Car insurance - arrgh!

[tigwig]

Well its renewal time and after having no claims or convictions my insurance has gone up by nearly £160 from last year. I can remember a time when it used to come down every year not go up. When I phone to ask why (after 15min wait on hold) I am told its nothing to do with me but the company has had a lot of claims due to bad weather bla bla bla. So thats my fault then obviously! I tell them I have had a much better quote and they manage to knock me £100 off the original price. When I ask why they didn't quote me this in the first place they say oh well its a loyalty bonus and can only be done over the phone. What a load of tosh! They tell me I should stay with them and they won't price match as they are so much better and if someone ran into me I wouldn't have to pay my excess etc etc. It all comes down to money though doesn't it? Is there any fair insurance companies out there or are they all lying scoundrels?!

[R1Geezer]

They are all the same, once they have you they hope apathy will make you stay. Shop round each year. This happenned to me this year but I didn't even call them. I arranged insurance elsewhere for over £100 less and waited for them to call me about renewal. I said they where too dear and they dropped, like you I asked why they tried to overcharge me in the first place, burbled answer. Bottom line they are all sh0wer of sh1te who will rip you off if they can, you have to move annually to get the best price.

[twix123]

Fraud is pushing car insurance premiums up faster than ever, according to AA Insurance.
This is echoed in a report published 4 September, 2010 by Moneysupermarket.com, which suggests a fifth of young drivers has ‘staged’ an accident.
The AA has been tracking the quarterly movement of average car insurance premiums across the industry for 16 years and premiums are now rising at their fastest ever rate. The price of a typical comprehensive car insurance premium, currently about £704, rose by an unprecedented 30.9% over the past year.
In just three months, premiums rose on average by 11.5 per cent and, for drivers under the age of 30, by 13.4 per cent to £1,128.
While the organised ‘cash for crash’ scams that ripped millions of pounds off insurers have made headlines, the problem of car insurance fraud is much deeper and has become one of the principle drivers of insurance premium inflation.
According to some industry commentators, over the past year, for every £100 taken in premiums, insurers have been paying out up to £122 – which, is simply not sustainable and it’s honest drivers who are paying for it.
Defrauding insurance companies is not a victimless crime because it affects all honest drivers.
Also dishonest claims are being encouraged by a fast-growing ‘black market' of personal injury claim lawyers who are only too ready to promote ‘free’ cash by claiming for relatively minor, or even non-existent, injury that people would otherwise not have thought to claim for before.
Other common forms of fraud include ‘fronting’, where a named driver (often a young person on a parent’s policy) is in fact the main driver; withholding information such as past claims or convictions; telling lies about age, where the car is kept or occupation; and even cancelling direct debit payments to insurers once their documents have been deliver

[twix123]

Part 2 (cut off in my prime)...
...delivered. On top of that, around 1 out of every 20 cars on Britain’s roads is being driven without insurance at all.

This is what you are paying for!

[tigwig]

Tell you what though it makes me feel like not bothering to pay myself. Not that I would really do this but it's not fair.

[JackDanielsU]

Everything comes down to money...insurance, food, clothes shopping, holidays etc, and has done for ages

Dont know why it comes to such a shock to people.

[welshlibranr]

Sadly tigwig, things have changed so much, I find that I have to change every year just to get a reasonable price, they're all doing the same thing! good price first year, then load it next year!..........scoundrels! .......

[WhiteBears]

my work colleague lives in the BD area and his car insurance has almost doubled compare to last yrs . the insurance company said BD has the highest rate for Fraud.

[jno]

yup, shop around for a better deal - and do it again next year as the people you signed up with this year will try to push their premiums up sharply second time around.

[quicksquid]

I'm an insurance salesmen and I'm glad to say I don't work for one of the dodgey brokers who whack on a great admin fee and try a claim the insurers have raised their price.
On average insurance has gone up by 30.9& from this time last year(research by the AA). This IS due to high claims and fraud. BUT there are some brokers trying to use this to their advantage. Make sure you ask your broker to tell you how much the insurers premium is and how much they are adding on. If they lie about this and you find out they will owe you every penny back and still be obliged to insure you.

http://www.squidoo.com/tips-4-car-insurance

[boxtops]

It's not just you tigwig, there's been quite a bit of publicity lately that many insurance premiums have gone up this year (as most did last year). They're putting it down to a number of risk elements, cost of repairs have gone up, cost of settlements for injuries have gone up, etc. You're right, the NCB used to mean we paid less in later years, but with the basic rates going up, it doesn't make a lot of difference. Shop around, we change our insurers nearly every year (for car and house and contents too).

[katekoala]

it all comes down to every tom dick & harry claiming £2k a pop for whiplash at any opportunity - where do you think this money comes from ?!

and yes, they will give you the most expensive price first - because they are still a business - everyone is free to shop around and then play them at their own game. Not much you can do.

Like JackDanielsU said - everything goes up - why are we all so suprised?

[gingejbee]

quicksquid: if premiums are up by over 30% in 12 months, I'm lucky that More than has asked for only 6% more than last year. I think I will renew with them again!

[Beswad]

Count yourself lucky if your car insurance has only gone up a mere 30%. I just got my renewal notice and mine has shot up over 300%, that's over £1000 from what I was paying last year. Needless to say where I'll be going.