Direct line insurance renewal

PaulJM

I'm sure this has been brought up before - because it's annoyed me in the past, but it's really come to a head this time...
Just had a renewal from Direct Line for home insurance - I've been with them for 10 years, and have car insurance discount too.
They want £408 this year - which I thought was expensive.
A quick check on a few comparison sites, and it came out at the cheapest of £140 - buildings and contents.
Realising that not all insurance policies insure the same stuff, I then went onto the DL website, and exactly emmulated my renewal terms - £170!!!
So - phoning them, they advised they could take 40% off - taking it to £280 ish - still no good. The adviser tells me that they cannot price match THEIR OWN internet site - eh? A few years ago I took a policy out on their internet site, when this happened last time, so in affect, I have an internet policy.
This seems madness to me - surely it's cheaper to retain people they know will pay, and who they know for a fact haven't claimed for years? Even with the car insurance discounts, I'm still out of pocket by ££'s....
What sort of business sense does this make? Realise they can do what the hell they like - it's their business (my disclaimer before someone points that out) - but I just don't get it!
Needless to say, I'm changing this time - but it's a cautionary tale - don't ever think you'll get any loyalty benefits!:think::think:

kipperman

I had exactly the same with DL - in fact each year we have the same problem - they send me an expensive quote for renewal, I check on comparison websites, ring up DL, get put through to customer retention, they discount original quote and match comparison websites...................

I presume they make enough money from the people who simply pay up at the inflated price to not worry about attempting to retain loyal customers.

PaulJM

They've price matched for us the last couple of years - but wouldn't even match their own this time - let alone the much cheaper Swinton quote - amongst others.
Wouldn't you think their call centres use the same price logic as the website..even using the same pricing structure? These aren't internet only accounts like you get with your gas or elec - you just buy online then deal with them on the phone.
Weird, like you say - probably make a fortune on people who don't check and swap - £160 ish in my case...

The_Pedant

I *always* get an online comparison for a renewal, be it car or household etc.

When dealing with DL, I have on at least one occasion found that when calling, the price stated excludes any 'online discount'. That aside though, it still seems like too big a margin for that to be the case here. I must admit though that I have managed to get cheaper quotes than the renewals given.

As with many insurance companies .... they expect many to just accept the cost, without checking.

It always pays to shop around.

The_Unready

Hi,

This happens every year to me, whether it be home or car insurance, and regardless of the insurance company.

Because I got sick to death of doing what you're doing (ringing the company up to ask for a price-match) I now don't bother. I look at the renewal quote, do the comparison site stuff, and take the policy that best serves my needs. I don't give the original company the option of re-quoting - they've had their chance with the renewal letter.

When I ring to tell the old company that the policy won't be renewed I'm always told that they can "probably do something for me with respect to the renewal premium". I tell them to forget it: they've already had their chance and I've already switched.

It won't make any difference to the price of fish, but it makes me feel a little better!

The Unready

northwest1965

OH had this problem with Direct Line. Last year Car insurance with them £370, this years renewal £660:eek:. No it wasnt an error!!!!
Found a price with the same conditions for £441

crackerberry

Directline do this every year and this year it's seriously hacked me off. Car insurance -renewal notice up 20% from last year (plus 20% excess increase), pet insurance - renewal notice up 30% and excess doubled.

Home insurance wise for the last three years I've been cancelling with Directline and immediately renewing with Directline online again as a new customer. Its crazy you have to do this. Loyalty in the insurance world most certainly isn't rewarded. Their share prices I suspect are governed by the amount of new customers joining hence why to stay with them we have to go through this stupid rigmarole of cancelling and starting afresh every year.

Kite2010

Insurance hooks you in with a tempting introductory price and when it comes to renewal time they raise the price up in the hope that the person is too idle to compare the market to get a better quote.

What is annoying is when the policy is set up for auto-renew and so you have to phone them up to tell them not to renew it

BoGoF

A bit unfair to single DL out ? I would say it's typical of the insurance industry. Not that I'm blaming them, it makes good business sense.

The onus is really on the consumer these days to look after themselves, nobody else will.

DCFC79

Price of insurance has gone up though so maybe thats part of the reason why its higher than last years price

northwest1965

DCFC79 wrote: »

Price of insurance has gone up though so maybe thats part of the reason why its higher than last years price

I appreciate that, but ours went from £370 to £660. Thats a large increase