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just got my reminder for insurance today ,norwich union want 139 pounds to cover me for the next 12 months i paid 120 last year , are they having a laugh or does it sound about right? ive got 4 years no claims i thought it was suppose to go down every year if you didnt claim owt?
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Firstly, if you're a new customer they know that you're the kind who shops around so they'll "quote you happy" as it were to attract the business and then gradually increase your premium based on how likely you are to move.
Secondly, what might have changed in the last year? The average cost of claims might have gone up, the likelihood of claiming (particularly in your area) due to accidents or crime may have increased, more younger and higher risk drivers might be buying your car compared to last year (making you appear higher risk) or they might have amended their own policies and decided that they would rather have more margin per policy and fewer policyholders. All of those are legitimate reasons why they would increase your premium even if you haven't claimed.
Given that your premium is so low to start with, you might find that cashback sites like www.quidco.com make a massive dent in the cost to you. Try getting a quote with www.insuresupermarket.com plus Direct Line and then see how much cashback Quidco can offer you on the already low cost of a policy.
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I just had a 10% increase on my structure and contents insurance and rang to complain. I was told they had a a high claims rate (not from me!) increased claims for storm damage (not from me!) and they renewed at last year's premium. I also got a car renewal at quote at £220 but a week before found the same firm quoting the same risk covered at £160. Rang them up and got the £160. Get on the phone and talk them down, they are amenable to haggling!
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Get on the phone and talk them down, they are amenable to haggling!
Absolutely. They rely heavily on consumer-inertia, your reluctance to move thereby avoiding hassle, despite the fact that you might shave a few quid off the policy. They add to this by automatically renewing you if you let them, so you can continue with your policy without doing anything, albeit paying a bit more.
Shop around, get some quotes, give them a ring and see what they can do. In most cases they'll reduce your premium. They may or may not be able to match other quotes you've been given but it'll come down. Then either accept or tell them where to stick it.
My renewal last month was higher than last year's, but still lower than the competition, so I let them go ahead. Didn't know about certain "guarantees" that some companies make with regard to beating renewals - should have given the dog a phone.
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I had been with Norwich Union for quite a long time, but 2 years ago they put my renewal up by about the same % as yours, so I shopped around for a better price and they matched it. Last year I tried the same tactic - it did'nt work. I'm now with another insurer.
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norwich union want 139 pounds to cover me for the next 12 months i paid 120 last year
>>... Norwich Union ....Last year I tried the same tactic - it did'nt work
it looks like you all missed the news item last summer, they have decided to clobber young and old:
www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/20...l
... Norwich Union's decision to raise car insurance premiums, with their yearly bills being increased by more than twice as much as most other drivers. While teenage males will bear the brunt of the price rises from Britain's biggest insurer, Norwich Union says drivers over the age of 75 will see premiums increase by around 16 per cent because they are a higher risk than most of the rest of its customers. ...
www.financedaily.co.uk/showArticle.aspx?loadID=0045
....Norwich Union, who provides car insurance to one in seven people in Britain, recently announced that it is to raise its premiums, claiming that the amount of money being paid out in claims now exceeds the amount taken in from premiums. As usual it is young male drivers and third-party fire and theft policy holders who are likely to bare the brunt of the hikes. Norwich Union is increasing prices ...
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Try eCar.
www.ecarinsurance.co.uk/
Halved my premium last month, likewise wife's car last Sept and my bike last June via eBike.
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OK percentage wise it may be a decent increase but £19 is hardly a big deal.
At £120 / £139 per annum you must be close to minimum premium levels.
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Insurance is a strange trade, it appears that it's the new customers that get all the good deals, incentives etc. rather than people who stick with the same company year after year never making a claim. Always worth shopping around, many good websites out there I generally use quotelinedirect.co.uk as a start.
