My car insurance has doubled - why?

[poppins]

Mines also gone up $40 , someone told my husband that even if you inquire about a claim it goes on your record, say you have a small accident, you call your insurance, they tell you what your deductible would be, so you decide to fix it yourself and not go thru the insurance...BUT, you've made "That Phone call" to them, your insurance will go up. not sure how true that is but if so it's daylight robbery.

[hockeybear]

I started looking for a quote in August (due mid Sept) cheapest I found was £246, I thought I'll look again nearer the time, looked again a few days before renewal date and the same company wanted £292. Wish I'd saved the 1st quote, could have held them to the 30 day price fix.

[Hairyloon]

Seems like a cartel to me.

You're not far wrong. This year when shopping for insurance, I discovered that not only does one group own several different insurance companies, they also own the price comparison sites I was using...

See if you can guess which companies came out best on the comparison site...

I tried another company direct, and saved 30%.

 

As an aside, if for any reason (e.g. you've just found someone 30% cheaper) you decide to cancel your policy within 14 days, then they are not allowed to charge you a penalty fee, no matter what they call it... The ***** tried to charge me £38 "arrangement fee".

[rich5315]

tip always change insurers every year, dont let them sell you extras, im 45 got over 12 yrs ncd vectra 2.5 sri its still £340 a year no matter where i go. The cars only worth about £500 but i still have a £350 excess, its a rip off but i like my car and so pay it, but everytime i ring kwik fit they try and sell me extras i dont want, my cars not got enough value to make it worthwhile

[Rupert_Baehr]

my son paid £1100 last year renewal quote just come with a letter saying they had got him a better deal £2258, no accidents same address, another years no claim no reason

 

It pays to shop around. When I lived in the UK, there were 2 firms who I checked every year. A - Norwich Union and B - Endsleigh. (They had been cheaper than the rest of the competition for some years and both were prepared to accept my wife's licence and experience (she had a US govt licence, not an EU licence, but she'd been living and driving in the UK for many years, so they ignored the lack of an EU licence.)

 

I'd get a good deal from A one year, but whn the renewal came, the premiums were higher. So I'd go to B. Next year, B's premiums were high, so I'd go to A. Next year, back to B. Eventually, one of the companies cottoned on to what I was doing and I was told 'get a quote from A and we'll knock 10 quid off'.

 

Not bad. I can do better. I got a quote from A and told them that B had offered me 10 quid off. They offered me a further 10 quid off, so I got that quote in writing and sent it to A. They knocked another 10 quid off. - I saved 30 quid.

 

The next year, I got a quote from A. it was somewhat higher than the previous year's premium, so I 'adjusted it' (took off a significant amount [rather more than 10 pounds] ) phoned B and told them. - They knew I was playing the field, so they took a further 10 quid off and I insured with them. It worked well. I set my own premiums and everybody was happy.

 

If you're prepared to phone around, get quotes in writing and pass them to competing companies, you can reduce your premium considerably.

 

 

Mine stayed pretty much the same this year. I shopped around but nobody could beat my renewal quote. I then got onto my insurers and said I'd had a lower quote but preferred to stay with them and they chopped a few quid more off, taking it to the same as before.

 

Then again, I'm a low risk driver with about 15 years no claims.

 

It's not so much the 'low risk' bit which reduces the premiums, but rather your willingness to challenge the silly quote they give you. My son is now a very good driver (and a good bike rider, too.) His initial record was worse than that of my wife.

 

My wife's middle name was 'Rex'- as in 'Debbie Rex Cars'. My son inherited skills from his mum and during the first few years of his riding/driving career, he clocked up an impressive number of write-offs.

 

When he had an A1 (little bike) licence, our insurance company wanted £125 a year 'fully comp'. Iwas impressed. for most riders his age that would've cost about £1500. He wrote the bike off, they bought him a new one and didn't increase his premium (I didn't notice, but they put mine up!)

 

When he got a Class A, they offered him TPFT on a Bandit for under £500. Hardly shabby. - They wanted £1000 to insure my K12, so I talked to the Gecko (Geico) who did it for £200.)

 

He stuck with the original company. He had a Mississippi driving licence (valid in the UK for 6 months - from date of entry to the UK and he entered and left frequently. (He has held a UK licence for more than a year now.)

 

He used to have a car - insured at a ridiculously cheap rate with the company who think the sun shines out of his bum. When he took the car off the road, he notified the company and told them he wanted to cancel the insurance. They didn't want to lose him as a customer, so they suggested that he take out a 'storage policy' (costing £15 a year) with them. He scrapped the car earlier this year, but he still has the storage policy - which would presumably cover a car if he had one.

 

£15 wasted? - Not at all! While he has the storage policy he is insured. While he is insured, provided he doesn't have an accident, he earns NCB.- And he is insured (fully comp) to drive other cars.

 

Insurance is a lottery. He's a winner.

 

Mines also gone up $40 , someone told my husband that even if you inquire about a claim it goes on your record, say you have a small accident, you call your insurance, they tell you what your deductible would be, so you decide to fix it yourself and not go thru the insurance...BUT, you've made "That Phone call" to them, your insurance will go up. not sure how true that is but if so it's daylight robbery.

 

Shouldn't happen Poppins. - Who are you insured with?

[Unregistered]

 

My car insurance has doubled this year.

 

 

Too many claims in your area and your age group.

 

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[Alex C.]

If you've got £500,000 stashed under the mattress, you could insure yourself

[Rupert_Baehr]

Once upon a time, perhaps. - It is (or was) possible to deposit funds with the BOE to avoid the requirement to insure yourself.

 

My insurance cover exceeds a million pounds, so I doubt that a deposit of 500k would be acceptable.

 

There is an alternative: Form a mutual association with friends and insure each other.

 

I'm insured with an organisation which is owned by the members [limited membership] and it's worthwhile. I pay annual insurance premiums (not overly large) and - provided the claims by members are covered by the premiums and the return on assets - I receive a 'payback' dividend each year.

 

It works for us.

[Alex C.]

Once upon a time, perhaps. - It is (or was) possible to deposit funds with the BOE to avoid the requirement to insure yourself.

 

My insurance cover exceeds a million pounds, so I doubt that a deposit of 500k would be acceptable.

 

There is an alternative: Form a mutual association with friends and insure each other.

 

I'm insured with an organisation which is owned by the members [limited membership] and it's worthwhile. I pay annual insurance premiums (not overly large) and - provided the claims by members are covered by the premiums and the return on assets - I receive a 'payback' dividend each year.

 

It works for us.

 

Road Traffic Act 1991 permits a £500,000 deposit to insure yourself. The deposit before then was £15,000.

[Rupert_Baehr]

I stand corrected - and I am surprised.

 

However, £500,000 invested at a mere 1% would yield £5000.

 

How much was your premium?

 

Pay me £4000 and I'm sure I can get you insurance.