Car insurance costs: Have your say to the OFT

Honda_Lad

Comparison sites:

• Do you think comparison sites, buying direct or brokers are the easiest way to get the best price/cover?
• From my experience I normally get lots of quotes from comparison sites and then go direct to the cheapest company and usually find the price drops or if not then I phone up and haggle.
• If you use price comparison sites, do you get the level of cover you asked for?
• Usually yes.
• Have you found that prices different if you go direct to the insurer? Was it cheaper or more expensive?
• I usually find it's cheaper especially when factoring in cashback as sometimes the Quidco compare for example gives you less cashback than going direct and using Top Cashback.

Renewal quotes

• Have you noticed your existing provider offers a cheaper price to new customers?
• Yes I've noticed this for the last 4 years or so (I've only been driving 7). It is the same with most private companies eg mobile contracts, broadband etc but this doesn't mean it's acceptable.
• Have you successfully haggled with your existing provider? Did you check prices elsewhere first?
• I've never successfully haggled with an existing provider as normally they can't match my new quote. I normally get a few new quotes and then ring up and cancel my old one unless they can match it. Although this annoys me as why couldn't they quote me that in the first place? It seems there is no reward for loyalty.
• Has your policy auto renewed at the end of the year? If it did, was it easy to opt out?
• Yes and yes it has been easy to opt out with every company I've been with.

Added extras

• Have you found that optional extras such as Legal expenses, Breakdown cover, Key cover or handbag cover are automatically included when you didn't want them or had the cover already?
• No I've always had to add them, although when phoning it annoys me that they try to sell you lots of extras including being hit by an uninsured driver which you can claim back from the Motor Insurers' Bureau.
• Have you ever purchased polices with these extras without knowing full details about them?
• No

Miscellaneous

• How much have you been charged to cancel a policy early? Do you think the fees are fair?
• I've never had to cancel a policy early so I can't comment.
• Have you had your car fixed by an insurer's recommended repairer? How good was the work?
• No although I'm a car mechanic by trade and worked for a Peugeot main dealer which also had a Directline recommended repairer on the same site and their work was, in my opinion, to a lower standard than that of a lot of independant and non-recommended body shops.
• Would you do/recommend/sacrifice to obtain a lower quotation? Examples could be:
  - Not to drive the car after 7pm, or before 6am.
  - Have a qualified adult next to you at all times.
  - Put a speed limiter, such as up to 50 mph, on your car.
  - Raise your excess.
  - Buy a brand new car to get free Insurance for 12 months.
  - New drivers to take the Pass Plus test.
• I don't think that we should be made to drive certain times or have speed limiters fitted. I work rolling 3 shifts so mornings, nights and afternoons which means if I couldn't drive at certain times I wouldn't be able to get to work, there is no bus service to where I work without getting one into town and then back out again which would mean struggling getting to work for 6am.
• I do think discounts should be given for taking Pass Plus although when I passed my test 7 years ago at 17 it didn't make much difference to my quotes.
• Insurance seems not to be based on any rules just what the company decided to quote you at the time. I drive a 1.6 Honda Civic which cost £580 with 7 years no claims to insure this year. I also ride a 600cc Honda Hornet which this year cost me £420 to insure with a claim against me and I've only been riding 2 years and has much superior performance to my car yet is kept on my driveway the same as my car is and is easier to steal, surely this should be the other way around?
• I wouldn't think it fair to give people cheaper insurance because they drive a new car because I care about my car even though it's 10 years old. It doesn't mean we don't care as much when we drive them. I personally wouldn't ever buy a new car, it would be nice but not essential because of the massive losses just driving it off the forecourt.

stugib

w.r.t. fees we've got the outcome the market has driven.

Aggregators make money from people switching insurers. Therefore aggregators make a big noise about price.

Drivers want the lowest prices for this compulsory product and so use the aggregators.

Insurers start to target drivers through price rather than quality meaning they offer discounts for new customers, often selling at a loss.