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The Post Office are doing 50 quid cashback on car insurance at the moment, and the base price was pretty competitive to start with, for me anyway:-
www.postoffice.co.uk/portal/po/jump1?catId=1930022...7
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thanks everyone for the input, i will deffo have a good look round on the interweb, cheers
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www.confused.com
Enter details once, sit back with a coffee and watch the results come in. You deal directly with, and pay the insurance company / broker concerned - confused are just a referrer. A bit like drivethedeal but for insurance.
Cheers
DP
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Son & DiL have 2 cars - newish mini & newish TT. Thye have a multi-car policy with Admiral. Renewal came in - £610 - not bad for 2 cars but he tried confused.com (also Admiral owned) and low and beold the premium (with Admiral) was £520,
Thye matched their own web price - 5 minutes on web + 5 mins on the phone for £100
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Why is there this obsession with getting the cheapest insurance possible? I personally look for the highest quality.
--
L\'escargot.
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Why is there this obsession with getting the cheapest insurance possible? I personally look for the highest quality.
....at the cheapest price
The policy I took last year (via Confused) was the cheapest, had the joint lowest excess, third party on any other vehicle (one of only two out of 60+ quotes) and was underwritten by one of the country's biggest insurers. It also came with "free" basic breakdown cover, and a 20% discount for insuring a second car with the company (which SWMBO took full advantage of) . A better policy than some of those offered at twice the price.
I could have paid twice as much for lower quality cover.
Cheers
DP
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(one of only two out of 60+ quotes)
Just out of curiosity, how much did getting 60 quotes cost you?
--
L\'escargot.
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>>Why is there this obsession with getting the cheapest insurance possible? I personally look for the highest quality.
Well, the way I see it, you can't tell the quality of an insurance company until you make a claim, so the only information I have to go on at renewal time is price. Personally I use confused.com, generally there are a couple of quotes that are so cheap I don't trust them, then a whole bunch over a fairly narrow price range, so I usually go with the cheapest of the 'big bunch'. Well that was what I was about to do until the Post Office offer came up.
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Just out of curiosity, how much did getting 60 quotes cost you?
Nothing at all, apart from the cost of the electricity that my PC uses in 10 minutes.
Go to confused.com, fill out an online form, and the website goes off and retrieves quotes from most of the major insurers and a host of local brokers. The first ones dribble through after a 60 second delay period, and the remainder appear on screen within a couple of minutes. They're sorted in price order with a full explanation of the policy features and benefits next to each quote. To buy a policy you click a link and it directs you to the insurers website, where all your details have been transferred off Confused's system. Check it's all correct, click buy and enter your card details. Job done! It's a brilliant system.
If nothing else, it often returns a lower quote from your existing insurer with the same T's and C's than the one they quote you in their renewal letter.
Cheers
DP
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Why is there this obsession with getting the cheapest insurance possible? I personally look for the highest quality. -- L\'escargot.
As I have not claimed on my car policy since my 1st policy at aged 19 (now 60).
I cannot comment on the "quality of any particular Insurance company / broker service" - bumps I have had have been fixed by the 3rd party insurer and I could not choose them - I came across them "by acccident" so to speak
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Why is it an 'obsession' to obtain the best for the least cost? Most people do this every day of their lives when making purchases.
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Surely they do rely on a certain inertia to reclaim the new customer offer money. This is why they are all happy to beat your renewal quote. When I last renewed mine, my company wanted a lot more, but when I rang, and spoke to someone with some authority they instantly matched the best quote.
Remember Maggie's advice - shop around . It does pay.
I also made a fuss because it took them ages to send a certificate to the dealer supplying my new car, which earned me £30 as a sweetener.
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Definitely no obsession with the cheapest insurance for me, L'escargot. I think you get exactly what you pay for. I moved my motor insurance from Norwich Union, which I believe to be a good company and where I have other products, solely because they were no longer competitive. As with any form of insurance I personally prefer to deal with well known, well established companies and , of course, these don't tend to fall into the cheapest category.
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