Does anyone know if the risk attached to a particular postcode is some sort of industry standard or does it depend on the particular insurer?
When getting quotes online for one particular postcode it worked out cheaper yet when I came to tell my current insurer about the move they have stung me with an increased charge saying it's a higher risk area! I believe this is to cover up some sort of admin charge on their part. What does the backroom reckon?
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Insurers are private companies in the business of making money, so I would think that although they are broadly similar in their risk assessment regards postcodes they are free to put any individual loading they wish on any particular area. I have recently moved from high risk Essex to the area with the lowest crime rate in Britain and I got a substantial rebate from my car insurerson the reduced risk. In contrast and despite numerous letters and phone calls to the company that insure my bike, which still had ten months to run on the policy when I moved, I have been fobbed off and ignored.
Ignored is what they will be next renewal date.
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When I worked for an insurance company some ten years ago, one part of the rate calculation depended on location, which was calculated from the postcode. The location weighting depended, in theory at least, on the claims experience. I am sure that all the other major UK insurers would have a similar system.
So while there should be a broad general agreement that some areas are a higher risk than others, there would also be differences between the insurers, especially when it comes to placing the boundaries betrween the risk categories.
There are also variations in the level of postcode details used from region to region and insurer to insurer. So one insurer might consider all GU postcodes to have the same risk factor, while other insurers might rate GU1 and GU35 differently.
It is also very possible that the postcode tables used for cars might differ considerably from the one used for motorbikes, houses, boats..., etc.
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> Does anyone know if the risk attached to a particular
> postcode is some sort of industry standard or does it depend
> on the particular insurer?
It is not an industry standard, although typically they are very similar. If you are in one of the marginal postcodes, it can be of import to you, since at the borders one may mark you up or down whilst another might do the opposite.
Some of the composites were typically more generous with in-town post codes than were the syndicates. It can be worth looking around, but usually not.
As with protected NCD, level of NCD discount, car grouping etc. etc. you are better to ignore how they work it out and simply judge the bottom line price for comparable policies.
Also, frequently your agent or broker may charge you an amendment fee where the insurance company does not. Ask to see the official notice and ask for an official response to the discrepancy - there is *ALWAYS* a discrepancy.
And it can be very high.
M.
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It seems to depend on whether the insurer uses the full postcode or just the first part. Where I live the postcode extends into a dodgy area which is some miles away, my insurer when we moved there insisted we were living in a high risk area and demanded an increased premium. It was only when I insisted that they check their facts that they confessed to only using the first part of the postcode. When I threatened to take my business elsewhere (another company had quoted a much lower premium) that they backed down.
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