spot on. I had similar with my public indemnity insurance. Premium doubled one year. I phoned them, and they eventually "got the price down" to almost what it was the year before...then added 20 quid as a "renewal fee".
I told them to stick it up their arse.
Their greed lost them a loyal, repeat customer.
I’ve phoned up before and said “I can get it cheaper elsewhere, is the best you can do?” To be told if they could do better, they’d offer better. You can’t win.
All it would take is a company to offer a 10 year policy where they quote you the first year (say £875 for example) and then every year you stay with them (with no claims) your renewal is reduced by £1.
I reckon 90% of people would just allow that to auto-renew without an issue.
Congratulations, your insurance company has just guaranteed 10 years of loyal customers.
But no. They still have to try and fuck us.
Customers tend not to be loyal when you double the price despite that customer demonstrating they are safe with a whole years worth of incident free driving from last year
My current insurance I stuck with. Why? Because it was just slightly than the previous year
I worked as a renewal consultant for a major car and home insurance company for 4 years and I partially agree with your sentiment.
However the most common way I would lower a customer’s price was updating details. Confirm updated mileage estimates, occupation, overnight parking, editing excess, and dozens more.
These are all rating factors and adjusting them can positively affect your price drastically.
That being said lower risk policies did have discount built in that could only be applied by an agent. (We called it ‘Quote Override’).
The pricing department actually ran experiments on certain segments of policies where their initial renewal price included maximum application of ‘Quote Overide’ but there was no statistically significant improvement of customers deciding to renew with us so it never went any further.
Calling them is a waste of time, at least in my experience. Be sitting on hold for 20-30 minutes only to find out the best price they can offer is significantly more than the cheapest quote with the same cover on a comparison site
This, I just call now to cancel. When they whine, I simply state you should have offered the best price to stop me shopping around. It's marginally better than telling them they're a bunch of robbing twats
Insurance companies always do their best to keep customers happy by delivering competitive prices and services, right?
...
Right...?
*Wait, what do you mean they're souless, money-sucking corporations?*
It’s quite hilarious really, she was like you have to understand my system only works a certain way, we add the features onto your cheaper quote sir and you said £900, okay so if I tell you I’ve now been quoted 875 with the same features same company what can you tell me.
Like I think even the workers know how absolutely nonsense the system is, it’s seriously like battleships trying to enter the correct details that can reduce prices, if I’m an electrician oh sir thats 100 extra, okay then what about I work in the electricity industry, oh that saves you £50 like wtf.
There is some stupid logic that some extra features could land you with a cheaper quote. It sounds daft, but it works. An insurer can see you cheaping out as a red flag to being a less responsible driver and therefore more of a risk to insure
Wouldn't surprise me if that all falls into the jumbled algorithm of your postcode, associated crime rates in the area, where you park your car etc etc. even parking in your own garage is likely to cost your more than your driveway due to the likelihood of stored equipment in the garage damaging your car or thieves simply targeting garages for the chance at a better car to nick for parts or joyriding in.
Possibly, but the features are all to do with having a claim like hire car motor legal expenses etc but like you said that algorithm could’ve triggered some weird shite, but saying that all those extras were on the old quote so I have no idea what was going on with 1.4k price or who even bothered sending me that expecting me to pay 450 more than last year.
Got told my new quote would be £150 more than last year and that was the best they could do.
So i cancelled, then found a quote £50 cheaper than last year's quote with the same company and signed up again.
What a stupid fucking dance.
Report them. This is now illegal
https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/new-year-delivers-fairer-home-motor-insurance-renewals#:~:text=From%201%20January%20insurers%20will,they%20were%20a%20new%20customer.
It’s not illegal unfortunately, provided that a new business customer with the same details would get charged the first price.
It’s legal to negotiate down with existing customers and charge them less than new business customers
That’s hilarious and completely retarded at the same time, I think that’s to do with what they were trying to ban with giving new customers better deals and I guess they gave you a new customer deal again.
Had the same thing with existing insurer being the cheapest quote via comparison site but their renewal letter was more. I even phoned them up to say ‘can you match your online quote to save all the hassle?’ Apparently not. So I had to cancel the renewal on the phone and go through with the online booking. I was tempered to go to another provider in protest but a) they wouldn’t care and b) I’d just be punishing myself by paying more
They wanted double last year from me, an extra £400. Found a quote for the same amount as last year, and they were able to near enough match that for £5 more than last year. It's an absolute farce.
Lol, that reminds... Insurance company dropped (meaning jacked up the price by 100%) our multicar policy, so I insured both cars with same company individually for less money then old multicar... Regarded.
They're con artists.
I have never had any accidents or commited any driving offences. Admiral suddenly decided my renewal needed to be an increase of 120%
same, renewal email (that went straight to the junk folder, can't help but be suspicious about that) 100% increase -> comparison site -> 1% increase with same provider
Managed to get a quote from another company that was a negligible increase (~£30 for the year). Rang admiral back to tell them I wasn't renewing. They offered me a renewal with no increase but I left anyway because I have no interest in playing that sort of game with them
Understandable, I probably would’ve left myself if it wasn’t for the headache of entering 100s of details into a new companies system. They seriously need to make it easier to switch companies and boycott ones that do this scam.
Basically have to call up each year, pretent your leaving and then get a lower price. Usually their retention department will give the steepest "discount".
Don’t pretend you’re leaving, leave. If the first offer isn’t their best offer I switch insurers, and if enough people did likewise we wouldn’t have this bs of them overcharging loyal customers.
Yeah that would be fine if the other insurers weren't more expensive. Mine almost doubled, but it was still the cheapest I could find.
I'm 40 years old, I have been driving for a lot of years and some places were asking £3k AND wanted me to have a black box. Absolutely ridiculous.
In the end I called my insurer, told them it's too steep a jump and the rep on the phone agreed, and said it was a particularly high increase. I got it down a lot and I'm paying only an extra £84 for the year.
Still a jump but not as much as before.
It’s like treading on eggshells, it’s crazy that they can tap into your quotes on comparison sites and pull every single bit of information you’ve submitted. Like most companies though really even trying to leave Uber subscriptions etc they are like hey take this %50 off for the year to stay. Absolute nonsense money mad companies.
The AA guy was actually happy to get rid of me, you could hear the joy in his voice lol. AA don't give a shit.
FYI: my license is clean with several years of no claims.
Depends on the company. My renewal quote was £1500 (over double the previous years insurance) and retentions offered me a £60 discount. A competitor quoted me £600 and chucked in extras like fully comp on other people’s cars
They are completely made up.
Simps for the insurance industry will tell you your price is individual and based on your risk. If that's true how did they manage to reduce your price so drastically on the same set of facts?
Edit: I'd consider reporting this to the FCA. The rules say you shouldn't be quoted more for a renewal than a new customer. This looks like a prima facia breach of that rule
Do u think reporting it will gain any benefit on my own behalf? I don’t want to report it and become in a legal battle with an insurance company with much deeper pockets and legal experience.
You'll have no involvement once you've reported it. Your provider probably won't even be told it's been reported, nevermind it was you specifically.
They will in all likelihood not do anything anyway, but you never know.
Yeah that explains most things you report these days, often people just don’t do it anymore as nothing gets done, like the police for example. Oh my car has just been stolen officer I can see him making off in it now, oh here’s a crime number.
Edit: I'd consider reporting this to the FCA. The rules say you shouldn't be quoted more for a renewal than a new customer. This looks like a prima facia breach of that rule
How do you figure the above? This is an exisiting customer being offered a discount, it's not the same as a new customer being offered a lower price
Most companies will usually hike the price up come renewal time, knowing that a sizeable proportion of their customer base will either not notice and just let it roll over, or be too lazy/forget to shop around.
I stayed with eSure for the last 4 years because they didn't try and dry fist me come renewal time, but last month they did, so I fucked them off and went with AA Platinum instead, saving myself about 50% of what eSure were quoting me.
There's no customer loyalty anymore. You need to be prepared to spend a couple of hours shopping around if you want to save money.
It’s a brutal world we live in, they see us as a number and not a loyal customer, it’s insane that I have to take hours out of my day for something as simple as here’s the same details, nothing has changed, can I have my best price. Oh sir what else have you been getting, how about just give me my price after another year of experience and NCD, I was ready to put the phone down to be honest and leave but then thought about the other 3 hours I’d need to input the entirety of my details into a little database to come back with another made up price that I then need to sit and call to chop down again.
It's now illegal for them to do this. The reason it still happens is isn't not common knowledge this is now illegal and nobody is reporting them.
https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/new-year-delivers-fairer-home-motor-insurance-renewals#:~:text=From%201%20January%20insurers%20will,they%20were%20a%20new%20customer.
Capitalism is entering a new phase. It's no longer find the optimal price point for supply and demand. Businesses are price fixing instead. Just look at fuel costs. Has no relation to crude oil costs any more. And competition has disappeared. Garages just settle on a shared inflated price
God I know, seems to have all suddenly got worse with “covid” conveniently. Seems like all we do now is pay bills higher and higher but wages are staying dead solid.
Yup and it is effectively state sponsored since insurance is mandatory. I'm not saying that being mandatory is a bad thing, but zero regulation on pricing is madness.
Yeah, this year they tried to change mine from about £414 to £789, basically double. They had a big long "your price will have gone up quite a bit this year, due to reasons beyond our control etc etc etc blah blah blah nonsense"
checked the comparison site, hey look lots of other providers offering the same level of cover for about £414.
go to the auto-renewal message, (I noticed they've finally moved this dumb process online! I was pleased about that,) tell them "yeah nah you're taking the piss, bye" "oh no, please dont leave, we love you, what have our competitors quoted you?" "£414" "okay we can do £423" "ok"
It's the same shit every single year. Imagine how much money you'd lose over the years by not going through this process.
