When I renewed my insurance in January it went up about £10 for the year. I wonder if all prices are escalated due to cost of living crisis.
I havent a clue. There doesnt seem to be any rhyme or reason to it. They have a reputation for taking the pi55 out of their existing customers, in the hope that they will renew anyway, and cant be bothered to shop around. Before retiring I used to work away from home, and left all the stuff regarding the house to my wife. Our household insurance was with Nationwide. They kept increasing the premium. In the end we were paying £70 per month. On retiring I shopped around, and got the same cover for £136 per year. My wife has had an account with Nationwide most of her adult life. When we cancelled, they were apologetic, and offered to drop the price. I was obviously having none of it. I wouldnt deal with them out of principle.
I quoted the 3 figures above.
I paid £196 this year. The renewal quote is £289. The cheapest quote from LV on Go Compare is £362.
The renewal price may be a pi55 take, maybe the majority of existing customers renew anyway. Perhaps the intention is to drop the price to those that cancel in order to salvage some of them. Although in my view this is not a good way to do business, and likely to alienate customers. The price they are offering to new customers is also unexplainable. It is substantially higher than the renewal price, and lots of their competitors. I can only assume that they are not looking for new customers with my profile.
I had a look on Confused.com this morning to see if there was any difference. Surprisingly the RAC were £244 on this site, and £272 on the other. I am leaning towards the RAC at £244. I would rather not deal with LV.
Admiral just bumped up our multi-car insurance from £500 to £700, despite another year of no claims and the cars being one-year older. Unfortunately, they are still the cheapest.
When asked why the premium went up by 40% when we expected it to be level or go down a bit, they said it could be because people with similar characteristics in the area have made some claims recently. I get that my driving history, mileage, gender, age and city I live in are really important, but this seems a bit off - it's a bit like the police doing a stop and search based upon some biased thinking.
Postcodes can be vital in this sort of thing. As can increased computer data.
I remember a time when premiums were set using (to use a random postcode) TW. Then TW7. Then TW7 5. Now some even rate you on TW7 5Q. Each time the effects on premium are massive, as better or worse areas are no longer counted.
As an example, a whole County insisted on their Postcode changing some years back. Because the Vale of Glamorgan has both a very affluent area and a very poor one.
Multi-car insurance has significant problems in relation to no claims discount. Having said that, car insurance has gone up a lot in the last year or so.
I just thought it would be a little more straightforward. I understand that people with a poor driving record will get their premiums increased. Thats logical, if you are persistently getting caught for driving offences, you should pay more than someone who doesnt. If you live in an area where large numbers of cars are vandalised, or stolen, then you will pay more than those that live in areas where they arent. If you make regular claims, you lose your no claims bonus, and will definitely pay more than those that dont claim. If you park your car in the street, then it is more at risk, than if you dont. There are 17 houses/bungalows in my street. It is a cul-de-sac, so there arent loads of people walking down my street that are going elsewhere. I am not aware of any cars that have been stolen, or damaged during the 22 years that I have lived here.
My premium has gone up 50% from last year to this. I havent committed any driving offences in the last 20 years. I have made one claim in the last 30 years, and that was for a windscreen, 17 years ago. This damage was caused by a stone on the motorway, and not necessarily my fault. I live in a decent area, and park the car on my drive. I would be surprised if the stats on stolen/damaged cars in my area have increased, or changed in the last 30 years. I had a company car leading up to my retirement. So I should have an eight year no claims bonus, they are actually giving me seven years, I havent quibbled over this as it only makes a difference of 1%. The value of my car will have decreased. My no claims bonus has increased slightly. I am only doing around 1,000 miles per year.
I therefore cant see anything that has happened in the last 12 months that would warrant a 50% increase in my premium.
Car insurance has gone up, on average, by 20% this year. In part, this has been because of a return to normality-car insurance went down substantially during the pandemic.
This is not true, at least in my case it wasnt. Mine wasnt reduced substantially, and I did a similar mileage during lockdown.
You need to know what your motor insurer regards as "your area"-it could be anywhere from the first 3 to the first 5 letters/numbers of your postcode, which will have a major impact.
My point is that the area you live in is unlikely to change dramatically over a period of 1 year.
Any insurer will tell you that 30 years largely claim free may just mean you are now due
Perhaps they should work the no claims bonus backwards. Maximum when you start. Reducing it each year you dont claim.
Finally, you mention lots of factors. But you do not mention one very important one-age. It's not just the increased risk associated with age. The retired are driving far more than during the pandemic, and consequently the risk has risen substantially.
My quotes were based on driving 1,000 miles per year, before, during, and after the pandemic, and as I said previously there was no reduction in premiums during the pandemic. Since retiring, I have used trains more than ever before
1 amusing fact relating to insurance for the retired. When a House insurer asks if you are at home all day, retired people say yes, believing that that will reduce the premium. Whereas it actually increases it. Insured people tend to think of burglaries-whereas insurers think of the damage we can cause while in the house.
