Ouch! Unemployment insurance price hike!

weths

I took out my insurances when i took out my mortgage around 18months ago..i did accident sickness with Abbey at 17.00 (now increased to 23.00) and Unemployment with British Insurance was around 9.00. Last June they price hiked it from the 9.00 to 17.00. Today i get home from my poorly paid job to be told that it had gone up to 35.00!! I feel sick..where do i look for cheaper insurance?? How can i prevent these price hikes? Not only are my insurers doing it but my credit cards are on the way up.yet ive encountered a pay freeze at work and had my tax credits cut and my lovely ex husband has stopped paying child maintenance!!! Im around 400. down a month and my bills keep going up! HELP!!!

jamestay1

join the club my income protection went from £22 to £34 last year to £61 today !!

you can changed insurance company's but not ex husbands i'm afraid lol

good luck !!

cattie

Everybody is upping the prices of their income protection policies due to the high level of claims now being made on them.

Even if you found someone offering something a bit cheaper, you have no way of knowing if they recently increased prices or have a major hike in the pipeline.

Also, you need to consider very carefully before switching. All policies have a period before you can make a claim, usually around 3 months. What if you changed insurers & then suddenly, for whatever reason found yourself unable to work or without a job?

I'm not too sure I'd consider accident insurance an essential. My first priority would be income protection, which should cover you for ill health & unemployment. The chances of having an accident are pretty low, but the chances of getting ill are not. Perhaps you could consider dropping that policy?

weths

I hadnt thought about dropping the accident part of my cover with Abbey. I will look into it. I will have a proper look into what i actually do need. Im pretty lucky. Although my job is paid badly its actually rather secure. (deal with employment issues) So it means i can swap insurer without any issues. I am cancelling this crazy policy and going to search for something better. They may hike their prices but i think i will take the risk and switch again. Unless i feel my job is less secure at the time and just take the hit!!
Its just another thing to contend with when trying to balance the family books is hard enough....!!! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

onefurlongout

Just had my premium double today with British insurance, not sure there is much I can do about it.

If I cancel and leave then I have to go through a qualification period and there is no saying that the premiums will go up again.

Just another increase in expense when money is tight, good job I cancelled that gym membership last month

OshayAway

Weths & onefurlonout, you would both do well to find an IFA or protection specialist who has access to a few providers for ASU (many only use one or a couple).

It shouldn't be too dificult to get like-for-like cover, considerably cheaper than British Insuance's new rates and with a 'transfer' option the new provider will waive the initial exclusion for unemployment claims.

lowis

i sympathize...

• service charges have jumped by £25 a month
• income protection has jumped from £33 to £55 a month (Ant / Assurant insurance)
• monthly pay has been cut quite significantly - 20%!

i am having to live incredibly frugally now...whilst trying to think of / find ways to earn a second income

rjhempel

Hi there,

I got this as well, it jumped from £27 to £51. I called them to ask why, they told me that they had to change underwriters as the other pulled out with little/no notice.

It is odd, we are expected to pay this and then when people claim costs skyrocket up:mad: What did they expect, people won't claim!!

I also noticed the change in policy that it will pay max of 125% of mortgage or 50% income, etc whichever is the lower. I have been overpaying for too long as my mortgage payments dropped. Have asked them for a requote so I don't overpay.

If you check the british insurance website and ask for a quote it is lower than we currently being quoted. Their response is it is an income protection insurance not Mortgage protection insurance and the underwriter for that might be pushing their prices up too.

Switching to another and starting again isn't an option in my case, as the parent company which owns my company said that they are to lay off 7200 people, saw that in Observer before we even told, heck we haven't even had it announced to us...

Fliss_M

Yep, Ant went up for me too. Husbands from £13 to £23, mine from £17 to £33!!! £25 extra a month!!!

Am swapping to iprotect, does anybody know if they have had their price increase yet?

One word, dont just cancel, swap, otherwise you start from scratch on the unemployment exclusion, swap and its waivered.

favemuppet

Hi

I too am looking at "switching" from British Insurance (premium going up from £21 to £42) to iprotect.

In order for them to waive the exclusion period I note I have to have the same amount of "benefit cover". The problem is that with British Insurance I have an unemployment only policy, but iprotect wont do this - it has to be ASU.

Does anyone know if that means I wont be able to "switch"??

Fliss_M

I would email them. I dont think it will be a problem as the wavier is for unemplyment, which you had. Cant hurt to call