MSE News: OFT to investigate rising car insurance costs

kelloggs36

I would like them to investigate the ridiculous prices they are charging for newly qualified drivers - charging many times the value of the car is stupid!

Butterfly_Brain

Car insurance is a legalised profit making scam because people have to have it.
Therefore insurance companies charge whatever they like.
The OFT will be the same as the other of the so called watchdogs..... all mouth and no powers apart from a small fine as a slap on the wrist and the motorist won't see any benefit in cut fees as usual.

J_i_m

Butterfly_Brain wrote: »

the motorist won't see any benefit in cut fees as usual.

Took the words right out of my mouth. It's like the energy prices, you see an article that announces that the industry is being investigated about prices etc, then next thing you know slap bang whallop prices have shot up 18% anyway.

mikey72

Well, it looks like referral fees will be banned, so that should reduce a lot of the problem with excessive claims, if the insurer won't be selling customers details on.

dunstonh

charging many times the value of the car is stupid!

No its not. The value of your car has very little to do with it.

sheracer

my insurance has gone up from £400 per year fully comp to £950 per year, over double and i have 9 years NCB and have never made a claim in my life, i think insurance is a business yes, but when few claims are made they are up on profit, we do not get a refund, so if insurance claims are up then i think that is the business they are in, over ten years i have paid thousands of pound in insurance yet if i was to make a claim tomorrow the pay out would be less than what i have paid in total, i dont agree with paying to cover the costs of other peoples rising claims when i have not claimed it is not fair. Insurance increases is just going to mean more people drive without insurance as they can not afford it, this means if they have an accident uninsured does this mean costs will rise again to cover this, it is so unfair on honest careful drivers.

If the OFT decides that price rises are unfair (which i think they are!) are they going to give us all a refund for the difference (ie- price we paid minus price we should have fairly paid) i very much doubt!

dunstonh

my insurance has gone up from £400 per year fully comp to £950 per year, over double

Is that the renewal price or what the best alternative was?

An increase of that level with the same provider either means you have lost early discounting or you are no longer in their target market.

yet if i was to make a claim tomorrow the pay out would be less than what i have paid in total

Really? So, if you hit a driver in a range rover causing a write off of £90,000 and then kill a pedestrian resuling in £4 million pounds of liability, you have paid more than that?

Insurance increases is just going to mean more people drive without insurance as they can not afford it,

And they should all be sent to prison for being criminals. They wont but they should be.

If the OFT decides that price rises are unfair (which i think they are!)

Dont count on it. Some things will change but they cant get past the fact that its still largely loss making and has relied on cross subsidy to keep premiums low ,which they still are for most people in real terms based on historic pricing. It is just high risk individuals that are suffering but given the credit crunch, recession and aversion to risk, that is not a surprise.

daisy_may

Who With??

daisy_may

Sorry!
Miss_ Miggins, who is your insurance with?