My daughters insurance was due renewal recently. Her quote from current insurer was not acceptable, so she negotiated a £30 discount afer saying she would go elsewhere. She got a quote from another company (A&L) which was a bit lower than her current discounted quote. So, she went for it. She received a letter requesting proof on NCD.......but in addition, the new company asked for written proof of the lower quote. If she couldn't supply it, the company would actually charge her her current companies original non-discounted quote. Their excuse was that she could have just plucked a figure out of her imagination. Excuse me, but I thought insurance was based on risk and if the company (taking into account age, location, car type NCD history etc) calculated the risk they arrived at a figure acceptable to them, i.e. a bet.
Anyone else come across similar?
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My renewal was £180 inc 75% NCB (11yrs NCB) = Gross Premium £720
Checked on TescoCompare.com and the same Company wanted £141 for 70% NCB (after 5 yrs ) = Gross Premium of £470
The Ins Co matched their own offer of £141 via Tesco Compare but would not give me 75% off the lower Gross of £470 i.e. £118 - Below their minimum premium!
With all Ins Co it is what they can get away with on top of the risk element.
I paid £141 - very good for a Group 16 car - admittedly older now but I have had it 8 yrs -
TPF&T was more expensive than Fully Comp!!!
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FB
Does that premium include NCD protection and legal cover?? I have 9 yr old Group 16 motor and my renewal was £186 but add the bit's on and it soon mounted up. I know they are optional- but!
Dave
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My £141 premium does not include NCB protection - 1 claim in a year NCB falls from 75% to 73% so it is not worth having protection - if you claim 2 x in a year it falls to 70%.
Excess is £100 compulsory & £150 voluntary
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Not sure why you think there's a 'scam' going on.
Excuse me, but I thought insurance was based on risk and if the company (taking into account age, location, car type NCD history etc) calculated the risk they arrived at a figure acceptable to them, i.e. a bet.
No, insurance, like any business is based on profit - and profit margin. The margin is what the 2 quotes were probably competing on. Alot of what 'insurers' compete on is what is left over from the true insurers - the underwriters. Most quotes battle around the margin most add for administration & execution of your policy. The truth is, many different brokers (which is what we mistakenly call 'insurance companies') often buy the same wholesale product, dress it up in differently & flog it on with ribbons & bows.
You see a similar example with new cars - most (franchised) retailers can buy for a similar price from the manufacturer, but sell on for what they can get.
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Is it possible to get insurance directly from underwrites (cutting out the middleman)?
Or they are like wholesale price - I can't get from them (like BoE interest rate)?
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Is it possible to get insurance directly from underwrites (cutting out the middleman)?
Yes, in a way - I think HSBC own at least part of an underwriting business But again, is it any more competitive going to for example, a fully manufacturer-owned car dealership, than going to franchised car dealership? The 2 parts (broking & underwriting) are different businesses - one mediates the customer interface, the other calculates & offsets intervention (claim) costs.
If you could buy the simple, unadorned insurance product, it would be much like dealing with Ford directly if you (could) buy a car directly - go to the factory to pick it up, negotiate a part price, arrange transport for it, arrange to have warranty work at your own expense & claim back for it etc. etc.
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Is it possible to get insurance directly from underwrites
AFAIK Norwich Union (Aviva) is an insurer in its own right - they just pocket what would be the brokers commission themselves??
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AFAIK Norwich Union (Aviva) is an insurer in its own right - they just pocket what would be the brokers commission themselves??
12 years ago my son was insured with NU Direct for his Volvo 480. Being 22 he graduated to a Prelude - at this NU Direct said we do not cover cars like Preludes for under 25s.
Off to a broker - they came back with a premium £40-50 more than the Volvo 480 and literally £300 less than anyone else - the insurer Norwich Union (Broker Policies rather than Direct).
Inusrance Policies are like anything else you have to test the market to make sure you are getting the best premium - at the same point relying on aname that you feel you can trust. The proof of taht pudding is when you ahve a claim and how well they handle it.
My DiL has a claim ( run up the back and 100% 3rd party fault) just now and it is badly handled by a big name insurer.
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If she bought the policy over the phone then there may be a cooling-off period.
If there is then tell her to tell the insurance company to honour the price or she'll cancel the policy and go with the other quote.
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I'm paying £73/month with 3 years NCB and I thought that was decent. Can't wait for the days i pay less than £200/year!
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I am not quite clear what happened. Are you saying that she got a quote on the phone, paid the money, and then received a letter requesting proof of the other offer? If so, then I agree that is a scam, or at best dubious practice. Especially since the other company probably would not be prepared to provide a written offer (since they might guess why).
You could try some form of formal complaint, to the Trading Standard Office perhaps?
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I think you will find that the Terms and Conditions go in to this.
Simply cannot see where the 'Scam' is.
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