Insurance. Will The Cost Ever Go Down?

[mastercraft]

I thought that your insurance was supposed to go down upon reaching certain milestones in your life.
Throughout my earlier years of motorcycling, my premium may have remained static, but it never went down. You couldn't get 'no claims bonus' for m/cycle's back then, so my only expectation was a reduction when I reached 25 and 30. Both birthdays came and went, and despite not having made a claim, the premium continued to rise.

Am now in my seventeenth consecutive year of car ownership...
With seventeen years 'no claims bonus' (only 9 count apparently!).
Not a single point on my license.
Car parked in locked garage overnight.
03 plate - 1.7 diesel...... Usain Bolt is faster!
Less than 6000 miles a year.
Book price around £1000.


Despite having reached the latest milestone (50 last year),
I opened a letter from insurers this morning and... you guessed it,
another increase in the premium!
When will it ever go down!?

If I live to reach the next milestone, they'll probably boost it up due to me being too old and classed as dangerous!!!

[Zacs-Master]

You're subsidising the eejits on the road.

[SirOracle]

How much did a loaf of bread cost 30 years ago Mastercraft ?

Apart from inflation, idiots on the road as Zacs has said and the cost of claims in the present day climate are also responsible.

[Hopkirk]

I hope you are not just paying what they ask for.

If you ring them up, you will probably find the premium drops with very little discussion.

Even better, use a price comparison site to get a lower premium offered then ask your present insurer to match or better it.

You may think they should look after their loyal customers, but they don't unless you grumble.

It's the squeaky wheel that gets the oil.

[Buenchico]

Console yourself with the fact that you're only paying a tiny fraction of what 17yo new drivers are paying, Mastercraft ;-)

(Young drivers struggle to get a quote of anything less than £3000 p.a.)

[hc4361]

I hope you shop around and not keep renewing with the same company. My car insurance has not increased for several years

[mastercraft]

Yes, I know you are all right. But it just irritates me that the cost has never come down. Friends who live in the suburbs have all had reductions at some point or other. I reckon my central London postcode has a lot to do with it.

Never mind, I'll have to spend more time at the traffic lights - washing windscreens to pay for it!

[mastercraft]

Yes Hc, done all that. Even the famous "over 50's" firm are £100 off the mark.
Even though the cost is up, the present insurer is £70 cheaper + more benefits than anyone else. Guess I'll stick with them.

[Hopkirk]

Still ring them and ask for it to be reduced.

It usually works.

[jno]

mine's come down now and then as the car gets older and worth less. But at the same time, I get older and more of a danger to life and limb.

[jno]

Saga aren't cheap. Have you tried Direct Line?

[Zacs-Master]

I've been with direct line for about 8 years. Nothing more than a slight increase ever time which Im happy with.

[Buenchico]

>>>Even the famous "over 50's" firm are £100 off the mark

If you actually look into the background of the firms that claim to 'specialise' in offering policies to over-50s (or to young drivers, or to people with motoring convictions, or anything else) you'll find that they're nearly all simply branding tools of big name insurers that offer policies to everyone.

For example, Sheila's Wheels specialises in selling policies to women but it was set up by Halifax Insurance (which offered policies to everyone) and is now part eSure (which sells policies to everyone and also owns GoCompare).

Similarly, Age UK's Over-50s 'specialist' policies are simply a branding tool of Ageas Insurance (which insures people of all ages).

[mastercraft]

Was with Direct Line for 6-7 years. Cancelled the dog and contents insurance with them... next premium up by 20%!

[mastercraft]

Puzzled by it all Buenchico. Esure are the present(3yrs) insurers. They give me the best deal by £70 (not advertising!!!). Yet, they were £60 off the mark for a mate who lives 12 miles away in Harrow, considered a much less risk area than mine!

How does that work out?

[Buenchico]

>>>How does that work out?

Don't ask me!

My best friend at school later got a first class honours degree in mathematics. He then joined an insurance company and commenced studying for his actuarial qualifications (to work out people's insurance premiums). He got through his first exams with flying colours, and then his second, and so on. But after four years of study (on top of his degree) he decided to call it a day and never completed his actuarial qualifications.

So it seems that they way that insurance policies are worked out is rather complex!

[Zacs-Master]

For 'complex' read 'completely,arbritrary'.

[Buenchico]

BTW, Mastercraft, you've given us all the information about your policy except the actual premium. I'd be interested (for comparioson purposes) to know what it is.

My own premium (discounting the extra I pay for RAC cover and monthly payments) is £353.40 (for a policy commencing on the 1st of this month). That's 'fully comp' on an X-reg Ford Escort Estate, purchased for £350 about 5years ago (even though it had a forecourt value of £1400 at that time; I worked for the dealership), with 'business use' cover, maximum no claims discount and no points on my licence, living in a low-crime area of Suffolk.

[bhg481]

I've just paid £263 to insure a 7 year old Volvo V70, outskirts of Reading, garaged overnight, 17,000 miles, full-time European cover. Last year £248 (both LV=), previous £310 (Aviva). What you have to bear in mind is that the insurance is largely to cover the third party claim, so the value of your own vehicle begins to be insignificant compared to the extremely high damages claims that are often made (whiplash claims etc were unheard of several years ago).

[paul1763]

i run a L200 4x4 was paying £40 per month and a clio for £21 per month saw an advert for aviva and now getting both for £32 per month on a multi vehicle policy. so if you've more than one car in your household it may be woth looking at these policies.

[ToraToraTora]

it will go down but you have to search around each year. If you stay with the same company you will be ripped off. Loyalty is punished.