car insurance renewal robbery time again

the black fox

the black fox

Suspended / Banned
Messages
17,082
Name
Jeff
Edit My Images
No
just had my renewal through ,and yep despite the lockdowns its gone way up .. just done the comparison sites crap and found one cheaper only by a few quid a month but every little helps .

I had hoped that with far fewer cars on the road it would drop or at least stay the same ... but Ali-baba and his hordes of thieves live on it seems ..

its also worth checking the small print /extras very carefully as they are subtracting stuff that used to be included as part of the deal and now you have tailor the quotes to suit .. its like being robbed at gunpoint and then told its your own fault GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
 
I get really annoyed with the insurance companies that give you an increased renewal, then when you phone they can mysteriously knock a good percentage off. I’ve changed companies before simply as I did not like this behaviour.
 
I was also surprised when my renewal for January was significantly higher than last year. I often use a Comparison site and discover that my current insure is much cheaper so revert to the same insure but at a much lower rate. This time I found that my insurer was actually more expensive on the comparison site and the only offers that were cheaper were not offering the same cover. On the letter from my insurer, they gave a number to call if you were considering moving on. I telephoned and explained that I was most unhappy with the increase particularly considering how few miles I was travelling now. I asked him to reduce my previous annual mileage and requote and he was able to offer me about 20% less which I accepted but I only reduced my annual mileage from 8,000 to 6,000. With a current lockdown in place there is little risk of my wanting to exceed the 6,000 miles this year. I understood that the business of offering new customers lower rates than existing customers was to end but when?

Dave
 
Funny, mine went down without me asking.

I called up and said something along the lines of "can you do better" and saved another 10%!.
 
Mines gone up by £24, I couldn't be bothered with the price comparison websites and just renewed it.
 
Martin Lewis (Moneý Saving Expert) says the best time to search for quotes is about 1 month before the renewal date. Quotes will start rising the closer you get until they reach their maximum within days of the renewal. That way you have a cheap quote to throw back at your insurance company when the renewal comes through.
I renewed last June, I was with Direct Line, had been for 3yrs and couldn't get cheaper) but last years renewal came through with an increase of almost £300. I had already done my search in May through Quidco and Confused.com. The quote (RAC Insurance) was within a couple of quid of what I had paid the year before, as well as no voluntary excess on the policy, unlike the £350 voluntary excess I had with Direct Line. Not only could Direct Line match the RAC quote, when I mentioned the zero voluntary access, they wanted an extra £90 on the premium instead.
So I am now with RAC Insurance, plus I got £25 cashback through Quidco, and £25 of petrol from RAC for having gone through the Confused.com site.
 
Seems that the best way is to insure in the name of a spouse and add yours as a named driver.

From 'confused.com which is an apt name considering it states that the insurance for male drivers has fallen below £800 for the first time in two and half years.

Men pay £81 nmore than women.
Female drivers saw their prices fall slightly less than men. Their car insurance costs 6% (£49) less than last year. They're paying £718, on average.

Car insurance average costs - the Confused.com Price Index

Find out the average cost of car insurance, including what factors affect it. Compare insurance costs by region, age & more to see how much you might pay.
www.confused.com www.confused.com

LV increases premiums too. I see they are now (from January 2nd) owned by the German company Allianz https://www.theguardian.com/money/2...ease-our-car-insurance-in-the-covid-19-crisis
 
Last edited:
I renewed my my car insurance last June and looked at quotes from several companies and screen grabbed them and put them into a desktop folder so I can see how much increase there is for next time.
 
Last edited:
the black fox said:
just had my renewal through ,and yep despite the lockdowns its gone way up .. just done the comparison sites crap and found one cheaper only by a few quid a month but every little helps .

I had hoped that with far fewer cars on the road it would drop or at least stay the same ... but Ali-baba and his hordes of thieves live on it seems ..

its also worth checking the small print /extras very carefully as they are subtracting stuff that used to be included as part of the deal and now you have tailor the quotes to suit .. its like being robbed at gunpoint and then told its your own fault GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
Click to expand...

We got about £50 back last year without asking, as there were not many cars on the road. Also for not using the car as much, because of lockdown.
 
jonbeeza said:
We got about £50 back last year without asking, as there were not many cars on the road. Also for not using the car as much, because of lockdown.
Click to expand...

