Churchill Automatic Renewal Con

mattymoo

I think Lisyloo :iloveyou:


PS: Only kidding around - happily married father of 2

Mr_K

mmm, well getting back to the subject.

It's a matter of fact if you renew with the same company every year you're be paying a significantly higher premium than new customers, or those who threaten to leave. My own policy was recently due for renewal. I challenged it with a cheaper quote and immediately £90 was taken off. Same policy, same company. It's in your interests to shop around and challenge the renewal quote.

Yes you can do this with autorenewal but then the onus is on you to hope you get a renewal notice, cancel the policy, prove you've cancelled it and hope they do cancel it. (Once they've got your credit card details, unlike a direct debit, only the company can cancel, not you). As in the OP's case there are many stories on here where people have had problems with all of the above. Most of these would have been avoided if they hadn't been on autorenew.

Unless you're a very disorganised & forgetful it's not in your interest. It is however very much in the insurers interest that you renew with the inflated autorenewal premium.

Quote

A whole £90? Wow. With that sort of money you could....oooh...I don't know....you could almost buy, like, a whole pint of beer a week, for a whole year.

That's awesome.

:money:

Mr_K

Quote wrote: »

A whole £90? Wow. With that sort of money you could....oooh...I don't know....you could almost buy, like, a whole pint of beer a week, for a whole year.

That's awesome.

:money:

thanks, yes, for a 2 minute phonecall I think its awesome too.

Quote

It wasn't just the two minute phone call though, was it? It was the time you spent getting an alternative quote. The time you spent negotiating that lower price. The time you've spent on here moaning about it. Moaning about something so utterly futile as Churchill automatically renewing policies.

For every moaner there might be someone who is grateful for the fact that their policy is automatically renewed. But we only ever generally hear the moans because of the propensity of people to complain more than praise. Stuff isn't getting worse, it's just that more people feel inclined to complain about stuff.

And those people who don't bother checking. Or those people who are happy to pay what they're being asked to pay and they can afford to pay. They might value their time more than you value yours. Because no matter how much or little you save, you'll never get that time back.

Mr_K

I'm sorry you think £90 is an insignificant amount, multiplied by a 60 year driving career it adds up. Add to that the cashback you can get for changing companies, £130 I got for switching to my current insurer. Have a look the address bar in your browser, it says 'moneysaving'.

As for not checking you're getting the best value for your policy every year, maybe this is the wrong website for you ? There is a whole section on the site advising you to do just that. Having autorenewal makes it more cumbersome if you want to change.

dunstonh

It's a matter of fact if you renew with the same company every year you're be paying a significantly higher premium than new customers,

Is it? How is that my esure policy renewal is cheaper than the quote sites are able to offer?

I think you are making the assumption that is the case but in reality it is not. If you are the type of person that shops around every year and goes with providers/brokers that heavily discount year one then what you say is probably quite likely to happen as year 2 doesnt get that discount. However, if you go with a provider that rewards loyalty (perhaps by including a longer no claims discount that normal) and doesnt cross subsidise by giving big year one discounts then chances are your existing provider will still be the cheapest or there or thereabouts that makes no difference.

lisyloo

It's a matter of fact if you renew with the same company every year you're be paying a significantly higher premium than new customers

No it's not.
Some people on here come and say "my renewal is cheapest, is this right?".
Furthermore my in-laws at over eighty years of age cannot easily get anything BUT renewal.
So no, it's not 100% factual.
It's common yes, but not absolutely the case.

Yes you can do this with autorenewal but then the onus is on you to hope you get a renewal notice

No you don't have to live in hope.
You can use a diary.
Most people have some system for remebering people's birthdays unless they are a complete hermit or "billy no mates".

cancel the policy, prove you've cancelled it and hope they do cancel it

Quite easy. Try recorded delivery.
Works every time.

Unless you're a very disorganised & forgetful it's not in your interest.

Incorrect.
Some people find their renewal is cheapest and/or best. We've had 2 anecdotals already of this.

It is however very much in the insurers interest that you renew with the inflated autorenewal premium.

Shock horror. I can imagine the headline.
"Capitalists business try to make money"

thanks, yes, for a 2 minute phonecall I think its awesome too.

You did a lot of reasearch then - NOT.
How can you possibly be familiar with your new polciy and know it's right for you in 2 minutes.
Next you'll be coming on here complaining about the terms when you've spent next to no time checking it's suitable.

I'm sorry you think £90 is an insignificant amount, multiplied by a 60 year driving career it adds up. Add to that the cashback you can get for changing companies, £130 I got for switching to my current insurer. Have a look the address bar in your browser, it says 'moneysaving'.

There is NO CONFLICT between auto-renewal and shopping around.
Many people do both.

Having autorenewal makes it more cumbersome if you want to change.

Do me a favour.
It's takes a few minutes. MUCH less than comapring quotes which cam take hours if you are doing it properly and checking cover and service properly.
You've spent far more than that compaining on here.
But if you don't like it then DON'T BUY IT.
If you find a shop or a restaurant that's not selling what you want, what do you do?
Go somewhere else? or waste hours of your time in a meaningless rant that won't get your anywhere?
If you were campaigning and doing something that might be useful then I'd wish you luck, but just whinging will get you absolutely nowhere.

lisyloo

You ought to also "be careful what you wish for" Mr K.
I know we like to help fellow MSEs on here, but if everyone got a competitve quote then ultimately your premium would rise.
Other people's lazinesss is subsiding you.
They could not offer these cut price premiums across the boad.

If you are completely altruistic, then I take my hat off to you.
But if you did somehow manage to get everyone in the world to be motivated to shop around (which you won't) then it wouldmprobably cost you personally quite a lot.

The fact is that most people are not motivated to save money.
Even if you £90 in 2 minutes makes sense.
Most people HATE doing money stuff with a passion and are very happy to stick their head in the sand.

Mr_K

Morning Lisyloo/Dunstonh, I wondered when you'd turn up...

Well you must be very lucky that your insurance companies are so nice to you. Good for you, stay where you are. In every policy I've had, the second year's premium has been at least 20% higher than the first, even though there's been no claims. On querying why, the answer comes back ' well, in the first year you had a new customer discount'. Consumers have cottoned onto this and have been switching more readily. Insurance companies don't like this and hence the introduction of autorenewal to make switching less easy.

What have you got against making opting out of autorenewal easier ? All i'm asking is an opt out tick box on the application form. It shouldn't have to take sending recorded delivery letters in the post & hoping they act on it. An opt out isn't there because the insurance companies profits are more likely to be impacted and customers would be in danger of getting value for money.