MSE News: David Cameron vows action on car insurance costs

124

Comments

  • A recent experience of the shameless pushing of these claims left me extremely angry. My daughter's car was very low value and a write off following a non-fault accident. With her high excess it took contacting the Financial Services Ombudsman to get anything at all after more than a year. Throughout this time, the insurance company itself tried to coach her into lying about a non-existent injury and then we had regular ambulance chasing calls from companies offering to pursue an injury claim.
    I'm no fan of DC, but if he manages to change this I'll give hime credit where it is due.
  • Action is expected to be taken to reduce the £2 billion-a-year cost of insurance claims for whiplash in a bid to help cut the prices we pay.

    Typical Cameron, dressing up action to benefit the insurers as action to benefit the consumer. It's not necessarily that I disagree with such policy, but I do find Cameron's populist spin to be insulting to my intelligence. Whenever I hear him speak, I often feel that I must be living in a country full of chimpanzees who haven't worked out how to open a banana.
  • A policyholder has an accident and the Insurer then does its utmost to capture the personal injury claim albeit together with a number of other companies (mis) selling Before the Event legal expenses cover, which has very limited cover. The Insurer then sells that case and receives a £800 referral fee from their chosen solicitor, chosen because of the fee they have agreed to pay as part of a tender and chosen because of the PRE-AGREED levels of damages and costs to be awarded.
    Should the Insurer be allowed to receive a referral fee for this case or should it be the policyholders money, has this ever been questionned or tested.
  • My experience 4 years ago, was off a blown tire on the M25, it scared the bejesus out of me, i ended up in the central reservation watching the oncoming traffic, afraid someone was going to ram my car.. But.. because there was no-one to claim from, my insurance company wanted to pay out as little as possible for my 'right-off', and even though i did have whiplash and suffered over a week off work, i got no help..

    4 months ago, a little old lady accidentally reversed into my car. For this, i get my broker listing the side effects and how, although i may not notice them right away, they could appear later, the list was pretty scary it'self, it took me over 10 minutes to convince her that i had no intention of claiming for whiplash or anything else (we'd been driving at 2mph) but i can see how someone might be tempted to go along with it, considering how easy she said it was to claim and how much i could claim !
  • chanz4 wrote: »
    thought new regs were in now about male/ female driver prices
    Comes in at the end of this year subject to any appeals.
    before long insurers will price themselfs out the market for any uk citizen under 30 thats has just passed or have no NCB

    Why given insurance is, by any measure, is lower today than it was in the 80s & 90s (and possibly before but I am not THAT old)?

    Doing a like for like quote of my first own car insurance (me as a 18 yo with a 13 year old Ford Fiesta) today came out the other day as £800 or so yet I paid £1500. My salary back then was circa £4/hr. If you consider inflationary factors its evidently even cheaper.
  • Doing a like for like quote of my first own car insurance (me as a 18 yo with a 13 year old Ford Fiesta) today came out the other day as £800 or so yet I paid £1500. My salary back then was circa £4/hr. If you consider inflationary factors its evidently even cheaper.

    Must have been before the days of comparison websites, 1st year discounts, cashback and advice from moneysavingexpert.com ?

    I really don't believe it can have been more expensive than today in comparative terms.
    Mr Straw described whiplash as "not so much an injury, more a profitable invention of the human imagination—undiagnosable except by third-rate doctors in the pay of the claims management companies or personal injury lawyers"

  • Let's be realistic here; yesterday David Cameron was organising a committee about racism in football, before that how to get people to stop drink binging, today car insurance - tomorrow ?? who cares - nothing will change!
  • TrickyWicky
    TrickyWicky Posts: 4,025 Forumite
    This is just another headline grabbing "Vote for me again next election because I care" story. Nothing will happen, premiums will not come down, next year they'll go up again due to something else that the insurers manage to dream up.

    The fact is, the insurers are the ones who are complaining about personal injury claims yet it is also the insurers who have been PROMOTING these claims in order to make more profit whilst knowing they'll pass on the cost to the motorist after they've had their referral.

    The bottom line here is this: Insurance companies will do anything to get their hands on your money. They're not going to be reducing premiums any time soon.
  • TrickyWicky
    TrickyWicky Posts: 4,025 Forumite
    Doing a like for like quote of my first own car insurance (me as a 18 yo with a 13 year old Ford Fiesta) today came out the other day as £800 or so yet I paid £1500. My salary back then was circa £4/hr. If you consider inflationary factors its evidently even cheaper.

    No, you've just got older. The insurers see you as less of a risk now.

    The rest of us are still suffering from rising premiums.
  • Crazy_Jamie
    Crazy_Jamie Posts: 2,246
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker First Post
    Forumite
    No, you've just got older. The insurers see you as less of a risk now.

    The rest of us are still suffering from rising premiums.
    I believe you've misinterpreted the post. Inside Insurance ran a quote for himself with the information from when he was 18 years old, and it came out as £800 now compared to £1500, which is what he paid when he was actually 18. So he received a quote with the information of an 18 year old, not his current age.
    "MIND IF I USE YOUR PHONE? IF WORD GETS OUT THAT
    I'M MISSING FIVE HUNDRED GIRLS WILL KILL THEMSELVES."
This discussion has been closed.
Meet your Ambassadors

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 342.5K Banking & Borrowing
  • 249.9K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 449.4K Spending & Discounts
  • 234.6K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 607.1K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 172.8K Life & Family
  • 247.4K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 15.8K Discuss & Feedback
  • 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards