Another Car Insurance rip off!

dmyeo66

I have recently recieved a renewal notice from Aviva (Norwich Union Direct) letting me know that my insurance is due for renewal at the end of Feb. I saw the figure that they quoted me.......£480+ for Full Comp.:mad: Up by a staggering £160 on the previous year! :eek: I then checked websites and found many were prepared to charge me £220 on average or less than Aviva. :T I thought I will definately go elsewhere this year. I phoned Aviva up and told them I would send the documentation back as I was going elsewhere........they promptly changed the figure to £350 for the year......a saving of £130+. So if I didnt phone they would have ripped me off £130!! How many other companies do this? And how many of us fall into the "can't be bothered to check as I have been with them for years group"?
I bet they make £ms every year through this little system (scam maybe to harsh!).
The annoying thing is they have just sent me another renewal notice for the original price (£480)!! This is after I told them I shall be leaving and had a lower quote from them!!
Stay clear of Aviva people.

BruceyBonus

Every company does this. Did you know it actually takes around 2/3 years for a policy to become profitable?

shelly

dmyeo66 wrote: »

How many other companies do this?

All of them I'd say. I have never heard of anyone getting a cheaper or same price renewal quote as the price paid to take out the policy.
We shop around every year and usually change ins co's to get the best price.

My Dad is one of those who just pays renewals but recently I found out his building and conts cover was going to cost him over £750 this year. I did a quick search online and got him a quote of under £300. He called his co to tell them he wasn't renewing and they slashed the renewal down to just over £330. He said no thanks and changed co's.

Also I wouldn't say this practice is a scam or ripping customers off. If we as consumers can't be bothered to do research or shop around to save ourselves money who's fault is it? Companies rely on lazy policy holders just paying up......can't blame them for trying it on

TighterThanTwoCoatsOfPain

But its not a scam is it! they (like every other company out there) are relying on your apathy at renewal time.

You played them at their game and benefited.

I havent changed companies for a couple of years as my existing company have always come out on top give or take a couple of quid.

( I wont switch for Quidco as its not gauranteed, nor would i switch for the sake of £15 or so!)

dunstonh

Its not a rip off. Its just them discounting to get/keep your business.

Car insurance runs between a tiny profit or a loss depending on luck and if the providers are buying market share or not. NU often buy market share at the expense of making a profit. Many retail companies run loss leaders at times. Are you going to slag them off as well?

Rather than jumping to the assumption of a scam/rip off and slagging off the company, perhaps it would have been better for you to understand why these things happen. If you dont understand then ask.

Millionaire

shelly wrote: »

All of them I'd say. I have never heard of anyone getting a cheaper or same price renewal quote as the price paid to take out the policy.

I'm with lloyds and they were the cheapest for me give or take a few quid after checking a whole load of comparison sites and getting quotes including direct quotes.

They also guaranteed the renewal would be cheaper, and yes in fact this year my renewal was only £260 down from £340.:beer:.

So, no all companies don't increase premiums on renewal.

I've been with Norwich Union in the past and I know of others friends/family and they do have a habit of excessively increasing premiums on renewals.

They tried to shoot mine up from £400 to £680 a few years back. Just cancel and move to someone else.

shelly

frdjns74 wrote: »

I am a new driver about 3 years and every year my insurance has gone down, when does it normally stabilize?

Why do you want it to stabilise? If it gets cheaper every year that's good..... isn't it?

housesitter

BruceyBonus wrote: »

Every company does this. Did you know it actually takes around 2/3 years for a policy to become profitable?

Get off it.
If you don't make a claim it's all profit less the admin costs.

Insurance companies are not in the game for altruism. They make money from providing insurance.

shelly

Millionaire wrote: »

I'm with lloyds and they were the cheapest for me give or take a few quid after checking a whole load of comparison sites and getting quotes including direct quotes.

They also guaranteed the renewal would be cheaper, and yes in fact this year my renewal was only £260 down from £340.:beer:.

So, no all companies don't increase premiums on renewal.

I wasn't talking about the co's that guarantee cheaper renewals. I was talking generally about ins co's upping renewals.

I should have said in my post **I have never heard of anyone getting a cheaper or same price renewal quote as the price paid to take out the policy. Unless of course you are on a deal that guarantees next years renewal won't go up**

Wutang_2

shelly wrote: »

Also I wouldn't say this practice is a scam or ripping customers off. If we as consumers can't be bothered to do research or shop around to save ourselves money who's fault is it? Companies rely on lazy policy holders just paying up......can't blame them for trying it on

absolutely - it often turns out that the most competitive price a year later is the company you moved away from a year ago...

This year I know that Post Office car ins. is the most competitive but not as an existing customer...this doesn't bother me as there are hundreds of insurers all after their share.

There are a plenty of ways to compare policies and people who just expect competitive renewal prices are living in dreamworld (although this may also be a furniture store).

Long live uncompetitive renewal prices.

nicksingh

I was with esure last year but decided to visit confused.com to get a breakdown of what the other providers were offering.

I find it pays to change insurer as it gets cheaper every year, and I have only every stayed with the same insurer ONCE when morethan gave me a cheaper quote for renewal a few years ago.

Im now with trident as i found there car and van insurance cheaper than esure