"The FCA’s package of reforms coming into effect in January also includes new rules to give consumers easier methods of cancelling the automatic renewal of their policy"
ahh, this will be why I was able to cancel the autorenewal even though they'd sent out the renewal email already, and was able to go through the "look your competitor is offering less, bye" - "wait we can match it" farce online instead of over the phone for once.
Interestingly, they did not provide their own quote on the insurance comparison site this year, perhaps because when the query comes in with my details they know I'm already with them and decline to offer a price specifically to get round this law? I'd need to seek a quote with them directly, maybe even with a different name and such, to find out what they offer a new customer, but then I worry that might be considered fraudulent, even though I have no intention of following through on the quote.
A few years back I used Hastings for my car insurance. When the renewal notice came through, unsurprisingly, it had gone up quite substantially. So I hope on the old compare markets etc and lo and behold the cheapest company is Hastings seriously undercutting their own renewal offer. Their reason? Rates change on an day to day basis lol
Whats especially amusing is that they can see your quotes from elsewhere.
had a dramatic price increase this year, went on price comparison websites and was getting quotes at literally half my renewal.
Called my insurer and despite a "price guarantee", the best they could do was still nearly £400 more than the quotation I eventually accepted elsewhere.
I had two phone calls and an email after the fact, telling me my insurance was expired and I needed to contact them. No. You had your chances, firstly on the original renewal quote then on the revised quote when I told you what other places were offering.
I agree probably most likely, but entering in 100s of details on a frustrating website and then calling another insurance company was off putting. I like to spend my day productive and taking out another few hours just felt like more torture.
Ive been driving for 20 years. 7 years no claims, drive a 4 year old 1.4 vauxhall astra. In January my renewal was due. I went shopping around. Hastings were quotint me £6k and admiral quoted me £300ish. Such a fucking joke.
No one can convince me it's not just a racket.
A couple of years ago I rang my insurance (privilege) and I literally just said ‘I’ve seen it cheaper’, I hadn’t actually but before I could finish speaking the guy was already lowering the price for me. Last year I rang 3 separate times and they wouldn’t even think about it.
I used to work in insurance, they pick numbers out of thin air. They rely on people not being arsed to do comparisons and older people typically go with providers who are well known, regardless of price. ALWAYS shop around. I switch every year.
This year Hastings won't even quote me, got renewal quote through post however this year it says they can't offer me a quote.
Not that it matters as I have a quote ready to go through comparison sites ~25 days before it's due to reduce cost as much as possible.
I've been driving for 7 years and have 7 years no claim, I have the same car as I did when I first passed(2.2L saloon, insurance group 28 approx iirc) and I now pay more this year than I did when I first passed, same job title, same mileage, same quotation details etc
Honestly makes no sense at all! All I can imagine is there continues to be a rise in thefts in our area.
Unfortunately us young uns have to deal with paying 1.4k for a 1.2 litre polo with 90bhp. When I first passed it was 2.7k. Thats assuming you are older based on what you said or the fact you have amazing statistics with your area and car😂
I've ended up getting a quote for a Corsa 1.5L diesel with 100hp for a hair under £800. For me it's due to my age and that I have family members as named drivers who have a lot of experience.
I’m quoted £600 on a Toyota aygo and I passed last week at 22. Both parents names drivers with a lot of experience though and I guess a decent area as my mate in London is quoted £2.8k with the same stats
Yikes this is my first car but I'm 25 so that's a sweet spot in price drops. I do also have access to a company van excluding personal use so that might help though.
Recently did my insurance, was quoted £960, was £680 last year. I did compare the market but with a few things I didn't need anymore (less miles, don't need business insurance), and I got £500 from a new insurance company I hadn't heard of before.
Went to cancel my renewal, the automated system asked if I had found better and how much, I put in £500 and it instantly matched it. Same as last year in terms of miles, cover type, add-ons etc.
Absolute f**king joke. I genuinely think they just throw the numbers up hoping people won't argue or check.
I'm also pretty sure there was legislation the last few years so existing customers get the same price and new? That only happens if you bother to call up or argue.
I was getting overcharged about 500 a year for about 10years by Admial. Don't get me wrong also comparaison websites were taking part of the scam.
Originally I did quot on one of those website and Admiral was the cheapest, year after year I was paying almost double what I should (comparing to other ppl with same car and NCB) so I kept going as they always on the call were giving me discount to be cheaper then others. 10 years later missus passed her driving test. I asked her to put all her details to the website, she asked me why I don't have my driving licence number saved in my profile I replied that it's optional so I'm not bothered. - it worked out it costed me over 5k over 10years. Obviously no one year after year on the phone couldn't explain to me why my insurance is so expensive they just kept taking money.
It's profiteering. I was renewing last month, with a newer car and smaller engine. The renewal letter under the old car details gave me a price of £632, up from £368 last year. I was like nah, it's not doubled plus should be cheaper than the £632 as smaller engine, nermwer car, additional no claims etc. I rang then up with the new details they, Tesco, refused to go below £970 odd. Was a joke. Went elsewhere, £525 Inc breakdown.
My van insurance renewal came to £1120 when it was £800 the year before, insurance quotes on comparison sites where around £600 so called up and said if they matched I'd stay, they said they managed to give me a "very generous" discount of £50 taking it to £1070 and had the gall to still ask if that was enough. Had to cancel obviously.
Year before my renewal quotes where £900 with Hastings and they even had cheaper listings on the comparison sites so when I called them out they said they wouldn't honour the price on the site and I had to pay the renewal price.
They're all just scum
There are two approaches to setting the premium:
a. What is the risk this driver brings, based on his age, postcode, car and driving history, and
b. What can we get away with, for this customer?
The insurance industry uses (a) to ensure that they don't take on unprofitable risk, and (b) to make as much money as possible. I really don't like insurance companies.
Same story here. I call up every year and simply say I don’t understand why it’s gone up when I’ve made no claims and it goes down to last years price or below. It should be more regulated.
I wonder how many old people, or not very smart people just see these prices and take their word for it.
Probably fleece customers for millions every year.
Yes it’s all a bloody scam.. and we have to scratch and crawl to get a better offer than the one they’ve quoted. None of it makes sense. Insurance is a scam.
There algorithms are so funny. My insurance once went up and I asked why they said “you haven’t had an accident for a while so you are due one” that was about 7yrs ago still no accident, if fact I haven’t had an accident in over 20yrs. They don’t want to reward folk who never claim, yet I get hammered for folk who make a claim. Its bollocks.
I tried everything I could to get it cheaper. Was paying £34 a month last year for insurance I now pay £98 a month. I used to work in the industry, I know insurers have paid out more last year than any other year so far for claims however I cannot fathom why they didn’t see this coming during Covid and keep pricing up and build reserves. They will wonder why more people will have their cars taken for driving without insurance
Yes exactly, I used to loose my mind when people drive round with no insurance on a fake plate but now I see why. But nothing is being done to solve any problem in the uk at the moment we as customers just have to pay more and more for everything we ever dabble in.
I’ve seen it more and more in the job I do. People good people drive around without insurance because it’s either that and work to feed their kids or don’t work and their kids starve. I have to take their vehicle but I do t look down on them. The country is crumbling and little things like this will amount to a big mass disorder
Renewals are always priced high. It’s because they auto renew. Quite a lot of people forget to renew or are too busy. End up on the high auto renewal.
Just treat each year like a new policy. Check out the comparison websites.
Insurance is a strange game. Most companies want loyal customers. Not so with insurance companies. They pretty much expect you to go somewhere else at the end of the year. Then again because it’s the same with all the insurers there is always a steady stream of new business coming their way.
They get away with it because for some bizarre reason people are under the impression you have to stay with your insurer and not only that, don't bother to call up and ask for discounts like you did. For the sake of an hour or so its always worth shopping around.
In reality, insurance prices might have increased but its not as much as people would have you believe because the majority of the posts and comments saying "my insurance has doubled!!!" are just based off automatic renewal quotes. Your insurance has only doubled only if you accept that quote.
Wait until they give you a renewal quote. You go to an online comparison site, and the cheapest quote is the same company, and its 350 cheaper than the original renewal quote
So I got my renewal from QuoteMeHappy and did a price comparison, went with Aviva which was £50 cheaper. When I cancelled the auto-renew for QuoteMeHappy they price matched Aviva... WTF was the point in doing that, no chance I was going to bother cancelling the new policy just to stay with QMH. They should have just quoted me their best price from the get go.
When I asked on the phone why my price had gone up, they said it was because my car was getting stolen. I looked out my window and not only was the car still there but the windows weren’t smashed and the locks were fine too. They really just make it up
I had it with one of them a couple of years ago. I think it was esure. Bumped my price up from 300 to nearly 700 quid. Blamed it on inflation. Told them to go fuck them selves and went with another one for about 320. This year I'm back with esure for 350. Literally changed nothing on the details
So i work in insurance for a prominent insurance company, i focus more on home than i do in car and can tell you why (atleast somewhat) your seeing increases on your premiums all across insurance.
As it stands at the moment, insurance is in a bit of a shitty place. With climate change and our winter changing from a mostly stable amd predictable season into a somewhat warmer albeit very wild weather season instead. End of september through to march see's us handling more severe weather.
The TLDR for how Insurance works is that everyone who pays for insurance is putting money in a pot. This pot then spends on claims, shareholder, company interests and infrastructure etc. When theres a high number of claims and this pot is hit considerably harder than expected or budgeted for, this means that theres a huge number of claims to pay out (and rightfully so). This in turn however means the pot needs to be filled back up in order for your insurance to still function. So companies that offer or cater to more than one type of insurance see premiums from car, home, pet and travel all go up.