Since retiring I have saved £700 per year on my household insurance.
I think that if it was all based on a magic formula, postcodes, or anything else, surely all insurance companies would be quoting the same price. Yet the prices I have been quoted range from £186 to £4,464.
There isn't a magic formula. It varies from insurer to insurer. Using part of a Postcode on an old address of mine, and the different postcodes used:-
Some use CO13-an area of about 10,000 people, including Frinton, Kirby Cross, Kirby-le-Soken and Gt Holland.
Some use CO13 0-which is part of Kirby Cross and Great Holland. About 2,000 people.
Some use CO13 0J. Part of Great Holland. About 200 people.
As it happens, I believe all CO13 postcodes are similarly rated. But that is not true for areas with major social disparity within the postcodes. Using my example from before, the Vale of Glamorgan has massive variations within it.
Then some Insurers are actively looking to increase or decrease exposure to different classes of risk.
There was a time when you could rely on an experienced insurance broker to sort this out. As opposed to price "comparison" websites.
There isn't a magic formula. It varies from insurer to insurer. Using part of a Postcode on an old address of mine, and the different postcodes used:-
Some use CO13-an area of about 10,000 people, including Frinton, Kirby Cross, Kirby-le-Soken and Gt Holland.
Some use CO13 0-which is part of Kirby Cross and Great Holland. About 2,000 people.
Some use CO13 0J. Part of Great Holland. About 200 people.
As it happens, I believe all CO13 postcodes are similarly rated. But that is not true for areas with major social disparity within the postcodes. Using my example from before, the Vale of Glamorgan has massive variations within it.
I understand that. I know the Vale of Glamorgan. I am sure that the people that live in the Vale of Glamorgan understand that their insurance premiums are affected by the variations. My point is that these variations have existed for years, and are unlikely to have changed over the last 12 months. These variations dont exist where I live.
Then some Insurers are actively looking to increase or decrease exposure to different classes of risk.
I understand. My details havent changed in any adverse way, other than I am one year older. I live at the same address, the car is worth less, no driving convictions, and more no claims. When I first found LV on one of the comparison sites, they were keen to get my business, as they were one of the cheaper quotes.
There was a time when you could rely on an experienced insurance broker to sort this out. As opposed to price "comparison" websites.
Whatever the ins and outs of the insurance business, I could pay less than last year if I wished, by buying the policy from another company. This is irrespective of being old, pandemics, price increases, retirement, and whatever class of risk I am.
Comments
https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/new-year-delivers-fairer-home-motor-insurance-renewals#:~:text=From 1 January insurers will,they were a new customer.
I paid £196 this year.
The renewal quote is £289.
The cheapest quote from LV on Go Compare is £362.
I wonder if all prices are escalated due to cost of living crisis.
There doesnt seem to be any rhyme or reason to it.
They have a reputation for taking the pi55 out of their existing customers, in the hope that they will renew anyway, and cant be bothered to shop around.
Before retiring I used to work away from home, and left all the stuff regarding the house to my wife.
Our household insurance was with Nationwide.
They kept increasing the premium.
In the end we were paying £70 per month.
On retiring I shopped around, and got the same cover for £136 per year.
My wife has had an account with Nationwide most of her adult life.
When we cancelled, they were apologetic, and offered to drop the price.
I was obviously having none of it.
I wouldnt deal with them out of principle.
I quoted the 3 figures above.
I paid £196 this year.
The renewal quote is £289.
The cheapest quote from LV on Go Compare is £362.
The renewal price may be a pi55 take, maybe the majority of existing customers renew anyway.
Perhaps the intention is to drop the price to those that cancel in order to salvage some of them.
Although in my view this is not a good way to do business, and likely to alienate customers.
The price they are offering to new customers is also unexplainable.
It is substantially higher than the renewal price, and lots of their competitors.
I can only assume that they are not looking for new customers with my profile.
I had a look on Confused.com this morning to see if there was any difference.
Surprisingly the RAC were £244 on this site, and £272 on the other.
I am leaning towards the RAC at £244.
I would rather not deal with LV.
I think that if it was all based on a magic formula, postcodes, or anything else, surely all insurance companies would be quoting the same price.
Yet the prices I have been quoted range from £186 to £4,464.
Some use CO13-an area of about 10,000 people, including Frinton, Kirby Cross, Kirby-le-Soken and Gt Holland.
Some use CO13 0-which is part of Kirby Cross and Great Holland. About 2,000 people.
Some use CO13 0J. Part of Great Holland. About 200 people.
As it happens, I believe all CO13 postcodes are similarly rated. But that is not true for areas with major social disparity within the postcodes. Using my example from before, the Vale of Glamorgan has massive variations within it.
Then some Insurers are actively looking to increase or decrease exposure to different classes of risk.
There was a time when you could rely on an experienced insurance broker to sort this out. As opposed to price "comparison" websites.
This is irrespective of being old, pandemics, price increases, retirement, and whatever class of risk I am.