I looked at that with Direct Line and it's designed for drivers who regularly use their cars..like for going to work. I'm retired and the reduction was only for those who did more than a certtain number of miles. I've forgotten what it was but way more than I do and my policy is for low mileage anyway 3000 a year.
 
Depends to some extent how valuable your time is to you. Having to re-enter all your cars' details for each comparison site can be time consuming and you might end up with a saving of a couple of quid (or even discover that you're already with the cheapest, however unlikely!)
 
Nod said:
Depends to some extent how valuable your time is to you. Having to re-enter all your cars' details for each comparison site can be time consuming and you might end up with a saving of a couple of quid (or even discover that you're already with the cheapest, however unlikely!)
Click to expand...
Most of its fully automated now just tick a box to say no changes
 
jonbeeza said:
We got about £50 back last year without asking, as there were not many cars on the road. Also for not using the car as much, because of lockdown.
Click to expand...
I had already left Direct Line by the time they were giving rebates. My wife was still insured with them on her car, so she got her refund.
 
JohnC6 said:
Seems that the best way is to insure in the name of a spouse and add yours as a named driver.

From 'confused.com which is an apt name considering it states that the insurance for male drivers has fallen below £800 for the first time in two and half years.

Men pay £81 nmore than women.
Female drivers saw their prices fall slightly less than men. Their car insurance costs 6% (£49) less than last year. They're paying £718, on average.

Car insurance average costs - the Confused.com Price Index

Find out the average cost of car insurance, including what factors affect it. Compare insurance costs by region, age & more to see how much you might pay.
www.confused.com www.confused.com

LV increases premiums too. I see they are now (from January 2nd) owned by the German company Allianz https://www.theguardian.com/money/2...ease-our-car-insurance-in-the-covid-19-crisis
Click to expand...
My wife only has 3yrs NCB. I have Full NCB, (23yrs since last claim I think) She's paying more to insure her KA (Group 3) than I do for my Focus RS (Group 40) we are both named drivers on each others cars as it does make premiums cheaper, but she doesn't drive my car. :)
 
JohnC6 said:
Seems that the best way is to insure in the name of a spouse and add yours as a named driver.
Click to expand...

If you are misrepresenting who is the main driver of the vehicle this is called fronting and is illegal.
 
mines dirt cheap this year.
in fact cheapest for years.
 
Every year I phone to tell them not to auto renew, and every year they come back with a lower quote.
I have no issues at all the loyalty, I swap car, and home insurance companies and my energy one too.

Now this year I did change mine as now retired (at 60 :)) I removed the commuting cover, ended up £100 less (about a third off the original quote)
 
It's illegal for insurance companies to charge women less, that could all change thought following brexit

Gender does not affect car insurance premiums.
Car insurance quotes for women used to be cheaper than they were for men. Female drivers generally have fewer major accidents on the road and make fewer high value claims, so they were automatically rewarded with lower premiums.

That was until 2012, when a European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling made it illegal for insurance companies to take gender into account when calculating premiums.

Is car insurance still cheaper for women? - Admiral.com

Admiral explains why women may sometimes get cheaper premiums, even though gender isn’t taken into consideration when calculating prices anymore.
www.admiral.com www.admiral.com
.
 
JonathanRyan said:
Apart from the small matter of it being illegal, right?
Click to expand...

Well, I did think of that and my only culpability was only thinking of my wife and myself and those in our position on here many of whom, like us , are retired. The criteria is ,who is the main driver not the owner. Unless we actually made a note of when we drove the car I'd be hard put to to say which one of us drove more often than the other. The insurance is in her name btw. I have a Prius which I use only to go to locations for my photography and, of course the policy is in my name and my wife as a named driver should she ever have to drive it. I'm aware that what was happening with young drivers was that because premiums were so high a parent took the policy out in their name. Clearly illegal.
 
Mine went down in December despite having a claim in the policy year. Age is probably a factor but we only pay £415 pa for a BMW 140i and a Mini JCW
 
Daysleeper40 said:
If you are misrepresenting who is the main driver of the vehicle this is called fronting and is illegal.
Click to expand...

We're not. My original post was not referring to us. As I said, I've brought the criticism onto myself for not making clear that it's not what my wife and I do. We're named drivers on each others policies.

Maybe you didn't mean me when you wrote 'you'. You meant anyone putting themselves as main driver when they're obviously not.
 
