MSE News: Car insurance prices could stabilise after Government rethinks...

I think you need to buy someone a spell checker.

NEVER auto renew? I have auto renewed for the past 3years because the renewal price was a lot lower than online comparisons and insurers i phoned.

This year the renewal was almost £300 cheaper than the comparison sites.

A family had someone crash into the back of them, very little damage to the car. New bumper and crash bar no bodywork other than those bolt on parts.

They each got between £1000 and £2700, even though they lost no time off work or school and actually suffered no losses.

forgotmyname wrote: »

I think you need to buy someone a spell checker.

NEVER auto renew? I have auto renewed for the past 3years because the renewal price was a lot lower than online comparisons and insurers i phoned.

This year the renewal was almost £300 cheaper than the comparison sites.

You are indeed lucky. Your personal experience of auto renewal is something I've rarely found cheaper. Once I think in 30 odd years that I've held car insurance has it actually been cheaper had I auto renewed. Ever since price comparison websites have been around, I've done my homework thoroughly before buying. Auto renewal is convenient, but I suspect for many, it would just lead to them unnecessarily overpaying. It's long been suspected, that the best discounted insurance deals, are reserved for 'new customers' the savings offset against the 'loyal' customers who stay and pay the extra. That already happens across some markets, telephone/broadband deals being one of the best examples. Take a fantastic deal for the first year, reverts to a hefty monthly cost once the contract ends, new customers get the next great deal half the price, existing customer has to haggle, put up and shut up, or leave and find another supplier cheaper. It's a merry go round.

Last month, I swapped from Direct Line to Aviva. Had I auto-renewed, my policy for 2017/18, would have been £143 MORE than what I've paid with Aviva for quite literally, the exact same cover. So instead of paying £315, I've paid £172, which includes £50 cashback clicking through Topcashback. I've been insured with a dozen different car insurers in as many years, so basically, I do manage to find a cheaper insurer every year. Loyalty? Not from this MSE reader!

I've also installed both front and rear facing HD dashcams in both my own and my wife's vehicles. I've caught some unbelievable 'accidents' on my own cameras, two of which I subsequently passed to the police because they were indeed 'unbelievable' in how they occurred, i.e., they were clearly deliberate. I'm more than happy to give a statement if it stops someone from claiming money they're clearly not entitled to and forcing up the premiums of those of us who have some decency and drive with care.

martinlewisjunior wrote: »

I have to be honest, this year for the first time ever, Renewing was cheaper than finding someone elsewhere! So I have mixed emotions about renewal

From what you've actually stated, you've not made it clear. So on your renewal letter arriving, did you compare it against other quotes as you've stated, 'Renewing was cheaper than FINDING someone elsewhere'. I'm not being a pedant, I'm genuinely interested if you did have a look to see if you could get your insurance cheaper? If you did, brilliant, no mucking about, job done, but as I say, I haven't had that sort of luck for years!

To be honest, on receipt of my renewal letter, I didn't even bother to call my insurer. I've absolutely no interest whatsoever in haggling over the phone just to reduce the premium when I can clearly find another insurer on a comparison site cheaper in the first instance. In my particular case, I use Topcashback where I can, and it just so happened that 24 hours before a deal expiry, I bagged £50 cashback off a quote with Aviva whose quote was already £93 cheaper than my previous insurer in the first instance.

At the end of the day, it's each to their own. My Father-in-Law has been with the same insurance company for over 20 years and I know for a fact because I've sat down with him and gone through the comparison sites, he's over paying by a very substantial amount. Bizarrely, he finds it somehow 'acceptable' :huh: I can't fault his 'loyalty', but what he's personally gaining from this except a rather large hole in his wallet, is beyond me.