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Annual insurance whinge

3K views 37 replies 19 participants last post by  Banstead Stig 
#1 ·
What's going on? Last year, I paid £410 for my 06 perfectly bog-standard xte, 115k miles on the clock, probably worth £3000? No claims apart from a windscreen in 2015.
AXA are 'pleased to offer renewal' for £509! Only a 24% increase, how generous. Needless to say I queried their renewal and was given the usual crap of parts are more expensive, more cars cannot be repaired, injury claims blah blah blah. They must think we all have **** tattooed across our foreheads
Seriously seriously getting to the point of selling up.
I fully appreciate that I live in SE London but cannot recall any car crime around here in the 12 years I've been here.
How can they possibly justify such an increase?
 
#4 ·
Adrian Flux - £289 per year Fully Comp inc Legal and NCB Protection. Mods declared + Lets me drive other cars under 3rd party cover as long as that vehicle is already insured fully comp by someone else.
12 years no claims.

The renewals notices are always silly, I simply phone/email them saying I've shopped around, found a better price and have them match it.
 
#11 ·
Adrian Flux - £289 per year Fully Comp inc Legal and NCB Protection. Mods declared + Lets me drive other cars under 3rd party cover as long as that vehicle is already insured fully comp by someone else.
12 years no claims.
I have my mk1 mx5 insured with Flux, less than £100 fully comp, all mods declared. Encouraged by this, I got them to quote for my XT PPP. Their response: sorry, can't insure you at all, at any price. I'm 64, with full no claims. Go figure.
 
#5 ·
IPT has gone up, fraud continues to happen, which adds to the premiums each year, and there are more cars on the road and probably more accidents as a result.

However it pays to check prices each year using one or more aggregator site just to check that your current insurer isn't taking advantage of their loyal customers.

Most of the big name insurers do not make much money on their premiums v claims cost.
 
#6 ·
Everyone has the same hassle I'm afraid. It's all the game you have to play. I usually get on the comparison sites and get a decent baseline figure in my head before my renewal come through. And when it does come through It'll be more than likely more than I will have found. Phone them to see if they can match or else I'll move elsewhere. Usually they rely on laziness of people and chance their luck.

Recently I renewed my bike insurance. The renewal came through 33% cheaper than last years, but using their own website ( Hastings ) I found a quote £50 cheaper than the quote. They did to their credit take a further £35 off and I ended up saving loads. It's all part of the game, I'm afraid.
 
#7 ·
The notice only came in yesterday and still got three weeks to renewal so time to make the usual searches, telephone calls etc. It was just me sounding off at the existing insurers 'pleased to offer you renewal at . . . ' comment and yet at the same time having the audacity to be stuffing it up another 25%!
Let battle commence.
 
#24 ·
Spent an hour or so on line and have sourced far better quotes from Tesco, Admiral, Aviva and Direct Line, all of which rate better than Axa my present insurers in the annual reviews. They're also including a few extra bits over and above Axa.
Now to hit the phones 😏
 
#12 ·
I dislike to generalise but insurers seem to be trying hard to portray themselves as a bunch of robber baron scumbags (thanks for the point of reference Sting). I'd been with Admiral for 20+ years, this time they wanted £660 for the Foz, so following the good Mr Stig's advice ended up about 200 notes better off with Keith Michaels. When I rang Admiral to say I wasn't renewing they said there was "a lot of flexibility available" and that they could actually have insured me for £465. I told them they should stop playing games and give an honest quote first time.
 
#13 ·
Totally agree, but in practice most customers do not shop around and commercially a company will tend to charge more than their bottom line first time of asking. By the time they offered the better price their margins are squeezed to the point where they are willing to lose your loyal custom.

Also bear in mind premiums are only one side of the picture. When it comes to making a claim, that's when you know whether you're with a good insurer or not.
 
#14 ·
I use A-Plan brokers in Maidenhead to find me the best deal each year as I don't like spreading my personal details around comparison sites and dealing with the spam afterwards.

However, given that I paid £1,800 last year to insure my dog I can't get too excited about the car premium ...
 
#15 ·
It's not all about the Premium guys.

Yes, naturally the Premium is to be considered in the equation but the most consideration must go as to how the Insurance Co. deals with claims by clients and too how repairs/replacements are undertaken if & when needed.
It is no good crying foul when you have opted for the cheapest quote, and the work is sub standard or takes months or repeated returns to have errors corrected.