Gremlin said:
It's illegal for insurance companies to charge women less, that could all change thought following brexit

Gender does not affect car insurance premiums.
Car insurance quotes for women used to be cheaper than they were for men. Female drivers generally have fewer major accidents on the road and make fewer high value claims, so they were automatically rewarded with lower premiums.

That was until 2012, when a European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling made it illegal for insurance companies to take gender into account when calculating premiums.

Is car insurance still cheaper for women? - Admiral.com

Admiral explains why women may sometimes get cheaper premiums, even though gender isn’t taken into consideration when calculating prices anymore.
www.admiral.com www.admiral.com
.
Click to expand...

Yep, but they can price on occupation so some factor it in to certain occupations to get round that
 
so do i just put occupation stay at home mum?
 
Had my renewal through £50 more than last year. Checked comparison sites found quotes that were £200 less than last year.

Phoned existing insurers (it's Hastings premium so decent policy) told them and they price matched! Now paying lowest premium I've ever paid!

Frustrated every year having to do the same thing, each year they try and rip you off. If I could find an insurance company with decent policy that offered me best deal every year I'd stay with them for life!
 
My wife is not named on my insurance any more because she will not drive my car. It is an automatic and she thinks it is too large (just a Mazda 6). She has a Ford Fiesta but insures it in her name and I am a named driver. I do make a point of driving it occasionally just to keep in practice for driving a manual car but I do not like driving her car. At one time both cars were with the same insurer but my wife broke away because she found a much better deal. We have agreed if one of us has to give up driving eventually and thus become a passenger, the driver will choose the car.

Dave
 
Nod said:
Depends to some extent how valuable your time is to you. Having to re-enter all your cars' details for each comparison site can be time consuming and you might end up with a saving of a couple of quid (or even discover that you're already with the cheapest, however unlikely!)
Click to expand...
Mine took me about 15 minutes including the call & saved me £250!
 
Nod said:
Depends to some extent how valuable your time is to you. Having to re-enter all your cars' details for each comparison site can be time consuming and you might end up with a saving of a couple of quid (or even discover that you're already with the cheapest, however unlikely!)
Click to expand...

What is slightly worrying is that you do not have to do this. Having entered details into one comparison site they are already filled in when you go to the next site. You can still make specific changes if you wish.

Dave
 
Dave Canon said:
My wife is not named on my insurance any more because she will not drive my car. It is an automatic and she thinks it is too large (just a Mazda 6). She has a Ford Fiesta but insures it in her name and I am a named driver. I do make a point of driving it occasionally just to keep in practice for driving a manual car but I do not like driving her car. At one time both cars were with the same insurer but my wife broke away because she found a much better deal. We have agreed if one of us has to give up driving eventually and thus become a passenger, the driver will choose the car.

Dave
Click to expand...
Usually having a spouse on the insurance lowers the premium. It doesn't matter if they never drive it. It works in a similar way to young drivers having their parents as named drivers on their policies.
 
KitsuneAndy said:
Yep, but they can price on occupation so some factor it in to certain occupations to get round that
Click to expand...

That has nothng to do with gender, it's risk assessment for some occupations

nilagin said:
Usually having a spouse on the insurance lowers the premium. It doesn't matter if they never drive it. It works in a similar way to young drivers having their parents as named drivers on their policies.
Click to expand...

Only company I ever had that happen with was Direct Line, who in creased the premium when I took my ex off the policy !!
When asked why they said they considered you would drive more safely if you had a partner with you, umm no he was so annoying I could have pushed him out the car at times !!
 
Gremlin said:
That has nothng to do with gender, it's risk assessment for some occupations
Click to expand...

Yep, but they changed the factors of some occupations for jobs that were predominantly male or female at the same time they removed the gender ratings. I know because I used to build the calculation software for insurance companies and worked on the project implementing the change in gender rules.
 
JohnC6 said:
Well, I did think of that and my only culpability was only thinking of my wife and myself and those in our position on here many of whom, like us , are retired. The criteria is ,who is the main driver not the owner. Unless we actually made a note of when we drove the car I'd be hard put to to say which one of us drove more often than the other. The insurance is in her name btw. I have a Prius which I use only to go to locations for my photography and, of course the policy is in my name and my wife as a named driver should she ever have to drive it. I'm aware that what was happening with young drivers was that because premiums were so high a parent took the policy out in their name. Clearly illegal.
Click to expand...