If you sell at a loss you have to make money over subsequent years or for other services.

Hence, admin/cancellation fees and renewal prices higher than new business.

The market is competitive, but it's produced these kind of effects by being so price driven. The OFT's remit is to see if the industry is behaving in a competitive manner and fairly, not to control pricing and commercial models.

fozzeh

Comparison sites:

• Do you think comparison sites, buying direct or brokers are the easiest way to get the best price/cover? Yes
• If you use price comparison sites, do you get the level of cover you asked for? No. I often find they offer me things different to what I specified (different excess amount above my max., not including breakdown, etc) basically making this stage of the process useless
• Have you found that prices different if you go direct to the insurer? Was it cheaper or more expensive? I have found that the price can vary if you go direct. Some stay cheaper if you stay online and everything is correct but ironing out a small detail with someone who knows what they are doing can save a few quid. However, finding that person to save you a few quid is few and far between.

Renewal quotes

• Have you noticed your existing provider offers a cheaper price to new customers? Yes.
• Have you successfully haggled with your existing provider? Did you check prices elsewhere first? Previously I have haggled over £100 of a policy but in the last 2 years the stance has been a "take it or leave it" approach with no care for the consumer.
• Has your policy auto renewed at the end of the year? If it did, was it easy to opt out? Mine ends next week and it is up for auto-renew. My trump card is my card expired so they can't take a renew payment if I "forget to inform them I didn't want the policy". Roll on next year when this is ended!

Added extras

• Have you found that optional extras such as Legal expenses, Breakdown cover, Key cover or handbag cover are automatically included when you didn't want them or had the cover already? See above. They are sometimes included or excluded when I specified the opposite.
• Have you ever purchased polices with these extras without knowing full details about them? Yes.

Miscellaneous

• How much have you been charged to cancel a policy early? Do you think the fees are fair? Never cancelled and no, I don't think they are fair. They need to be regulated and formalised across the board.
• Have you had your car fixed by an insurer's recommended repairer? How good was the work? Yes in 2006. Work was fine and the process of getting the car there, getting a courtesy car, getting fixed and getting my voluntary excess back was fine.
• Would you do/recommend/sacrifice to obtain a lower quotation? Examples could be:
  - Not to drive the car after 7pm, or before 6am. Before 6 yes, after 7 no.
  - Have a qualified adult next to you at all times. Not possible. Silly question.
  - Put a speed limiter, such as up to 50 mph, on your car. That wouldn't be logical/safe on a motorway
  - Raise your excess. Debatable dependant on the increase to policy decrease ration
  - Buy a brand new car to get free Insurance for 12 months. Yes, because we all have enough money in the bank. However, some younger drivers could actually do this and get it on hire purchase for a year and it be cheaper than their policy.
  - New drivers to take the Pass Plus test. Yes. I did (when I passed 9 years ago) and Norwich Union (now Aviva) gave me 45% off...taking it down from £1700 to around £900. Doing PP gives the driver a better experience of driving in the early stages (if done correctly).

There are more opinions but I'll just answer the questions set for now.

oilyrag_2

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to tell you of my experience last week. A company called me up to let me know i could claim for an injury i sustained in a crash over 2 years ago!!!

I told the operative that I did not sustain any injuries, to which she replied that "you really did sustain minor injuries". This annoyed me so much I started to rant at her about companies like the one she works for pushing sensible drivers claims up every year - she just hung up!!!!

I wasn't even in the vehicle when it was hit. My vehicle was stationary. So I can only conclude that the insurance companies are selling OUR details to claim companies who then tell us that we have been injured and to make a claim - thus pushing everyone's insurance up.

Thought of the day. Get the government to stop insurance companies selling these details, then not as many claims will be going in and hopefully insurance will come down!!!!!

DCFC79

Scotty1.7 wrote: »

Car Insurance is simply a rip off

It is a compulsery requirment- Yet it is handed out by private compaines

I do less the 4000 miles a year, I have full no cliams, I'm 26 and it cost me other £1000 a year!!! The same as when I was 17 with no no claims!!!

