Car Insurance

[TeaLeaf]

One of my major irritations with car insurers is their ability to stab their own clients in the back.   Why do they do this?  It happens every year and does nothing but generate ill-feeling towards their brand.

I've recently had my renewal through and like most years they try to add portion of 'profit' to reward themselves for the fact that I am still with them as a client.  This bit ticks me off, so every year I do my market research and find out if the policy can be bought more cheaply elsewhere.   If my research says their premium is within a small margin of the 'cheapest' in the market, then I usually stick with what I have as transferring insurer means more paperwork.  

The good news is that every year, for at least the last 7 years, when I do my research I find out that my current insurer offers the best value for money.

The bad news is that every year my current insurer's renewal quote is for much higher than the new business quote I obtain from the internet.

So this year's renewal quote was for £400.   Online research says I can get the policy for £346 with my same insurer.   So I need to waste time doing the research on their own systems, then giving them the quote number so that they can see if they can apply these 'new business terms' to my existing policy.   Setting up a new policy costs them a lot of money, so why not give good value to existing clients so that you retain them?

If I took on clients at a reduced fee and then gradually increased my charges each year for the same amount of work then I'd expect to lose clients, but somehow in the world of car insurance this does not compute.

So today's 'plea to fall on deaf ears' is for insurance companies to stop ripping off existing customers and instead try to value them as loyal clients.

:frusty:

[RizZy]

Same thing happens with them saying that to continue having your insurance with then you don't have to do anything, but to cancel it you have to call them, their banking on you being to lazy to do anything I guess.

A similar thing happened when I renewed mine, did a comparison search & decided to go with a new & cheaper insurance, phone up to tell them I wasn't renewing & from out of nowhere the absolute best offer that they'd wrote to me about they could manage to do about £50 cheaper, too late I'm afraid, I'd already gone.

[Tutonic]

A particularly nasty combination of it being a legal requirement to have, and not being especially easy to switch providers.

[Vargen]

There is a reason I have swapped my car insurance around so many times the past few years I've lost count. I regularly check prices at least 2 to 3 times per year though.

[Penfold]

Same thing happens with them saying that to continue having your insurance with then you don't have to do anything, but to cancel it you have to call them, their banking on you being to lazy to do anything I guess.

A similar thing happened when I renewed mine, did a comparison search & decided to go with a new & cheaper insurance, phone up to tell them I wasn't renewing & from out of nowhere the absolute best offer that they'd wrote to me about they could manage to do about £50 cheaper, too late I'm afraid, I'd already gone.

It does suck the big time.

For years Admiral has been the cheapest for me - about £480 for both cars. I ditched them when it came to renewal as I had to declare a speed awareness course (They're the only insurer that asks) and they wanted to put my premium up.

Now with NFU. Granted it's about £60 more expensive but not only will they insure my trailer (Admiral wouldn't) but they also give free GAP insurance on cars up to two years old (so that saved me a grand for both our cars). They also have top customer service.

http://www.which.co.uk/money/insurance/reviews-ns/car-insurance/whichrecommended-providers/

[smilodon]

You're lucky, I thought a lot of insurers considered a 'speed awareness course' to be a speeding offense by another name. We're not due to renew till October but I'll check NFU out when it's time

[sulky_uk]

when i got my Quasqui last week i called admiral, I was within 2 weeks of renewing the insurance for the Juke anyway. They quoted me £550..I nearly fell of my chair as the Juke was only £300 and i have never paid more than £400 for insurance in the last 17 years for any car I have owned (including sporty ones). I told them to check to see if their was a discount available, while they did that i go compared and admiral was quoting me with £380. I told the chap this and funny old thing he said "ok sir, thats what i was just about to offer you"

scamming *******s

[Ranualf]

My view of car insurance companies is nto very high at all, i put then in line with Dick turpin, and robber barons..

I was much like everyone else here, had a 4x4 and a bike to insure, and the company i used for year suddenly decided to up my quote a few hundred pounds.. for no reason!

Looked about on the web, yet their own site said my insurance would be LESS than what i was currently playing.. got one the phone,. oh it must be a clerical error...ok, i`ll can accept that..and the new reduced price, same time the following year, price upto the same old inflated price..but this year they would not reduce it. No worries i said, i`ll just leave and give my money to a cheaper insurer, wait, but .. bye....

Bye far the worst customer experience i have dealt with is from Tesco insurance, sure their quote was competitive, but after some half awake numpty drove into side of my car they couldn't be bothered to seek him out, in fact he just ignored their calls (all 3 of them) and their letters, so they phoned me..oh he only lives 7 miles away, you could go round and have a chat.. WHAT?!!!

I reminded them of my contract, and said if they didnt sort it out, i`d go to the police..

So after going to the police and getting my incident number dragged up, they had a merry ride out, arrested the naughty man and brought him in.. funny thing was my insurance got sorted a few weeks later.. soo weird!

But this has jaded my view of insurance companies ever since

Robber barons i tell you!

And like others have said, people are lazy and don't shop about.
So here loyal customer, have a few extra hundred pounds on your quote, just for being loyal!

[Gorion]

When looking at insurance, remember to keep in mind these things.

Insurance is a legalised, goverment sanctioned protection racket; Legalised Mafia.

Customer loyalty doesn't have any value to them as everyone has to be insured by law.  If person A leaves, they don't care, as if the same person goes price hunting next year and they give him a better offer, then person A will be rejoining them.  Thus they have another chance at trying to screw person A over again.

They also undervalue your car, and to get the proper car value you have to pay for a personal inspection.  To top it off, they try to slime themselves from paying you anything.

[sulky_uk]

funny thing is admiral said to me "how much is your car worth" I said "£25550" and he said "not what its was worthwhen you bought it, but how much it is worth now " to which i replied "I havent picked it up yet, its brand new, hence £25550". He got the drift then and put its value as that

[JonnyAppleSeed]

I was told by the instructor on my speed awareness course "don't disclose you have been on it to your insurance company"

My quote ..yes it keeps rising every year. One reason is the price of what could be considered as a small bump. The air bags pop, belt tensioners pop maybe a side curtain or 4. What would be £500 quid to fix now turns in at £5000. Whiplash, loss of earnings and a courtesy car just think of number and bang on some zeros

If someone would do me the kindness of rear ending me I should be good for a new kitchen (not a sexual offer)

[Tutonic]

This.

When someone bumped into me at no more than 10 mph, my insurer sent my car off to a local body repair business.

Despite the fact it was no more than a dent in the wheel arch, they ended up replacing two body panels and an entire door. I felt sorry for the poor sod who drove into me, it was an innocent accident on her part and it must have sent their premium through the roof - a blatant attempt by the repair company to rack up the largest bill possible.