You're quite right - there's nothing to stop you putting a favourable complexion on the facts. Martin Lewis advises people to tinker with their occupation since "accounts clerks" may pay more or less than "office workers". It's the deliberate use of incorrect details that is illegal. 2 partners both driving the car - who can say who is the main driver? 19 year old boy insuring his IAM grandmother to drive so he can get cheap premiums? Straight to jail (well, invalidated insurance in the event of a claim, higher premiums and possible fine....).

KitsuneAndy said:
Yep, but they changed the factors of some occupations for jobs that were predominantly male or female at the same time they removed the gender ratings. I know because I used to build the calculation software for insurance companies and worked on the project implementing the change in gender rules.
Click to expand...

Well kind of. The ABI code lists don't even use gender specific jobs any more for the exact reason that using a gender surrogate is also illegal. You will see "actress" on many websites but it should be coded as "actor" behind the scenes. However, some professions are more dangerous to insure than others - and many of these employ one gender predominantly. For example, most insurers don't rate on colour of car. But if all your red cars are Ferraris you will see an apparent bias against red cars because your red cars cost more to repair. The Guardian has some examples

How an EU gender equality ruling widened inequality | Motoring | The Guardian

Don't forget that charging scaffolders more because history says they are more like to drive drunk actually means that anybody who isn't a scaffolder pays less.
 
JonathanRyan said:
Well kind of. The ABI code lists don't even use gender specific jobs any more for the exact reason that using a gender surrogate is also illegal. You will see "actress" on many websites but it should be coded as "actor" behind the scenes. However, some professions are more dangerous to insure than others - and many of these employ one gender predominantly. For example, most insurers don't rate on colour of car. But if all your red cars are Ferraris you will see an apparent bias against red cars because your red cars cost more to repair. The Guardian has some examples
Click to expand...

Yep, beauticians and librarians tend to be female for example, and aren't dangerous jobs. I know for a fact a lot of insurance companies changed the factors for roles like these at the same time as the gender directive came into play, as I loaded them onto the systems, whether or not the factors are still weighted that way I have no idea though as I left the job several years ago now.
 
KitsuneAndy said:
Yep, but they changed the factors of some occupations for jobs that were predominantly male or female at the same time they removed the gender ratings. I know because I used to build the calculation software for insurance companies and worked on the project implementing the change in gender rules.
Click to expand...

But that's still not gender specific, you get males in predominantly female jobs who would get the cheaper rate

Another knock from that EU legislation stopped breakdown companies from prioritising lone females who
broke down.
 
Gremlin said:
But that's still not gender specific, you get males in predominantly female jobs who would get the cheaper rate

Another knock from that EU legislation stopped breakdown companies from prioritising lone females who
broke down.
Click to expand...

Yep, but there's typically not many, so it didn't really impact the insurance company doing it that way.

It wasn't just insurance it impacted either though, it was also annuity rates for pensions, that was probably beneficial to women though, as they tended to get smaller pensions for the same funds as they live longer.

Stupid rule IMO, if gender plays a role in life expectancy it seems ridiculous to not be able to use it when calculating life expectancy!
 
KitsuneAndy said:
Yep, beauticians and librarians tend to be female for example, and aren't dangerous jobs.
Click to expand...

Come and look round here when everything opens again, there are a lot of male hairdressers and beauticians, especially in
the nails bars
 
I also discovered that my insurance is slightly lower, if I am a named driver for another car in the household (i.e. my Wife's car). The reasoning is that while I am driving her car is it another Insurance companies risk and obviously means that I drive my car slightly less than if I were not included on another car.

I have just checked and the FCA are still deliberating about how/when to introduce a ban on charging existing customers more than new customers for car and home insurance. If it comes in before the end of this year I will be surprised but it is a huge sum that the insurers are taking from us (£3.7 billion over 10 years).

Unfortunately I get ripped off with Home insurance because of a minor subsidence issue 30 years ago. The problems was identified as caused by neighbours trees and they were removed so no claim was involved. I cannot use a comparison site because they will not even offer a quotation. In desperation I once requested a quote from a specialist insurer who dealt with subsidence cases. I sent all the reports etc and confirmation by the surveyor that all was resolved and they gave me a quote but it was considerable more than I was already paying. In these circumstances, one has to just renew every year.

Dave
 
JohnC6 said:
They love policyholders like you :D
Click to expand...

Last year the renewal was cheaper with them than all the price comparison sites so for the sake of an increase of £30 over 12 months is nothing.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top