THE EASY WAY: All the Forum's best tips go in MoneySavingExpert's weekly E-mail Plus you'll get all the new guides, deals and loopholes. It's free & spam free
IMPORTANT! This forum isn't moderated. If you spot a spam, illegal, offensive, racist, libellous post or PM please email abuse@moneysavingexpert.com
Remember, this is an open forum! Anyone can post so always exercise caution when acting on info. Don't post links for personal gain. Except in the referrers section and always declare any interest.
That's definitely true, just recently insured myself with e-sure. Noticed a big difference on comparison sites when I typed in 'account executive' (my exact job title) and when I put in 'public relations'. I haven't checked the list but apparently we are one of the worst professions insurance-wise because we supposedly spend all day carting rich and famous clients around... Truth or myth? I'm sure plenty of people can describe themselves as an 'account executive' or 'administrator'. The example Confused.com offers above the field for occupation is 'Office Worker' - I'm sure you can't go wrong with that!
In the end I went with e-sure, who only have 12 broad categories, so ended up in the catch-all 'Other Service Industries'.
Very good tool, though it would be nice to see a tweak. I'll explain... I had previously found in discussions with my wife's insurer that clarifying her job could result in savings. She was a print journalist some years ago, but her insurer distinguished between reporters and journalists, on the basis that reporters were always rushing around like mad things. But my beloved was a features writer which scored lower.
Fast forward to 2008 and my wife is now a marriage counsellor and a business coach (nearest description - consultant?). But which scores lowest, as they aren't in the same category to compare in the tool?
The tweak that I'd like is either to be able to compare the loadings behind each description, or to be able to select two different descriptions and see the resulting premiums. As it stands you have to put a job title against a premium, which then limits you to one set of job categories, but I'd like to know if one title is higher or lower than another if it's not in the same category list. At least it would give us the knowledge to discuss this with our insurer.
I don't condone giving false descriptions - there's no point if it invalidates your insurance. But there's certainly no point in describing your job in a way that costs more than it should.
So well done, MSE, and would you consider releasing the full list with loading?
The Following User Says Thank You to lean&mean For This Useful Post:Show me >>
The tweak that I'd like is either to be able to compare the loadings behind each description, or to be able to select two different descriptions and see the resulting premiums. As it stands you have to put a job title against a premium, which then limits you to one set of job categories, but I'd like to know if one title is higher or lower than another if it's not in the same category list. At least it would give us the knowledge to discuss this with our insurer.
Just click on Try Another Sector then look in the blue box to the left and select each sector, one at a time, to see all the comparisons going.
One very clear lesson that comes out of this is that putting down Housewife, Househusband, Retired or Unemployed is usually going to be a bad idea, if there's another legitimate option. My wife, for instance, works as a "lunchtime supervisor" at the local school, for a couple of hours once a week. She really only does this to help out, as they struggle to find enough staff, but it looks like putting this down as her occupation would save 20% on the premium.
koru
Last edited by koru; 10-04-2008 at 11:34 AM..
Reason: clearer wording
I wonder if being a retired 50 year old accountant really entails 20% higher premiums than being an employed 50 year old accountant, as this tool would suggest? Or was the data gathered in a way that assumed retired = 65 years old, so this could be affecting the premium?
This is very interesting for me as I have no idea what my official job title is!
On my payslip I am simply described as an "Outworker", meaning I work from home.
Maybe someone can advise me? I'll explain...
I work from home for a company who employ me on a casual basis i.e. I am not salaried, I simply get paid per set of what I produce and send in.
I produce components for hand made wedding tiaras and related items. I don't design them, I work from templates, and they make them into the final product in the office once I've sent them in.
Anyone any idea what my job is?
For car insurance purposes I am described as a jeweller, but am not convinced that is a very accurate description... but I can't find anything better!
[quote=koru;10054527]Just click on Try Another Sector then look in the blue box to the left and select each sector, one at a time, to see all the comparisons going.
Well that doesn't work, as it only compares the description against premium loading. I'm with leanandmean if you could compare description by description instead of description by premium, we would see the optimum description for ourselves.
I'm a trainer in IT, but in a vertical market. So I could be a Trainer, Teacher, Motor Trader, Consultant, and any number of sub headings under each of those.
Look forward to the mod Martin !
I always have problems with job titles for insurance quotes. I work in the Internet industry and that seems to be an area much under-represented by these job title lists. I've never found anything even close to what I do and usually end up having to call myself an 'IT Manager' purely on the basis that my job involves an Internet service and you need a computer to get to it! lol
No idea how that effects my insurance but I don't seem to have too many options!
How does being on Incapacity Benefit and not being well enough to work affect car insurance please?
Well it's all based on statistics.
It's not possible to interview each person, give them a medical, analyse their driving patterns and asses their driving. It's simply too expensive, so people are grouped together statistically.
So for example females make less claims than males therefore it's lawful to charge males more on the basis of gender.
If statistics show working people have a different number of claims to non-working people them they are allowed to charge differently on that basis.
All of this depends on the insurer - each insurer has its own view.
Quote:
My wife does a bit of Avon so what could that be classed as ?
Regards your second point - your wife is a housewife with a part time occupation (sales person or sales representative) and both 'occupations' need to be declared! If she uses the car for the part time job the vehicle needs to be insured for business use/commercial travel. Regard's home insurance - if she has clients come to your house this also needs to be declared to the insurer.
Pls be nice to all MoneySavers. There's no such thing as a stupid question, and even if you disagree courtesy helps. Take care over copyright. Use excerpts and links rather than copying long text. This site asserts copyright on all comments posted on the board.
Pls be nice to all MoneySavers. There's no such thing as a stupid question, and even if you disagree courtesy helps.
Car Insurance Job Picker Discussion
Linear Mode
