The AA

Sisyphus

First of all I'm a new forum member so my card is behind the bar, order what you like.

I'll kick off with a small rant about the AA.
Yesterday, I received my new car insurance quote and membership renewal from the AA. Firstly, the insurance quote is £200 more expensive than the market a quick search with a web scraper found that. They're supposed to be the car insurance experts.
Secondly, the cheeky b*ggers were also trying to renew my membership through last year's credit card details. This is quite a new one for me, so watch out, make sure you read your post or it'll cost you dear.

As my 'broker' and the people I trusted for all motoring matters, the AA were supposedly shopping around for better car insurance quotes every year. A five minute search with using one of the scrapers mentioned on this site (thank you Martin and MSE!!!) came up with 39 cheaper quotes on exactly the same criteria. And I'm supposed to be getting a discount as a member!!Something very fishy there I think. Obviously their cut of £460 is better than their cut of £265 but surely they could have done better than that. :mad:

I've been trusting the AA for the last 6 years. How much has that cost me? Just goes to show that trust and loyalty count for nothing these days.

[/rant over.]

hjb123

Have you tried speaking to the AA and see if they will match the prices that you have been quoted online? The reason I say this is that when they sent me my renewal form through a couple of months ago the price quoted was over £10 above the internet price. I rang them up and told them could I do it at the internet price as it was cheaper - and they immediately price matched it for me.

Sisyphus

hjb123 wrote:

Have you tried speaking to the AA and see if they will match the prices that you have been quoted online? The reason I say this is that when they sent me my renewal form through a couple of months ago the price quoted was over £10 above the internet price. I rang them up and told them could I do it at the internet price as it was cheaper - and they immediately price matched it for me.

Yep, I called them y'day, they made no offer over the phone - but to be honest if they could it would make matters worse for them. The difference would have been nearly £200. For £10 difference I would have been loyal. I'm shocked at how much I'm being ripped off for. It makes me wonder under what criteria their panel of insurers is picked and do they get a % of the annual premiun I pay. Are they picking only high premiun insurers and ripping off their clients? It's hard to believe they would be that unscrupulous maybe my imagination is getting the bette of me.
I've suggested they call me if they could come up with sthg bearing in mind that my membership was up for renewal too.

msmicawber

Hi Sysyphus (great name, by the way - do you suffer a lot from thirst?),

That was my experience with the AA as well, and I could only conclude that they take a higher commission so I alway used insurance brokers then comparison web sites since the internet's taken off. Often, I'd end up with the same policy as the AA had quoted me for, but for about half the price.

When your breakdown cover comes up for renewal, why not look at some of the other break down companies - I got a great deal with GEM through MSE and could have got an even better one if I had a credit card.

Good luck.

Quinny_2

I renewed my insurance through the Prudential,via Quidco,and while they were the same as my other insurer,Quidco pay me £100 for the privilage!!!!!

I also renewed my breakdown cover,not through my insurance company,but with Green Flag direct,via Quidco,and got GF's 2nd top cover,for £65,but Quidco pay me £20 for that as well,making it only £45.

Ken.

saintjanet

My insurance is done through the bank i work for and we are supposed to get a discount,yet every year i could find a cheaper option if i tried,so i do and the bank then knock something off my premium when i tell them this!!Seems to be the way of the world.

I know it may sound obvious but people need to look carefully at insurance quotes,when you read the small print, some give much better benefits and have less exclusions,cheaper is not always best.