Direct Line car insurance renewal

richierichard

My insurance is due to be renewed on the 23rd. Normally I just accept the renewal letter as the price usually only goes up a few pounds if at all, however this year they have seen to increase my premium by £70 which I find unacceptable - they even have the cheek to say thank you for insuring your car with us for the past 10 years (no claims made) :mad:

Why the sudden increase? Is it because my car is now getting on a bit (1994 Escort)? The strangest thing is I can go online as a new customer and get fully comp for cheaper than what I have been paying for TPF&T and much cheaper than their renewal quote. Will they let me simply cancel and take out another policy as a new customer? I've looked around and their online quote of £228.90 fully comp is the best i've found so far.

All advice welcome.

dogbot

not renewing and canceling are different. If you don't want to renew the policy for another year you can do that. Best to call them and let them know, poss also send a note in the post.

Best to check with them if they will accept you as a new customer.

You are far better off calling them, complain about the price, point out that you have got a better new business quote online (have the quote reference to hand) and they might well just move you onto that cheaper policy there and then.

greyteam1959

Check & make sure the policy does not Auto Renew.
Same thing happened with me with Egg Insurance several years ago.
It was about £85 cheaper to take out a new policy than renew the old one.
When I rang them they just said 'Oh is it, well take out a new one' !!
How stupid can you get.

2nd_Time_Lucky

This happens every year to me so i go on a comparison site, get the best price for an IDENTICAL policy and ring my insurance up. I tell them i would rather stay but have a great offer from someone else and for the last 4 years they have matched the price and this year they bettered it by £20 :j

gordikin

I'd also try cashback sites like Quidco, Topcashback etc in my comparison. I've personally not had any problems with them but others seem to have.

Leona1295

Go with Dogbot's advice - call them and see if they will match the price you found online.

My renewal notice from Diamond was £1150 (absolutely ridiculous as there were no changes and the original policy that I took out last year was for just shy of £600!) I put my details into a comparison site and it gave me a quote from Admiral of £565.

I called them and explained the situation, stating that I would like to remain with Diamond but I wasn't going to pay them double the price! I pointed out that Admiral and Diamond are sister companies and as such I would like to stay with my existing policy at the price quoted by Admiral.

Diamond were very helpful and it was all sorted oer the phone in 10mins. I think the companies know they are being cheeky by pricing their renewals so high and they will usually let you have the cheaper price if you can give them a quote ref.

Please ask them for a lower price or move to a different company. Don't ever accept the renewal price, it is daylight robbery!

stator

Find another quote that is cheaper then phone up Direct Line and tell them you would prefer to stay with them, can they match the price? If they can then brilliant. If they can't then tell them you do not wish to renew. Follow this up with a letter saying you don't want to renew. Then simply buy the policy from someone else.
It's impossible to say what happened to make your price shoot up, maybe they think people who have been with them 10 years are good for fleecing. Maybe some of your neighbours have been making huge claims? Or Ford Escorts are suddenly becoming huge risks?
You could just phone up and ask them for a quote for comprehensive. When I got quotes from Direct Line this year I found that comprehensive was cheaper than TPFT and I've no idea why! (I didn't take my policy with them in the end, there was another even cheaper)

marshallka

We have never changed from Direct Line and used to just renew with their renewal BUT for the past few years we actually cancel their renewal and call them with the new online deals they constantly come up with. These are always cheaper and they just cancel your old policy and you take out the new one. It is best to call them though and tell them you are doing it.

curlygirl1971

I've been with DL also for around 10 years. Premiums would go up but I always rang them and they always matched.

Last years premium was £399, this years renewal was £522

I went to them with the best quote and they couldn't touch it. I ended up going with LV. Online quote was originally £402 but when I changed my job title from Admin Clerk to Asst Admin Mngr it went down to £378!! Oh and I stand to get £20 cashback from Quidco

marshallka

curlygirl1971 wrote: »

I've been with DL also for around 10 years. Premiums would go up but I always rang them and they always matched.

Last years premium was £399, this years renewal was £522

I went to them with the best quote and they couldn't touch it. I ended up going with LV. Online quote was originally £402 but when I changed my job title from Admin Clerk to Asst Admin Mngr it went down to £378!! Oh and I stand to get £20 cashback from Quidco

Thats good. We have Direct Line Home insurance also and have just had to claim and although at the beginning the claim went horribly wrong (a mistake that they made thinking we had a reduced policy than we do) in the end I could not fault them once with the loss adjusters they use. In fact they have paid out quick and it was completely hassle free since being passed. I think, although our insurance is likely to rise next year we will pay the extra (if they are more money than using another firm) knowing the service we had was good.

Mr_Man_Full_of_Love

My Direct Line car insurance went up £34 pound this year. The actual driver insurance didn't increase at all. The increase was entirely down to the Green Flag rescue which I have combined with the insurance and which seems to be generally on the increase.