Auto renewal who has been caught out

darich

Inactive wrote: »

Of course you are missing something, the insurer will almost always auto renew at a non competitive rate, in the hope that the insured will not notice, only when they are challenged will they reduce their rate to a more realistic one.

You are giving them a licence to print money IMO.

What you are missing though is that you are not forced to accept that auto renew price.
You are free to shop around
You are free to go elsewhere
You are free to phone them and ask them to reduce it.

But apathy, laziness and disorganization on the part of the policy holder doesn't mean the insurer has a licence to print money....it means the policy holder licences them to do it.

And that's a big difference.

mikey72

Jane2005 wrote: »

Just how are insurers ripping people off?

Have you ever thought there is a genuine reason as to why the premium can change when you actually pick up the phone and speak to your insurance company? If they are offering a much much cheaper quote online compared to what's in the renewal letter, there is usually a good reason behind it, 9 times out of 10 people forget to tell thier insurers circumstances have changed, change of occupation, change of marital status, being quoted on huge excesses online. Insurers have to remain competitive, so why on Earth would they send out an inflated price, knowing that we are all a lot more savvy these days, and risk losing business.

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

And with that, I'm going.

Inactive

Jane2005 wrote: »

Just how are insurers ripping people off?

.

I have given you just one example at post #54.

Nothing had changed whatsoever on the policy.

The insurers are just using Auto Renew to inflate profits, it has nothing to do with protecting a customers best interest.

Inactive

darich wrote: »

What you are missing though is that you are not forced to accept that auto renew price.
You are free to shop around
You are free to go elsewhere
You are free to phone them and ask them to reduce it.

But apathy, laziness and disorganization on the part of the policy holder doesn't mean the insurer has a licence to print money....it means the policy holder licences them to do it.

And that's a big difference.

So how come they don't offer their loyal customer the same price on Auto Renewal that they offer new customers?

Simple answer, they hope that the loyal customer will not notice that they are being ( legally ) ripped off.

theJudge

Jane2005 wrote: »

Just how are insurers ripping people off?

Have you ever thought there is a genuine reason as to why the premium can change when you actually pick up the phone and speak to your insurance company? If they are offering a much much cheaper quote online compared to what's in the renewal letter, there is usually a good reason behind it, 9 times out of 10 people forget to tell thier insurers circumstances have changed, change of occupation, change of marital status, being quoted on huge excesses online. Insurers have to remain competitive, so why on Earth would they send out an inflated price, knowing that we are all a lot more savvy these days, and risk losing business.

I've thanked you Jane for the above observation. As insurance law currently stands, 9 out of 10 insurance policies could be avoided at the claim stage for these reasons. There is currently no better than a gentleman's agreement that insurers act in an ethical manner, and enforcement of this agreement is left with the FOS and FSA. If a policyholder is unhappy with the FOS (whose verdicts are initially made by adjudicators who are not legally trained, he will find himself with no support from the courts.

darich

Inactive wrote: »

So how come they don't offer their loyal customer the same price on Auto Renewal that they offer new customers?

Simple answer, they hope that the loyal customer will not notice that they are being ( legally ) ripped off.

Surely the bold words don't really belong together???
if it's legal it's not really a rip off....besides, you have a choice to go elsewhere quite easily.

Why they don't offer loyalty incentives???....the answer is in this thread.

starrystarry

mikey72 wrote: »

No.
But I think you should have stood by your principles, and cancelled the DD after the renewal date, rather than before.
You would of course have been as organised, and I sure would have been punctual in doing it.
You would also have shown your faith in a well ordered autorenewal system, rather than expressing the opinion you needed to police it yourself.

I do find it very hypocritical that no one appears to have actually used the system they advocate so much.

Even at best, there is still all the shopping around, getting quotes, moving or staying only if it's the cheapest, and cancelling payments just in case.
What about just let the auto renew happen, or as actually no-one uses it, just making it opt in. Or can't you remember to do that?
Or is it the usual case of "I'm alright, stuff everyone else"?

Now you're just being ridiculous. I should have left the DD in place at my bank just so I could prove to you that I believed in the system? I'm sorry to break this to you mikey but you weren't foremost in my thoughts when I was sorting out the breakdown cover.

Who's being hypocritical? You asked who had used auto renew and I replied to say I have.

As for your last paragraph, if there was no auto renewal system you'd still have to shop around, get quotes, move etc. If it was opt in, I would.

keith1950

Hi, theJudge, I now never use comparison sites and get quotes direct from the insurer and have had quotes up to 3 months before renewal although some are only 2 months and most 28 days or so. Why don't you start a campaign to stop auto renewal -I will sign up to it, however taking things as they are, it is always best to be aware of possible problems and ensure that things don't go wrong. Yes some posters on here do appear to have legitimate issues but a lot are just ostriches with their heads in the sand who then kick off when things go wrong due to their own actions or non action.

mikey72

starrystarry wrote: »

Who's being hypocritical? You asked who had used auto renew and I replied to say I have.

No you haven't

You've had a price to renew.
You've shopped around.
You've had alternative quotes.
You have decided to insure with the same company this time.
That's absolutely the same system as any insurance policy you decide to purchase on a 12 month basis, and decide who to insure with.

Auto-renew - give them your bank details.
Stay insured without any further actions, your account will be automatically debited, and then when you die, your estate will be debited.

birkee

keith1950 wrote: »

Hi, as long as I can remember I have received a renewal notice at least 3 weeks before the renewal date and auto renewal has always been clearly visible. (NOT IN THE SMALL PRINT).
If you do not receive the renewal either it has gone adrift in the post or the insurer has made a mistake, therefore questioning the absence of a renewal is important.
It is the insured responsibility to notify the insurer of any changes so if at the point of sending a renewal there have been no notifications the renewal is sent. When you receive the renewal you check it for any mistakes or ommissions and notify accordingly. It is more likely that the amount of people reading the terms and conditions is probably the reverse of your figures-90% do and 10% don't.
I don't like auto renewal but it is here to stay as more and more insurers change to it, there has even been speculation that the government will eventually make it compulsory so that 'forgetfull ' drivers do not end up driving uninsured.

Missing the point AGAIN.
I also have received a renewal quote every year, more times than you.
The Swiftcover renewal letter was not missed, because I sought new quotes each year, so it was of no interest what they wanted.

The government making renewal a law? What happens if you don't want / need insurance? What if you haven't got the money?
Like to see them tell me who I can insure with anyway. Open ended access to my funds by government decree. I think not!