BBC Panorama: The Great Car Insurance Swindle

Peter_Piper_picked

Rip-Off Britain!

Spiderham

Peter_Piper_picked wrote: »

Rip-Off Britain!

Care to expand on this?

Peter_Piper_picked

In which direction would you like me to expand, north, south, east or west?

lisyloo

In which direction would you like me to expand, north, south, east or west?

Is car unsurance much cheaper in other countries then? (genuine question - I don't know).

Spiderham

Peter_Piper_picked wrote: »

In which direction would you like me to expand, north, south, east or west?

Well the point you made was a bit of a non sequitur statement made in isolation from the conversation of the thread.

Just wondering if you would explain what you mean by this.

mikey72

lisyloo wrote: »

Is car unsurance much cheaper in other countries then? (genuine question - I don't know).

Yes, very widely reported that most other countries are much cheaper.
Quote for my daughter with all the same details, but with a french address on a french comparison website was about half the price for a 17 year old (£600 as compared to £1200)
They also have one of the highest personal injury claim rates.
Other countries, particuarly ones that insure the car rather than the person, are normally reported as being a few hundred pounds maximum.

Spiderham

mikey72 wrote: »

Yes, very widely reported that most other countries are much cheaper.
Quote for my daughter with all the same details, but with a french address on a french comparison website was about half the price for a 17 year old (£600 as compared to £1200)
They also have one of the highest personal injury claim rates.
Other countries, particuarly ones that insure the car rather than the person, are normally reported as being a few hundred pounds maximum.

Out of interest did you try a low risk person too? I'm guessing you may well fall into that category if the price for your 17 year old female is that (comparatively to others) low. Not trying to catch you out here, honestly have no clue myself.

The reason I ask is that if it is high risk is cheaper it may be down to less discrimination. Then again it could be generally cheaper due to reduced claim values, more sophisticated rating models, fewer claims, lower expenses levels from insurers or even a more homogenised group of risks. One other thought is a less competitive market meaning less advertising acquisition costs, I know in some countries the traditional broker or direct application is more common, along with greater loyalty to brand meaning insurers spend less on (direct and indirect) marketing leading to lower costs.

lisyloo

I think we'd need more analysis here before saying car insurance in the UK is a rip-off.
I don't deny that it's more expensive than other countries, but as car insurers are typically making losses (most years), it's hard to tie-up those two things.
I think we'd need to understand the reasons before judging it.
Is it because of more/higher claims than other countries or is there some other reason?
There will of course be different tax regimes, employment law etc. which might make Britain a "rip off" country in general but not unique to insurers (and personally I think there is some truth in that it's expensive to do business here generally e.g. high rents).

Peter_Piper_picked

A more than' fair NCB premium drop per year of no claims, would be a good start. (Don't tell me this already exists!)

Not everyone out there is trying to cheat the system for a few quid.

lisyloo

Peter, you haven't really given a clear picture of why you think UK insurance is a rip off.
I'd need more info on your analysis to agree or disagree.
All you've said is it's cheaper in other countries and NCB discount isn't good enough.

Personally I think you need to present your analysis if you want anyone to take you seriously.
Of course there may be those who have a tendancy to agree/disagree, but anyone serious, objective and open minded will want to see more analysis which is so far lacking.