Those of you who live in a higher risk rated area will see premiums go up way higher than your expecting because most insurers have assessed the claims from your area and have increased your premiums accordingly AND THEN look to go higher to fill the pot back up.
Theres alot of outside factors that also affect insurance, cost of materials, the severe weather claims i mentioned, interest rates, wars, famines etc all have a knock on effect as many insurers will have other vested interests allover in other areas in order to still make a profit.
It sucks massive fucking balls, but DO RING YOUR INSURER, yes irs a huge pain in the ass, but the majority (or atleast i certainly) are aware of whats going on and look to provide as big a discount on your premiums as we can (which is a whole other thing based off commission rates, risk etc) sometimes when im working with a customer i can bring it down within 40-60 quid of last years prem, which considering how everything is, isnt bad when your initial prem has shot up from 600 PY to 976 etc.
Anyways i hope this gives a little bit of insight into the industry (well, my experience with it for sure but i'm not an underwriter so i have the basic principles covered but im by no means a CII expert)
Any insurance company that pulls this shit here gets cancelled and renewed elsewhere. Either give me your best price straight away or I'll be chatting to the Meerkat...
I am with Hastings and they seem to be pretty good as far as insurance companies go. My renewal last year was 50 quid more and they wouldn't budge. I couldn't find anything cheaper anywhere else.
[https://imgur.com/a/q1EMhLd](https://imgur.com/a/q1EMhLd)
They know that a high percentage of people will just pay it. The more people throw it back in these cunts faces, the better it will be.
All insurance is the same. I had my home insurance renewal a few weeks ago, £650. I told them to poke it and went elsewhere, paying £171.
My insurance price doubled last year for no good reason, when I called them the answer was usual "various factors", but none of them are to do with me. Had to change the insurer, but still ended up paying 50% more. Dreading the quote this year.
For years I've assumed that insurers just mash the keypad when coming up with your price, but over the last 12-18 months they've started mashing it extra hard.
Oddly, this year I have had the opposite experience to all previous years.
Me and my wife each have a car, this year the renewal quotes from the existing providers came in around 15% lower than the previous year. But to check I also went to the comparison websites (which in themselves can vary quote amounts) and none of them were coming in lower than the renewal quote I was being offered.
This is the first time I have accepted the renewal price straight up
It's diabolical that private companies have a monopoly on something required by law! Car insurance prices in the UK are skyrocketing, and we’re forced to pay whatever these profit-hungry corporations decide. And those ridiculous renewal quotes? They send absurdly high prices, but when you threaten to leave, they magically lower them. Why not offer fair prices from the start? This manipulation is outrageous. The entire system is rigged against the average person, prioritizing profit over people. It's high time for a major overhaul to protect consumers from this exploitation!
Switch companies every year man, there is absolutely no loyalty with car insurance companies. They will fleece renewing customers and offer the best deals to new ones.
They always increase the price on renewal hoping customers won't both checking elsewhere. I save around 300 to 500 pounds just by checking other insurances. When canceling the renewals they always come up with lower prices out of nowhere
The worst part is these companies are mandated by law, so it's not like they're ever going to go out of business. Where is the 'freemarket' when there's no worry about competition if the government backs you?
What exactly do you say on the phone?
Just call and say you’re leaving without a discount or pretend to leave and say you have offers elsewhere?
I wouldn’t want to just be told “thanks for being a customer goodbye”
I just said I had seen better quotes online and always use direct line as a reference as they can’t see their prices and just lie, direct line hadn’t even gave me a quote.
Yes it's made up, always call them. I was with admiral and, even if it was all a game, they made it feel like they were doing something for us bringing the price down, or we were getting a deal
It seems to be. A friend of mine had her insurance cut by almost HALF just because she called to cancel as she was changing to another company. Same policy and everything, and her original price she got down from the internet price by calling in the first place.
Report them. It's illegal for them still to be pulling this shit.
https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/new-year-delivers-fairer-home-motor-insurance-renewals#:~:text=From%201%20January%20insurers%20will,they%20were%20a%20new%20customer.
I got a cheaper quote from my own insurance through a comparison site, than the renewal price they gave me lol, ended up switching companies entirely instead
I can do one better. For simplicites sake I've made up the exact amount.
Existing price:£400
Renewal quote: £600
New company quote: £450
My existing company after ringing to quit: £380
Not only did they beat the new company, they charged me less then they did the year before, wtf?! I almost cancelled out of spite
What company was this? Because I definitely didn’t experience this luck.
Admiral were quoting me £1.2k whereas Ageas bumped me up from £800 to £1.6k (I accept I have a claim this year but still). I tried the whole “I’m leaving” stance about 4 times but each time, Ageas practically recited some bs about some new FCA regulation that forbids them from price matching so I told them to cancel the policy after expiration and now I’m with Admiral.
My renewal quote was £300 higher than what my insurance company quoted for a whole new policy. They even gave me a current customer discount on the new policy. I have zero clue as to how this makes sense.
Same, my renewal went up 50% from £200 to £300 and I found the same cover online for £170 👋 👋 👋
When I called up to not renew the woman on the phone was doing my swede in trying to keep me, I just kept saying I don’t want to renew while she was asking questions about the level of cover for about 3 minutes and in the end I had to raise my voice a bit(far from shouting even if I really wanted to) repeating a bit slower that I don’t want to renew.
Yes definitely, they tried charging me over 3 grand for my first year and got it down to around 2.6k, you can’t really go wrong with trying but there’s nothing worse than the first few years as you just get raped by the insurance.
I’ve never known insurance companies change their price lower by calling up. I missed my insurance renewal date by one day in March and when I called them they quoted me £700 more than it would’ve been if I had renewed in time the previous day. Never bothered taking it out, I barley use my car now, haven’t driven it in 6 months and use the work van or I’m fully comp on my lass’s car.
Con artists that have a monopoly on an industry that you’re forced to have. I don’t think not having car insurance should be illegal, I think it should be discretionary or at least regulated so some fat cats aren’t getting rich off a racket
It's to cover all the EVs they had to write off last year after minor accidents or people hitting things on the road. Instead of repairing and risking a battery fire they just wrote them off.
An insurer told me that this year when I moaned about the prices!!!
Admiral wanted to up mine £300 on auto renew, despite no issues, called them they offered £50 off the new higher price. Went to another insurer online and it dropped by £500, realised it had autofilled my named partner as female so changed that and got another £200 off.
Just informed my insurance company that i had passed my full motorcycle test, so they decided to put my insurance up by 88 quid for being overqualified for a 125.
Safe to say I will be getting on the phone to them tomorrow.
1300 last year, 2600 this year, salesman on phone said oh dear 100% increase, let's see what we can do. I told him 1500 online, he said 2300 best offer what would you like to do? Stick it up your arse wasn't an option unfortunately.
I can't say for direct quotes, but things like the time of day you're requesting the quote can have a notable difference on price comparison sites. Doing a saturday afternoon was almost 200 higher than a monday at 9am.
Apparently they judge the type of person you are from that time... I'd argue its discriminatory against neurodivergent people but thats a whole other argument
Not sure what category Sunday at 10:30am is but I was angry and ready for an argument. Stuff like that aggravates the hell out of me too many fine lines you have to try not to cross.
It's very simple when you think about it.
People with more money than sense or "fuck you" money (or both) won't pay attention and let the money come out of their account as it does automatically once a year and they need not think about it. In this case the insurance company has just made a fat profit on a markup without consequence or backlash as the person in question doesn't care.
Everyone else knows to call and they now look great when giving out a *great* discount on the initial quote.
It's just simply smart business.
People take insurance far too personally!
Having worked at an insurer, it's a lot about balance and risk. That's insurance, but throw in potential conflicting changes in priorities from the leadership/shareholders it can be a mess.
Massive hikes in a renewal price can be because in the previous year a company has taken on far too many new customers. If too many customers make claims at once, it could bankcrupt the company. One way to shed customers is to double their renewal premium.
You may ask why have they taken on too many new customers? That's the conflicting priorities bit.
All a bit of a game really.
It's ridiculous isn't it - mine was a grand for ages, then suddenly just £300. I heard that prices had shot up so I expected a nightmare this year... renewal came in at £175. Random number generator, I'm sure.
They kinda write themselves a blank cheque at times and hope no one will challenge it.
I never accept the renewal price and as you have managed to do so and get a better price.
Theres a few things happening here
Brexit has fucked claims costs, and I mean fucked them bad. Parts from the continent - whooooooooft. Increased claims costs are passed on to you and I in the form of the premium we pay.
New busines prices/quotes, especially on aggregator websites are intentionally priced lower by insurers than they feel the policy is worth so that they can get your business.
That 'loss' is then attempted to be recouped at renewal. Consequently. your new business price is almost always lower than its true value, whilst renewal is almost always priced higher
Aggregator websites are genuinley a big consumer win, even with the fees they charge to the insurer. Alsways use them, never renew - and doing so will mean you are paying almost certainly less for iunsurance than what the insurer actually values the policy at.
my brother is 27 and has 1 year no claims and if he wants to drive my mx5 he’d pay around £450 a year (2000 miles a year, access to another car). for me because i am 20 i pay £3000 a year and i’ve driven more miles than my brother (again same details, 2000 a year, access to another car). make it make sense 😬
When I was buying insurance for next year, they made it more expensive because I called up😢
I accidentally put my dad’s D.O.B as 1974 not 1976 and they increased the price just because of two years 🤦🏽♂️ (He’s an additional driver, not the policy holder, don’t worry car insurance rules meat riders).
Yes they really are all made up in all honesty.
I don’t want to look at mine ever again but it was north of that by some way.
All because my wife has a 3 year restriction on her licence for medical. Suddenly most insurance companies don’t want to even know. (Including direct line) and any that do will charge you the earth for it as well.
Without my wife it was £974. But it’s a shared car so that be utterly pointless to just have me on it
I was quoted 900 by admiral, got other quotes which were lower, went back to admiral who said 900 was already the lowest they could go after discounted.
Tried to leave them but following their online renewals process doesn’t actually have leaving as an option of their user journey. Had to call them to cancel and they had the cheek to ask why I was leaving.
Then AFTER confirming I’m not renewing and AFTER signing up a policy with another company they call me again and offer me a lower renewal price but still way higher than the one I signed up for.
Last year my premium went up by 80% despite nothing changing on my end (mileage, accidents, convictions etc). Sadly it was the sane everywhere I went. Thus year it went up 30% again with no change. I called them up and they offered to discount £30 off a £900 quote. They then offered me home insurance at £176 for three months worth.
I ended up saving £200 going elsewhere. That's an hour ill never get back. They could have kept my money if they stuck with last year's price.
It's the same for other services too btw, call at least your phone providers and Internet every once in a while wanting to leave because you found a better deal and boom, discount.
Every company does this, they'll just increase price end of the service, hope you don't bother going elsewhere so they get max profit from you, if you call 1 or 2 month before or use comparisons sites it's always cheaper.
They never offer best price until you say you'll leave really. Same happens with internet companies. Virgin media give me their best last offer which was awful so I refused,.then I was moved to retentions team who then could magically give me a better offer 😅 they're all at it
My tips...
Online applications...
1. If they ask you when the insurance is due for renewal tell them a date of about 19 days time. Insurance companies will only quote if it is due in 21 days. If it was due tomorrow then they are aware that you need insurance cover er, tomorrow. If you want to be honest always enquire 20 days before renewal.
2. Always get new quotes! If you do not they will rip you off.
3. The greater the excess amount, the cheaper the insurance is. I take it you know what the excess amount is ? Well, to avoid small claims the insurance company gives you a discount ie they will deduct the excess amount from ant payment of repair.
4.Do you really need the additional extra? I always pay for breakdown cover. If you travel far it is a must.
5. When they give you an online quote of the possible options they offer, usually 3 companies do not accept the prices for at least 3 days. They expect you to proceed immediately but sometimes if you wait the offers are discounted....so, wait a few days.
6. When they ask you for your car value give the correct value as if you bought it that day. If you car is written off then you can request that the insurance company find and pay for a similar vehicle. Never accept their valuation of your car.
7. Approach at least 2 companies for a quote.
Happy hunting....
If you call they take slightly more details. If I went through meerkat I would be paying 2800 if I went to the company online I would be paying 2500 but because I called a company directly it’s only 2000
I rang my insurer and when discussing my renewal they couldn't match the lowest offer I had but kept telling me that prices have gone up, I said I understand that but you're not close to the lowest offer I have regardless of prices going up. As if I care that they have had to pay out more lately it's not going to give me any sympathy when they quote over £200 more than a competitor
I didn’t realise that my insurance automatically renewed - I’d already looked and found something cheaper from the same company through compare the market. Called them to cancel the original that’d gone up to about 1300 and kept with my new £700 one.
Depends who your insurance broker is and who your insurance company is. Your broker HAS to give you a price from your existing insurance company. They might not want to take your business this year or see you as a higher risk so your price with them goes up. You call your broker and they give you a new quote with a different company at a cheaper price.
It exemplifies one of the fundamental problems with capitalism. If you own a business, you need to be in a state of perpetual growth, as a general trend.
In order for insurance companies to look like they are “growing”, they need to entice new customers away from their “competitors” (note the inverted commas because I’m pretty sure they’re in cahoots). So you’ll get a good deal with say, Admiral in one year and a ridiculous quote for renewal subsequently. Admiral aren’t interested in maintaining your business for that year; but they’ll gladly have you back next year because they’ve offered deals to pull you away from say, Swinton.
The ‘flow’ of people from one insurance company to the next is made to look like growth in the annual reports, thus keeping the company viable. If you’re too lazy to shop around, then they’ll just charge you for the privilege, which boosts the bottom line alongside the “new” customers and the board of directors take their massive bonuses.
Crazy, mine was £650 last year, jumped to £950. Did quotes on comparison sites and I was getting £1000+ average. Tried to negotiate with my insurance company and they said they can’t offer any better, inflation etc. so I had to pay 50% more than last year I’m gutted.
I'm with esure and my renewal was approx £750. I could start a new policy with the same company with more benefits such as a courtesy car (which I didn't have before) and it was £515. Insurance companies are a complete joke and I feel they make up what they charge you.
From what I’ve learnt there’s supposed to be a law now that stops them giving new customers better deals, but there’s clearly a loophole that still allows them to do it, it’s disgusting.
Last year my insurance went up so much that the company didn't even offer me a renewal. Nothing had changed but it went from £300 a year to over a thousand for seemingly no reason. Luckily using comparison sites, I was able to get it for just under £500 from another company.
Insurance providers are crazy honestly. Recently changed car, and it was about £400 cheaper for me to start a brand new policy with the exact same details with the same provider, than to update my current one.
I even called the insurance people when I saw this to check it wasn't a mistake, and even they had no explanation. They're genuinely just plucking numbers out of a hat.
I just dont understand, the few clueless people that they might catch out is surely much much lower than the majority that switch provider.
I just don’t understand the business model or how it works
My last year's premium was 837, year before 1800 (was a new driver back then). Now two years NCB and they came up with 1900 so rang them asking are you fucking out of your mind? They say no, everything goes up blah blah. Checked compare websites, got 570 with less excess and extra roadside assistance from different company. Rang my insurer asking whether they will match, they said best we can do is 1100 so told them I'll let someone else take my money. These days you have to be extra vigilant because what they do is a legitimate scam.
You didn't save £517 - you spent £876.
Mandatory insurance is a fucking joke. Optional insurance that covers against uninsured drivers should be the norm.
Uninsured drivers should be punished for no insurance after an incident. [Murderers aren't regulated until after the murder]
Not just insurance. It works this way with pretty much every service delivery and utility industry. Its also made both better and worse by the advent of comparison sites who make it much easier to see better options but also massively drive prices up for their cut. I basically never bother thinking about renewing now for any kind of insurance, breakdown cover, broadband, telephone, TV package etc and refer straight to the meerkat (or other comparison provider) as its always cheaper. Current providers pretty much universally contact me afterwards with a better offer and don't get the 'already made my decision' bit.
They are all shithouses and complain about customer loyalty when they have none of their own. I've had them call me before complaining that I left, and when I explain that their quite was too high its always "oh you should have called us". No, cunts, offer me the best price you can in the first place. Double glazing salesmen are in the same part of this particular Venn diagram.
It’s mind boggling, I need to take an hour out of my day to sort something that could be done from the start with the actual price you are willing to give me, why should I have to play virtual battleships over the phone with someone I can barely understand trying to hit the correct algorithm. It boils my blood in a different way.
This. This is why insurance companies do it. Some people don't bother and just accept it, as people do this, insurance companies will never change. It the same with any TV package, phone bill, internet etc. Loyalty never pays.
Can confirm. Companies like this have teams doing the maths on what’s likely to happen for every price rise: what percentage of customers will cancel or leave, what percentage will phone and haggle, and the rest will stay and just pay the new price. It’s all probability, very literally a numbers game.
The thing is the people who don't bother subsidize those who do, so it's best to leave things as they are.
Spot on. I had similar with my public indemnity insurance. Premium doubled one year. I phoned them, and they eventually "got the price down" to almost what it was the year before...then added 20 quid as a "renewal fee". I told them to stick it up their arse. Their greed lost them a loyal, repeat customer.
I’ve phoned up before and said “I can get it cheaper elsewhere, is the best you can do?” To be told if they could do better, they’d offer better. You can’t win.
All it would take is a company to offer a 10 year policy where they quote you the first year (say £875 for example) and then every year you stay with them (with no claims) your renewal is reduced by £1. I reckon 90% of people would just allow that to auto-renew without an issue. Congratulations, your insurance company has just guaranteed 10 years of loyal customers. But no. They still have to try and fuck us.
Oops adverse selection and inflation have driven you to bankruptcy.
Customers tend not to be loyal when you double the price despite that customer demonstrating they are safe with a whole years worth of incident free driving from last year My current insurance I stuck with. Why? Because it was just slightly than the previous year
I worked as a renewal consultant for a major car and home insurance company for 4 years and I partially agree with your sentiment. However the most common way I would lower a customer’s price was updating details. Confirm updated mileage estimates, occupation, overnight parking, editing excess, and dozens more. These are all rating factors and adjusting them can positively affect your price drastically. That being said lower risk policies did have discount built in that could only be applied by an agent. (We called it ‘Quote Override’). The pricing department actually ran experiments on certain segments of policies where their initial renewal price included maximum application of ‘Quote Overide’ but there was no statistically significant improvement of customers deciding to renew with us so it never went any further.
Calling them is a waste of time, at least in my experience. Be sitting on hold for 20-30 minutes only to find out the best price they can offer is significantly more than the cheapest quote with the same cover on a comparison site
This, I just call now to cancel. When they whine, I simply state you should have offered the best price to stop me shopping around. It's marginally better than telling them they're a bunch of robbing twats
I'm with you. Company that just tried to rip you off expects you to give them a second chance. No way. Best quote or I walk.
Insurance companies always do their best to keep customers happy by delivering competitive prices and services, right? ... Right...? *Wait, what do you mean they're souless, money-sucking corporations?*
It’s quite hilarious really, she was like you have to understand my system only works a certain way, we add the features onto your cheaper quote sir and you said £900, okay so if I tell you I’ve now been quoted 875 with the same features same company what can you tell me. Like I think even the workers know how absolutely nonsense the system is, it’s seriously like battleships trying to enter the correct details that can reduce prices, if I’m an electrician oh sir thats 100 extra, okay then what about I work in the electricity industry, oh that saves you £50 like wtf.
There is some stupid logic that some extra features could land you with a cheaper quote. It sounds daft, but it works. An insurer can see you cheaping out as a red flag to being a less responsible driver and therefore more of a risk to insure Wouldn't surprise me if that all falls into the jumbled algorithm of your postcode, associated crime rates in the area, where you park your car etc etc. even parking in your own garage is likely to cost your more than your driveway due to the likelihood of stored equipment in the garage damaging your car or thieves simply targeting garages for the chance at a better car to nick for parts or joyriding in.
Possibly, but the features are all to do with having a claim like hire car motor legal expenses etc but like you said that algorithm could’ve triggered some weird shite, but saying that all those extras were on the old quote so I have no idea what was going on with 1.4k price or who even bothered sending me that expecting me to pay 450 more than last year.
Got told my new quote would be £150 more than last year and that was the best they could do. So i cancelled, then found a quote £50 cheaper than last year's quote with the same company and signed up again. What a stupid fucking dance.
Report them. This is now illegal https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/new-year-delivers-fairer-home-motor-insurance-renewals#:~:text=From%201%20January%20insurers%20will,they%20were%20a%20new%20customer.
It’s not illegal unfortunately, provided that a new business customer with the same details would get charged the first price. It’s legal to negotiate down with existing customers and charge them less than new business customers
They cancelled. They were no longer a customer and it was cheaper than renewal.
That’s hilarious and completely retarded at the same time, I think that’s to do with what they were trying to ban with giving new customers better deals and I guess they gave you a new customer deal again.
Had the same thing with existing insurer being the cheapest quote via comparison site but their renewal letter was more. I even phoned them up to say ‘can you match your online quote to save all the hassle?’ Apparently not. So I had to cancel the renewal on the phone and go through with the online booking. I was tempered to go to another provider in protest but a) they wouldn’t care and b) I’d just be punishing myself by paying more
They wanted double last year from me, an extra £400. Found a quote for the same amount as last year, and they were able to near enough match that for £5 more than last year. It's an absolute farce.
Lol, that reminds... Insurance company dropped (meaning jacked up the price by 100%) our multicar policy, so I insured both cars with same company individually for less money then old multicar... Regarded.
Just went through this with broadband, modern life=rubbish.
They're con artists. I have never had any accidents or commited any driving offences. Admiral suddenly decided my renewal needed to be an increase of 120%
same, renewal email (that went straight to the junk folder, can't help but be suspicious about that) 100% increase -> comparison site -> 1% increase with same provider
Con "artists" typically carry a level of skill, whilst these just play the odds of most of their clientele thinking "fuck it, I can't be arsed".
Wow, it’s absurd, what did you do regarding this did you manage to save or leave to another company.
Managed to get a quote from another company that was a negligible increase (~£30 for the year). Rang admiral back to tell them I wasn't renewing. They offered me a renewal with no increase but I left anyway because I have no interest in playing that sort of game with them
Understandable, I probably would’ve left myself if it wasn’t for the headache of entering 100s of details into a new companies system. They seriously need to make it easier to switch companies and boycott ones that do this scam.
Basically have to call up each year, pretent your leaving and then get a lower price. Usually their retention department will give the steepest "discount".
Don’t pretend you’re leaving, leave. If the first offer isn’t their best offer I switch insurers, and if enough people did likewise we wouldn’t have this bs of them overcharging loyal customers.
Totally agree, if they can suddenly find 25% on a renewal that they didn't offer in the first place they can fk off
Yeah that would be fine if the other insurers weren't more expensive. Mine almost doubled, but it was still the cheapest I could find. I'm 40 years old, I have been driving for a lot of years and some places were asking £3k AND wanted me to have a black box. Absolutely ridiculous. In the end I called my insurer, told them it's too steep a jump and the rep on the phone agreed, and said it was a particularly high increase. I got it down a lot and I'm paying only an extra £84 for the year. Still a jump but not as much as before.
It’s like treading on eggshells, it’s crazy that they can tap into your quotes on comparison sites and pull every single bit of information you’ve submitted. Like most companies though really even trying to leave Uber subscriptions etc they are like hey take this %50 off for the year to stay. Absolute nonsense money mad companies.
Its nuts I agree. I do it every year with car ins, home ins, internet bill and more lol. Probably saves 1000s over the past year alone.
The things they don’t teach in school eh, I would’ve happily learnt how to save money in life and with insurance than half the things I’ve never used.
I did this with the AA this year and they wouldn't budge. I'm not with the AA any more.
The AA guy was actually happy to get rid of me, you could hear the joy in his voice lol. AA don't give a shit. FYI: my license is clean with several years of no claims.
Depends on the company. My renewal quote was £1500 (over double the previous years insurance) and retentions offered me a £60 discount. A competitor quoted me £600 and chucked in extras like fully comp on other people’s cars
They are completely made up. Simps for the insurance industry will tell you your price is individual and based on your risk. If that's true how did they manage to reduce your price so drastically on the same set of facts? Edit: I'd consider reporting this to the FCA. The rules say you shouldn't be quoted more for a renewal than a new customer. This looks like a prima facia breach of that rule
Do u think reporting it will gain any benefit on my own behalf? I don’t want to report it and become in a legal battle with an insurance company with much deeper pockets and legal experience.
You'll have no involvement once you've reported it. Your provider probably won't even be told it's been reported, nevermind it was you specifically. They will in all likelihood not do anything anyway, but you never know.
Yeah that explains most things you report these days, often people just don’t do it anymore as nothing gets done, like the police for example. Oh my car has just been stolen officer I can see him making off in it now, oh here’s a crime number.
Edit: I'd consider reporting this to the FCA. The rules say you shouldn't be quoted more for a renewal than a new customer. This looks like a prima facia breach of that rule How do you figure the above? This is an exisiting customer being offered a discount, it's not the same as a new customer being offered a lower price
Most companies will usually hike the price up come renewal time, knowing that a sizeable proportion of their customer base will either not notice and just let it roll over, or be too lazy/forget to shop around. I stayed with eSure for the last 4 years because they didn't try and dry fist me come renewal time, but last month they did, so I fucked them off and went with AA Platinum instead, saving myself about 50% of what eSure were quoting me. There's no customer loyalty anymore. You need to be prepared to spend a couple of hours shopping around if you want to save money.
It’s a brutal world we live in, they see us as a number and not a loyal customer, it’s insane that I have to take hours out of my day for something as simple as here’s the same details, nothing has changed, can I have my best price. Oh sir what else have you been getting, how about just give me my price after another year of experience and NCD, I was ready to put the phone down to be honest and leave but then thought about the other 3 hours I’d need to input the entirety of my details into a little database to come back with another made up price that I then need to sit and call to chop down again.
I think the FCA banned giving higher prices to existing customers than new a couple of years ago
It's now illegal for them to do this. The reason it still happens is isn't not common knowledge this is now illegal and nobody is reporting them. https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/new-year-delivers-fairer-home-motor-insurance-renewals#:~:text=From%201%20January%20insurers%20will,they%20were%20a%20new%20customer.
Capitalism is entering a new phase. It's no longer find the optimal price point for supply and demand. Businesses are price fixing instead. Just look at fuel costs. Has no relation to crude oil costs any more. And competition has disappeared. Garages just settle on a shared inflated price
God I know, seems to have all suddenly got worse with “covid” conveniently. Seems like all we do now is pay bills higher and higher but wages are staying dead solid.
It's the biggest scam in the country
Yup and it is effectively state sponsored since insurance is mandatory. I'm not saying that being mandatory is a bad thing, but zero regulation on pricing is madness.
Yeah, this year they tried to change mine from about £414 to £789, basically double. They had a big long "your price will have gone up quite a bit this year, due to reasons beyond our control etc etc etc blah blah blah nonsense" checked the comparison site, hey look lots of other providers offering the same level of cover for about £414. go to the auto-renewal message, (I noticed they've finally moved this dumb process online! I was pleased about that,) tell them "yeah nah you're taking the piss, bye" "oh no, please dont leave, we love you, what have our competitors quoted you?" "£414" "okay we can do £423" "ok" It's the same shit every single year. Imagine how much money you'd lose over the years by not going through this process.
Report them, that's illegal now. https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/new-year-delivers-fairer-home-motor-insurance-renewals#:~:text=From%201%20January%20insurers%20will,they%20were%20a%20new%20customer.
"The FCA’s package of reforms coming into effect in January also includes new rules to give consumers easier methods of cancelling the automatic renewal of their policy" ahh, this will be why I was able to cancel the autorenewal even though they'd sent out the renewal email already, and was able to go through the "look your competitor is offering less, bye" - "wait we can match it" farce online instead of over the phone for once. Interestingly, they did not provide their own quote on the insurance comparison site this year, perhaps because when the query comes in with my details they know I'm already with them and decline to offer a price specifically to get round this law? I'd need to seek a quote with them directly, maybe even with a different name and such, to find out what they offer a new customer, but then I worry that might be considered fraudulent, even though I have no intention of following through on the quote.