The issue is the use of the post code- Why give a car a Insurance group if you just use it to times by the post code and pluck a figure from fresh air???

Car Insurance should be done by a public sector company- not a private company out for profit

Claims managment comapnies and no win, no fee sociliters should be banned.

Claims proccess should be made alot more stringent and and traffic accident or car accident should have be reported to the police. No claim should be accepted with out a crime number.

might be because your doing low miles so arent as sharp compared t a driver who does 10k or 32k miles a year.

DCFC79

savinglikemad wrote: »

He has freinds that drive unisured and when caught get fined less than his insurance would be for the year. Either raise the pass age or raise the fine for uninsured drivers. It makes a mockery of the system.

they would have got points or even get disqualifiedfrom driving but it depends if first offence.

bpoley

we should backpedal and re-introduce the concept of non isurance as an arrestable offence. foreign drivers loophole closed - ie poles etc going to calais on day trip to avoid rfl costs! uninsured cars to be impounded - even leased vehices. accident victims should not be chased by lawyers via referral fees. insurers should pay into police/vosa vehicle check schemes, to root out ALL rogue drivers HGV PSV and PLG classes. lower alcohol limits. send offenders to weekend prisons as in sweden.
get councils to designate all older narrow streets as 20mph zones.get iam to produce 3 levels of competence and insurance companies to reflect skill in policy rates. price comparison sites SHOULD NOT be partly or fully owned by insurers or subsiduaries. change laws to defeat "mr loophole" lawyers! make martin a lord!!!

Steve9_2

I have saved about £100 on my car insurance by taking out home insurance with the same company (Churchill). I also saved around £45 over my home renewal quote from The Halifax. Both were due with in weeks of each other, so no admin fees involved.
Occupation seems to be a large part of the risk assessment. I was a policeman for 30 years. When I retired, I notified my insurance co and they wanted another £95 for the rest of the year - about 8 months. Why should I become a different risk overnight ?

KJFletcher

I have a rant to tell about my car insurance with Endsleigh.

Last December, someone broke into my car. They stole my cd player and sat nav etc, and also damaged the mechanism of the window. I made a window claim originally, but then when I had the car MOTed in February, I found that they had also stolen some essential bolts. I decided to press ahead with a full claim.

I rang Endsleigh and asked them how many years of my no claims bonus I'd lose. They estimated 2 or 3, but couldn't tell me exactly. I did a few price comparrison insurance sites to see how losing 3 years' NCB would affect my premium, and decided it was worth going ahead with the claim.

In July, my insurance was up for renewal and I found out I'd lost 6 years of my no-claims bonus! 6 years for a break in claim! It's my one and only claim, and I'm 26 with 9 years' driving experience, so I was very very irritated to be back down at the bottom of the ladder, when I'd managed to get high up.

I complained to them, but their attitude was basically 'tough'. They said if I paid them the £500+ they'd paid towards my repairs then they'd return my lost years, but I wasn't willing to pay that much out.

I wasn't even that bothered about the window not working/ having to buy a new cd player. I only claimed for it because their rep told me a normal claim costs you a few years' NCB, although of course that conversation 'isn't on their records.'

So that's my rant. Endsleigh.

stugib

KJFletcher wrote: »

In July, my insurance was up for renewal and I found out I'd lost 6 years of my no-claims bonus! 6 years for a break in claim! It's my one and only claim, and I'm 26 with 9 years' driving experience, so I was very very irritated to be back down at the bottom of the ladder, when I'd managed to get high up.

Maybe one thing the industry does need to do is be clearer with these concepts. There's a lot of 'that's just the way works' knowledge which doesn't make any sense to customers. For example, the maximum number of 'real' NCD years is 5. Anything over that is pretty much insurer-specific and usually has a much smaller level of discount compared to an extra year in the 1-5 bracket. Therefore when you claim and lose 2 years it is taken off the 5, not the 9. Of course that makes no sense to most people.