We have an Insurance company here downunder that advertises savings of up to $AUD300.00 in some cases. When you go to their website and do an online quote, it is in fact true to a degree.
What they fail to advertise is that the discount applies for 12mths only, after that it reverts back to their standard Premium, in my case it was a couple of hundred dollars dearer than what I am currently paying with an another insurer. You have to read the PDS and the fine print when doing your research.
 
#17 ·
What's going on? Last year, I paid £410 for my 06 perfectly bog-standard xte, 115k miles on the clock, probably worth £3000? No claims apart from a windscreen in 2015.
AXA are 'pleased to offer renewal' for £509! Only a 24% increase, how generous. Needless to say I queried their renewal and was given the usual crap of parts are more expensive, more cars cannot be repaired, injury claims blah blah blah. They must think we all have **** tattooed across our foreheads ��
Seriously seriously getting to the point of selling up.
I fully appreciate that I live in SE London but cannot recall any car crime around here in the 12 years I've been here.
How can they possibly justify such an increase?
They hope you cant be bothered to shop around,

Every year our Broker changes Company for us and has done for the last 10 years I guess. Never the same Company twice. No chance of loyalty take the existing customers for granted. ATVB. Alan MaC
 
#20 ·
My usual routine is to receive the renewal from Insurance company A and laugh.

Phone up Insurance company B, ask for a quote. When they ask what your current best price is knock a considerable amount off company A's renewal (you don't need any proof at this stage). They will more often than not say they can't go quite as low as that (doesn't hurt to try!), but the best they can do is £X. Thank them, ask them to e-mail that quote through for consideration.

Go to insurance company C and tell them your current cheapest is from insurance company B and you now have proof of this, hopefully they will then undercut them.

Then either go with Company C or go back to A and tell them you have been offered B/C's prices and they will often match it to keep you as a customer.
 
#22 ·
Try esure or Sheila's Wheels (same company).

Although it increased this year, it is still cheap - went up from £162 to £185 on renewal for renewal this July (Forester 2.5 XTE). I also have a 3.2 V6 Caravelle (235hp) with them and that's only a bit over £200. Don't know why they are cheap, but it seems they don't mind vehicles with more powerful motors.
 
#25 ·
I have always shopped around for the best quote inc protected NCB.
My rules are very simple do your homework and find the best quotes from several screenscraper sites. For those worried about spam I tick the right boxes but have a dedicated spam em address.
I then phone a couple of insurance brokers Adrian Flux and Keith Michaels are my current flavours for their input.
Now I telephone my existing insurer to see if they can beat it or at least match it.
If not I then choose the next best option.
This year I managed to insure my Forry and a Mini Cooper for £580 full comp with protected NCB. I can also drive other vehicles as well.
It's a complete ball ache and I hate it but as I don't have money to throw around I have to do it.
 
#29 ·
We are a bit off the original topic now, but ...

Saffy was referred to the Supervet for a tumour removal. Their fees were not extortionate.

Our vet does his best to keep his costs down but given the breed, age and history of illness the premium is not unexpected. We could save £1,000 by going elsewhere but then we'd have to pay for any existing conditions. It's a tricky decision. By contrast, motor insurance is a doddle.
 
#30 ·
The same renewal thing here. Direct Line sent me a renewal quote £100 more than the previous year. To cut the story short I managed to reduce the quote by £150.
So, I talked to number of brokers, Sky and AIB managed to give me the best deals that allows car modifications with GS-group and Markerstudy. I didn't find much feedback of GS, but Markerstudy's reviews were just atrocious by majority.
So I decided to start negotiation process with Direct Line and close it after reached my goal.

I am surprised that brokers are dealing with the companies of that kind of reputation were 90% of customers leave negative reviews and still trying to make a deal regardless of the possibility to loose their own reputation.
 
#35 ·
What's going on? Last year, I paid £410 for my 06 perfectly bog-standard xte, 115k miles on the clock, probably worth £3000? No claims apart from a windscreen in 2015.
AXA are 'pleased to offer renewal' for £509! Only a 24% increase, how generous.
How can they possibly justify such an increase?
It's all a game isn't it - have shopped around and got quotes elsewhere, which were considerably less than renewal, more in line with what I've been paying this past year. Called existing insurers and hey ho, they can offer me a similar price. Still got a week until renewal so might still go elsewhere, as a matter of principle if nothing else.
 
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