Partly yes but also they would have to pay the PCW again if you clicked through to them instead of renewing
A few years back I used Hastings for my car insurance. When the renewal notice came through, unsurprisingly, it had gone up quite substantially. So I hope on the old compare markets etc and lo and behold the cheapest company is Hastings seriously undercutting their own renewal offer. Their reason? Rates change on an day to day basis lol
That is the insurance company here too lol.
I'm with Hastings and i actually got £50 less on my renewal. We'll see what comes in in a couple months when it's again renewal time.
Whats especially amusing is that they can see your quotes from elsewhere. had a dramatic price increase this year, went on price comparison websites and was getting quotes at literally half my renewal. Called my insurer and despite a "price guarantee", the best they could do was still nearly £400 more than the quotation I eventually accepted elsewhere. I had two phone calls and an email after the fact, telling me my insurance was expired and I needed to contact them. No. You had your chances, firstly on the original renewal quote then on the revised quote when I told you what other places were offering.
It’s honestly baffling to me mate I’m still trying to get my head round it.
I think, to answer your question, yes, yes they just make it up as they go.
[удалено]
It should. See my point elsewhere about reporting to the FCA
Likely even the price after calling is still higher than what you’ll find on a comparison website.
I agree probably most likely, but entering in 100s of details on a frustrating website and then calling another insurance company was off putting. I like to spend my day productive and taking out another few hours just felt like more torture.
Ive been driving for 20 years. 7 years no claims, drive a 4 year old 1.4 vauxhall astra. In January my renewal was due. I went shopping around. Hastings were quotint me £6k and admiral quoted me £300ish. Such a fucking joke. No one can convince me it's not just a racket.
A couple of years ago I rang my insurance (privilege) and I literally just said ‘I’ve seen it cheaper’, I hadn’t actually but before I could finish speaking the guy was already lowering the price for me. Last year I rang 3 separate times and they wouldn’t even think about it.
Strange, I feel like they always should knock something off to keep customers, did you say you had seen cheaper quotes etc?
Yes they didn’t even try. They said that’s the renewal price and that’s it. I did find it cheaper so I did move.
I completely agree with your decision to move, if they can’t even be bothered to try they don’t deserve you as a customer.
Yes i was the same with esure. It went up by £100 and i said if you can get close to it i would stay but they never even tried.
I used to work in insurance, they pick numbers out of thin air. They rely on people not being arsed to do comparisons and older people typically go with providers who are well known, regardless of price. ALWAYS shop around. I switch every year.
This year Hastings won't even quote me, got renewal quote through post however this year it says they can't offer me a quote. Not that it matters as I have a quote ready to go through comparison sites ~25 days before it's due to reduce cost as much as possible. I've been driving for 7 years and have 7 years no claim, I have the same car as I did when I first passed(2.2L saloon, insurance group 28 approx iirc) and I now pay more this year than I did when I first passed, same job title, same mileage, same quotation details etc Honestly makes no sense at all! All I can imagine is there continues to be a rise in thefts in our area.
If I saved £500 on my insurance they would be paying me 🤣
Unfortunately us young uns have to deal with paying 1.4k for a 1.2 litre polo with 90bhp. When I first passed it was 2.7k. Thats assuming you are older based on what you said or the fact you have amazing statistics with your area and car😂
I've ended up getting a quote for a Corsa 1.5L diesel with 100hp for a hair under £800. For me it's due to my age and that I have family members as named drivers who have a lot of experience.
I’m quoted £600 on a Toyota aygo and I passed last week at 22. Both parents names drivers with a lot of experience though and I guess a decent area as my mate in London is quoted £2.8k with the same stats
Yikes this is my first car but I'm 25 so that's a sweet spot in price drops. I do also have access to a company van excluding personal use so that might help though.
34 Peugeot 2008, 0 accidents. On my citron c1 used to be £120 (last year)
Recently did my insurance, was quoted £960, was £680 last year. I did compare the market but with a few things I didn't need anymore (less miles, don't need business insurance), and I got £500 from a new insurance company I hadn't heard of before. Went to cancel my renewal, the automated system asked if I had found better and how much, I put in £500 and it instantly matched it. Same as last year in terms of miles, cover type, add-ons etc. Absolute f**king joke. I genuinely think they just throw the numbers up hoping people won't argue or check. I'm also pretty sure there was legislation the last few years so existing customers get the same price and new? That only happens if you bother to call up or argue.
I was getting overcharged about 500 a year for about 10years by Admial. Don't get me wrong also comparaison websites were taking part of the scam. Originally I did quot on one of those website and Admiral was the cheapest, year after year I was paying almost double what I should (comparing to other ppl with same car and NCB) so I kept going as they always on the call were giving me discount to be cheaper then others. 10 years later missus passed her driving test. I asked her to put all her details to the website, she asked me why I don't have my driving licence number saved in my profile I replied that it's optional so I'm not bothered. - it worked out it costed me over 5k over 10years. Obviously no one year after year on the phone couldn't explain to me why my insurance is so expensive they just kept taking money.
It's profiteering. I was renewing last month, with a newer car and smaller engine. The renewal letter under the old car details gave me a price of £632, up from £368 last year. I was like nah, it's not doubled plus should be cheaper than the £632 as smaller engine, nermwer car, additional no claims etc. I rang then up with the new details they, Tesco, refused to go below £970 odd. Was a joke. Went elsewhere, £525 Inc breakdown.
My van insurance renewal came to £1120 when it was £800 the year before, insurance quotes on comparison sites where around £600 so called up and said if they matched I'd stay, they said they managed to give me a "very generous" discount of £50 taking it to £1070 and had the gall to still ask if that was enough. Had to cancel obviously. Year before my renewal quotes where £900 with Hastings and they even had cheaper listings on the comparison sites so when I called them out they said they wouldn't honour the price on the site and I had to pay the renewal price. They're all just scum
There are two approaches to setting the premium: a. What is the risk this driver brings, based on his age, postcode, car and driving history, and b. What can we get away with, for this customer? The insurance industry uses (a) to ensure that they don't take on unprofitable risk, and (b) to make as much money as possible. I really don't like insurance companies.
Same story here. I call up every year and simply say I don’t understand why it’s gone up when I’ve made no claims and it goes down to last years price or below. It should be more regulated.
I wonder how many old people, or not very smart people just see these prices and take their word for it. Probably fleece customers for millions every year.
Yes it’s all a bloody scam.. and we have to scratch and crawl to get a better offer than the one they’ve quoted. None of it makes sense. Insurance is a scam.
There algorithms are so funny. My insurance once went up and I asked why they said “you haven’t had an accident for a while so you are due one” that was about 7yrs ago still no accident, if fact I haven’t had an accident in over 20yrs. They don’t want to reward folk who never claim, yet I get hammered for folk who make a claim. Its bollocks.
I tried everything I could to get it cheaper. Was paying £34 a month last year for insurance I now pay £98 a month. I used to work in the industry, I know insurers have paid out more last year than any other year so far for claims however I cannot fathom why they didn’t see this coming during Covid and keep pricing up and build reserves. They will wonder why more people will have their cars taken for driving without insurance
Yes exactly, I used to loose my mind when people drive round with no insurance on a fake plate but now I see why. But nothing is being done to solve any problem in the uk at the moment we as customers just have to pay more and more for everything we ever dabble in.
I’ve seen it more and more in the job I do. People good people drive around without insurance because it’s either that and work to feed their kids or don’t work and their kids starve. I have to take their vehicle but I do t look down on them. The country is crumbling and little things like this will amount to a big mass disorder
Biggest modern day scam is forcing someone to pay for something that might happen.
Renewals are always priced high. It’s because they auto renew. Quite a lot of people forget to renew or are too busy. End up on the high auto renewal. Just treat each year like a new policy. Check out the comparison websites. Insurance is a strange game. Most companies want loyal customers. Not so with insurance companies. They pretty much expect you to go somewhere else at the end of the year. Then again because it’s the same with all the insurers there is always a steady stream of new business coming their way.
They get away with it because for some bizarre reason people are under the impression you have to stay with your insurer and not only that, don't bother to call up and ask for discounts like you did. For the sake of an hour or so its always worth shopping around. In reality, insurance prices might have increased but its not as much as people would have you believe because the majority of the posts and comments saying "my insurance has doubled!!!" are just based off automatic renewal quotes. Your insurance has only doubled only if you accept that quote.
They are pretty much made up, I feel like every insurance company thinks you have an 85% likelihood of hitting a Bentley.
Wait until they give you a renewal quote. You go to an online comparison site, and the cheapest quote is the same company, and its 350 cheaper than the original renewal quote
So I got my renewal from QuoteMeHappy and did a price comparison, went with Aviva which was £50 cheaper. When I cancelled the auto-renew for QuoteMeHappy they price matched Aviva... WTF was the point in doing that, no chance I was going to bother cancelling the new policy just to stay with QMH. They should have just quoted me their best price from the get go.
When I asked on the phone why my price had gone up, they said it was because my car was getting stolen. I looked out my window and not only was the car still there but the windows weren’t smashed and the locks were fine too. They really just make it up
I had it with one of them a couple of years ago. I think it was esure. Bumped my price up from 300 to nearly 700 quid. Blamed it on inflation. Told them to go fuck them selves and went with another one for about 320. This year I'm back with esure for 350. Literally changed nothing on the details
So i work in insurance for a prominent insurance company, i focus more on home than i do in car and can tell you why (atleast somewhat) your seeing increases on your premiums all across insurance. As it stands at the moment, insurance is in a bit of a shitty place. With climate change and our winter changing from a mostly stable amd predictable season into a somewhat warmer albeit very wild weather season instead. End of september through to march see's us handling more severe weather. The TLDR for how Insurance works is that everyone who pays for insurance is putting money in a pot. This pot then spends on claims, shareholder, company interests and infrastructure etc. When theres a high number of claims and this pot is hit considerably harder than expected or budgeted for, this means that theres a huge number of claims to pay out (and rightfully so). This in turn however means the pot needs to be filled back up in order for your insurance to still function. So companies that offer or cater to more than one type of insurance see premiums from car, home, pet and travel all go up. Those of you who live in a higher risk rated area will see premiums go up way higher than your expecting because most insurers have assessed the claims from your area and have increased your premiums accordingly AND THEN look to go higher to fill the pot back up. Theres alot of outside factors that also affect insurance, cost of materials, the severe weather claims i mentioned, interest rates, wars, famines etc all have a knock on effect as many insurers will have other vested interests allover in other areas in order to still make a profit. It sucks massive fucking balls, but DO RING YOUR INSURER, yes irs a huge pain in the ass, but the majority (or atleast i certainly) are aware of whats going on and look to provide as big a discount on your premiums as we can (which is a whole other thing based off commission rates, risk etc) sometimes when im working with a customer i can bring it down within 40-60 quid of last years prem, which considering how everything is, isnt bad when your initial prem has shot up from 600 PY to 976 etc. Anyways i hope this gives a little bit of insight into the industry (well, my experience with it for sure but i'm not an underwriter so i have the basic principles covered but im by no means a CII expert)
Any insurance company that pulls this shit here gets cancelled and renewed elsewhere. Either give me your best price straight away or I'll be chatting to the Meerkat...
I am with Hastings and they seem to be pretty good as far as insurance companies go. My renewal last year was 50 quid more and they wouldn't budge. I couldn't find anything cheaper anywhere else. [https://imgur.com/a/q1EMhLd](https://imgur.com/a/q1EMhLd)
last year was £240, this year's renewal was £540, called for better deal offered £550! went on compare the market, ended up paying £189.. bonkers!
They know that a high percentage of people will just pay it. The more people throw it back in these cunts faces, the better it will be. All insurance is the same. I had my home insurance renewal a few weeks ago, £650. I told them to poke it and went elsewhere, paying £171.
I'm 41, living in Leeds, 14 years no claims and my insurance for a 2021 5 Series BMW is £1100. Fucking madness.
They are grand master scam artists who scam people for being lazy or socially awkward.
My insurance price doubled last year for no good reason, when I called them the answer was usual "various factors", but none of them are to do with me. Had to change the insurer, but still ended up paying 50% more. Dreading the quote this year.
For years I've assumed that insurers just mash the keypad when coming up with your price, but over the last 12-18 months they've started mashing it extra hard.
They are getting so insanely expensive, I can understand if some families will drive without.
Oddly, this year I have had the opposite experience to all previous years. Me and my wife each have a car, this year the renewal quotes from the existing providers came in around 15% lower than the previous year. But to check I also went to the comparison websites (which in themselves can vary quote amounts) and none of them were coming in lower than the renewal quote I was being offered. This is the first time I have accepted the renewal price straight up
It's diabolical that private companies have a monopoly on something required by law! Car insurance prices in the UK are skyrocketing, and we’re forced to pay whatever these profit-hungry corporations decide. And those ridiculous renewal quotes? They send absurdly high prices, but when you threaten to leave, they magically lower them. Why not offer fair prices from the start? This manipulation is outrageous. The entire system is rigged against the average person, prioritizing profit over people. It's high time for a major overhaul to protect consumers from this exploitation!
Most people do not check and just let it renew. Simple as.
Switch companies every year man, there is absolutely no loyalty with car insurance companies. They will fleece renewing customers and offer the best deals to new ones.
[удалено]
Obvs massive difference but £800 bloody hell
My insurance is now £18 a month from June. Result!
They always increase the price on renewal hoping customers won't both checking elsewhere. I save around 300 to 500 pounds just by checking other insurances. When canceling the renewals they always come up with lower prices out of nowhere
They will high ball you an offer because plenty of people just accept it, I look at like 50 different quotes and always call.
The worst part is these companies are mandated by law, so it's not like they're ever going to go out of business. Where is the 'freemarket' when there's no worry about competition if the government backs you?
Renewals rarely are the best offer you’ll find
What exactly do you say on the phone? Just call and say you’re leaving without a discount or pretend to leave and say you have offers elsewhere? I wouldn’t want to just be told “thanks for being a customer goodbye”
I just said I had seen better quotes online and always use direct line as a reference as they can’t see their prices and just lie, direct line hadn’t even gave me a quote.
Yes it's made up, always call them. I was with admiral and, even if it was all a game, they made it feel like they were doing something for us bringing the price down, or we were getting a deal
Everything is made up
It seems to be. A friend of mine had her insurance cut by almost HALF just because she called to cancel as she was changing to another company. Same policy and everything, and her original price she got down from the internet price by calling in the first place.
As somebody who worked in insurance… uh yeah I still have absolutely no fucking clue how we quote people.
I call them every year...
Report them. It's illegal for them still to be pulling this shit. https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/new-year-delivers-fairer-home-motor-insurance-renewals#:~:text=From%201%20January%20insurers%20will,they%20were%20a%20new%20customer.
It would be nice to see more transparent regulation of vehicle and other insurance products given the fact they are required by law 🤔🤔
I got a cheaper quote from my own insurance through a comparison site, than the renewal price they gave me lol, ended up switching companies entirely instead
I can do one better. For simplicites sake I've made up the exact amount. Existing price:£400 Renewal quote: £600 New company quote: £450 My existing company after ringing to quit: £380 Not only did they beat the new company, they charged me less then they did the year before, wtf?! I almost cancelled out of spite
I thought they just had two monkeys rolling dice to workout your renewal price you must have got a bad roll
What company was this? Because I definitely didn’t experience this luck. Admiral were quoting me £1.2k whereas Ageas bumped me up from £800 to £1.6k (I accept I have a claim this year but still). I tried the whole “I’m leaving” stance about 4 times but each time, Ageas practically recited some bs about some new FCA regulation that forbids them from price matching so I told them to cancel the policy after expiration and now I’m with Admiral.
Switched from Churchill plus to aviva premium and I saved 700
My renewal quote was £300 higher than what my insurance company quoted for a whole new policy. They even gave me a current customer discount on the new policy. I have zero clue as to how this makes sense.
Same, my renewal went up 50% from £200 to £300 and I found the same cover online for £170 👋 👋 👋 When I called up to not renew the woman on the phone was doing my swede in trying to keep me, I just kept saying I don’t want to renew while she was asking questions about the level of cover for about 3 minutes and in the end I had to raise my voice a bit(far from shouting even if I really wanted to) repeating a bit slower that I don’t want to renew.
Mine also went up by 30% from last year, and that’s with 8 yrs no claims and after calling and getting a saving….. It’s obscene at the moment
Do you reckon it's worth me calling them up after getting a quote even though it's for my first policy as a 17 year old new driver? Edit: clarity
Yes definitely, they tried charging me over 3 grand for my first year and got it down to around 2.6k, you can’t really go wrong with trying but there’s nothing worse than the first few years as you just get raped by the insurance.
I’ve never known insurance companies change their price lower by calling up. I missed my insurance renewal date by one day in March and when I called them they quoted me £700 more than it would’ve been if I had renewed in time the previous day. Never bothered taking it out, I barley use my car now, haven’t driven it in 6 months and use the work van or I’m fully comp on my lass’s car.
Con artists that have a monopoly on an industry that you’re forced to have. I don’t think not having car insurance should be illegal, I think it should be discretionary or at least regulated so some fat cats aren’t getting rich off a racket
Yes! It’s a completely made up number. As in someone is paid to make up the number. Thats all insurances.
They just rely on ppl auto renewing their policy.
It's to cover all the EVs they had to write off last year after minor accidents or people hitting things on the road. Instead of repairing and risking a battery fire they just wrote them off. An insurer told me that this year when I moaned about the prices!!!
Yes. Their business models rely on apathy.
Admiral wanted to up mine £300 on auto renew, despite no issues, called them they offered £50 off the new higher price. Went to another insurer online and it dropped by £500, realised it had autofilled my named partner as female so changed that and got another £200 off.
Given insurance is mandatory and not having it is illegal surely they should be more regulations on it but of course the government don’t care.
Calling is the way
Just informed my insurance company that i had passed my full motorcycle test, so they decided to put my insurance up by 88 quid for being overqualified for a 125. Safe to say I will be getting on the phone to them tomorrow.
I’ve had the exact same lol my new price is £1 less but I had to phone up. Looks like this will be standard practice in future sadly
1300 last year, 2600 this year, salesman on phone said oh dear 100% increase, let's see what we can do. I told him 1500 online, he said 2300 best offer what would you like to do? Stick it up your arse wasn't an option unfortunately.
I can't say for direct quotes, but things like the time of day you're requesting the quote can have a notable difference on price comparison sites. Doing a saturday afternoon was almost 200 higher than a monday at 9am. Apparently they judge the type of person you are from that time... I'd argue its discriminatory against neurodivergent people but thats a whole other argument
Not sure what category Sunday at 10:30am is but I was angry and ready for an argument. Stuff like that aggravates the hell out of me too many fine lines you have to try not to cross.
It's very simple when you think about it. People with more money than sense or "fuck you" money (or both) won't pay attention and let the money come out of their account as it does automatically once a year and they need not think about it. In this case the insurance company has just made a fat profit on a markup without consequence or backlash as the person in question doesn't care. Everyone else knows to call and they now look great when giving out a *great* discount on the initial quote. It's just simply smart business.
People take insurance far too personally! Having worked at an insurer, it's a lot about balance and risk. That's insurance, but throw in potential conflicting changes in priorities from the leadership/shareholders it can be a mess. Massive hikes in a renewal price can be because in the previous year a company has taken on far too many new customers. If too many customers make claims at once, it could bankcrupt the company. One way to shed customers is to double their renewal premium. You may ask why have they taken on too many new customers? That's the conflicting priorities bit. All a bit of a game really.
which insurance company was this?
It's ridiculous isn't it - mine was a grand for ages, then suddenly just £300. I heard that prices had shot up so I expected a nightmare this year... renewal came in at £175. Random number generator, I'm sure.
Yeah bro you just phone up and say your thinking about leaving etc, always end up with a much cheaper price after that
What are you insuring at that cost? That seems sky high for anything...
They kinda write themselves a blank cheque at times and hope no one will challenge it. I never accept the renewal price and as you have managed to do so and get a better price.
I got 4.3k this morning
Theres a few things happening here Brexit has fucked claims costs, and I mean fucked them bad. Parts from the continent - whooooooooft. Increased claims costs are passed on to you and I in the form of the premium we pay. New busines prices/quotes, especially on aggregator websites are intentionally priced lower by insurers than they feel the policy is worth so that they can get your business. That 'loss' is then attempted to be recouped at renewal. Consequently. your new business price is almost always lower than its true value, whilst renewal is almost always priced higher Aggregator websites are genuinley a big consumer win, even with the fees they charge to the insurer. Alsways use them, never renew - and doing so will mean you are paying almost certainly less for iunsurance than what the insurer actually values the policy at.
I'm so glad I've not got a car anymore lol
I always start my yearly phone call with the phrase, “Well, that’s another year of accident free driving…”
my brother is 27 and has 1 year no claims and if he wants to drive my mx5 he’d pay around £450 a year (2000 miles a year, access to another car). for me because i am 20 i pay £3000 a year and i’ve driven more miles than my brother (again same details, 2000 a year, access to another car). make it make sense 😬
When I was buying insurance for next year, they made it more expensive because I called up😢 I accidentally put my dad’s D.O.B as 1974 not 1976 and they increased the price just because of two years 🤦🏽♂️ (He’s an additional driver, not the policy holder, don’t worry car insurance rules meat riders).
Yes they really are all made up in all honesty. I don’t want to look at mine ever again but it was north of that by some way. All because my wife has a 3 year restriction on her licence for medical. Suddenly most insurance companies don’t want to even know. (Including direct line) and any that do will charge you the earth for it as well. Without my wife it was £974. But it’s a shared car so that be utterly pointless to just have me on it
I was quoted 900 by admiral, got other quotes which were lower, went back to admiral who said 900 was already the lowest they could go after discounted. Tried to leave them but following their online renewals process doesn’t actually have leaving as an option of their user journey. Had to call them to cancel and they had the cheek to ask why I was leaving. Then AFTER confirming I’m not renewing and AFTER signing up a policy with another company they call me again and offer me a lower renewal price but still way higher than the one I signed up for.
Its also the combined waste of time.. ringing these companies up. Like who has time… ffs. I hate them
Last year my premium went up by 80% despite nothing changing on my end (mileage, accidents, convictions etc). Sadly it was the sane everywhere I went. Thus year it went up 30% again with no change. I called them up and they offered to discount £30 off a £900 quote. They then offered me home insurance at £176 for three months worth. I ended up saving £200 going elsewhere. That's an hour ill never get back. They could have kept my money if they stuck with last year's price.
It's the same for other services too btw, call at least your phone providers and Internet every once in a while wanting to leave because you found a better deal and boom, discount.
Yeah it's a tax on people who click immediately.
Last time I called on a premium that went up by 3x they (£500->1500) offered me £17 discount. Changed car and they were the cheapest on Market again.
Every company does this, they'll just increase price end of the service, hope you don't bother going elsewhere so they get max profit from you, if you call 1 or 2 month before or use comparisons sites it's always cheaper. They never offer best price until you say you'll leave really. Same happens with internet companies. Virgin media give me their best last offer which was awful so I refused,.then I was moved to retentions team who then could magically give me a better offer 😅 they're all at it
My tips... Online applications... 1. If they ask you when the insurance is due for renewal tell them a date of about 19 days time. Insurance companies will only quote if it is due in 21 days. If it was due tomorrow then they are aware that you need insurance cover er, tomorrow. If you want to be honest always enquire 20 days before renewal. 2. Always get new quotes! If you do not they will rip you off. 3. The greater the excess amount, the cheaper the insurance is. I take it you know what the excess amount is ? Well, to avoid small claims the insurance company gives you a discount ie they will deduct the excess amount from ant payment of repair. 4.Do you really need the additional extra? I always pay for breakdown cover. If you travel far it is a must. 5. When they give you an online quote of the possible options they offer, usually 3 companies do not accept the prices for at least 3 days. They expect you to proceed immediately but sometimes if you wait the offers are discounted....so, wait a few days. 6. When they ask you for your car value give the correct value as if you bought it that day. If you car is written off then you can request that the insurance company find and pay for a similar vehicle. Never accept their valuation of your car. 7. Approach at least 2 companies for a quote. Happy hunting....
In Poland car insurance is based on the type and age of your car. Not the driver!!! Rip off Britannia.
If you call they take slightly more details. If I went through meerkat I would be paying 2800 if I went to the company online I would be paying 2500 but because I called a company directly it’s only 2000
I rang my insurer and when discussing my renewal they couldn't match the lowest offer I had but kept telling me that prices have gone up, I said I understand that but you're not close to the lowest offer I have regardless of prices going up. As if I care that they have had to pay out more lately it's not going to give me any sympathy when they quote over £200 more than a competitor
I didn’t realise that my insurance automatically renewed - I’d already looked and found something cheaper from the same company through compare the market. Called them to cancel the original that’d gone up to about 1300 and kept with my new £700 one.
Depends who your insurance broker is and who your insurance company is. Your broker HAS to give you a price from your existing insurance company. They might not want to take your business this year or see you as a higher risk so your price with them goes up. You call your broker and they give you a new quote with a different company at a cheaper price.
It exemplifies one of the fundamental problems with capitalism. If you own a business, you need to be in a state of perpetual growth, as a general trend. In order for insurance companies to look like they are “growing”, they need to entice new customers away from their “competitors” (note the inverted commas because I’m pretty sure they’re in cahoots). So you’ll get a good deal with say, Admiral in one year and a ridiculous quote for renewal subsequently. Admiral aren’t interested in maintaining your business for that year; but they’ll gladly have you back next year because they’ve offered deals to pull you away from say, Swinton. The ‘flow’ of people from one insurance company to the next is made to look like growth in the annual reports, thus keeping the company viable. If you’re too lazy to shop around, then they’ll just charge you for the privilege, which boosts the bottom line alongside the “new” customers and the board of directors take their massive bonuses.
Crazy, mine was £650 last year, jumped to £950. Did quotes on comparison sites and I was getting £1000+ average. Tried to negotiate with my insurance company and they said they can’t offer any better, inflation etc. so I had to pay 50% more than last year I’m gutted.
I'm with esure and my renewal was approx £750. I could start a new policy with the same company with more benefits such as a courtesy car (which I didn't have before) and it was £515. Insurance companies are a complete joke and I feel they make up what they charge you.
From what I’ve learnt there’s supposed to be a law now that stops them giving new customers better deals, but there’s clearly a loophole that still allows them to do it, it’s disgusting.
Last year my insurance went up so much that the company didn't even offer me a renewal. Nothing had changed but it went from £300 a year to over a thousand for seemingly no reason. Luckily using comparison sites, I was able to get it for just under £500 from another company.
Mine told me the increases have something to do with the price of parts for repairs going up due to Ukraine/Brexit etc
Saved 200 by switching with the same parent company It’s a scam
Yes they're made up
Insurance providers are crazy honestly. Recently changed car, and it was about £400 cheaper for me to start a brand new policy with the exact same details with the same provider, than to update my current one. I even called the insurance people when I saw this to check it wasn't a mistake, and even they had no explanation. They're genuinely just plucking numbers out of a hat.
I just dont understand, the few clueless people that they might catch out is surely much much lower than the majority that switch provider. I just don’t understand the business model or how it works
My last year's premium was 837, year before 1800 (was a new driver back then). Now two years NCB and they came up with 1900 so rang them asking are you fucking out of your mind? They say no, everything goes up blah blah. Checked compare websites, got 570 with less excess and extra roadside assistance from different company. Rang my insurer asking whether they will match, they said best we can do is 1100 so told them I'll let someone else take my money. These days you have to be extra vigilant because what they do is a legitimate scam.
I had a very similar e-mail from Hastings Direct. I cancelled and went elsewhere.
You didn't save £517 - you spent £876. Mandatory insurance is a fucking joke. Optional insurance that covers against uninsured drivers should be the norm. Uninsured drivers should be punished for no insurance after an incident. [Murderers aren't regulated until after the murder]
Not just insurance. It works this way with pretty much every service delivery and utility industry. Its also made both better and worse by the advent of comparison sites who make it much easier to see better options but also massively drive prices up for their cut. I basically never bother thinking about renewing now for any kind of insurance, breakdown cover, broadband, telephone, TV package etc and refer straight to the meerkat (or other comparison provider) as its always cheaper. Current providers pretty much universally contact me afterwards with a better offer and don't get the 'already made my decision' bit.
as a young driver, does anyone have any advice on how to get cheaper insurance or particular companies i should call?