Car Insurance questions?

bulktrans

Hi there,

I have to renew my car insurance in the next 5 days .. just wondering if someone could advice on the following -

1) how imp is the brand or co
2) I know it depends on individual circumstances but - what is an okay excess
3) are there any co's I should stay clear off ..

At present I am getting a good deal with Aviva incl the cashback .. my current provider Admiral are very expensive ..

Thnx

InsideInsurance

Brand is very difficult to deal with in financial services because there can be many players involved each having an influence on the quality of the product and service. So a well known high street brand has white labeled a brokers proposition and of cause a broker is selling insurance companies products.

Some insurers/ brands try to very much target a certain segment of the market and their products and services are aligned to the expectations/ priorities of that segment where as others, particularly insurers, may cover a much broader spectrum through different products, partners, distribution channels and so just because you see they are the underwriter you cannot immediately tell if it is a great or bad product/ service.

For example a former client used to do wholesale travel insurance. They had a standard wording that they offered to others for resale and they would charge the reseller £X for it, if the reseller wanted their phone calls prioritised in the queue then that was an extra 10%, if they wanted greater "benefit of the doubt" given they could add that for another 20%. The reseller then paid my client the price per policy but could charge their client/ the end policyholder whatever they liked.




Excess, just make sure its an amount your comfortable paying. Too many times you see people on here complaining they have a £500 excess and so its not worth claiming etc but they had chosen that excess to reduce their premiums. Remember you only pay your excess towards your own repairs not any third party claims against you.

Personally I have a voluntary £250 excess and a compulsory £250 excess so the total xs is £500


That all said and done, most on here would always suggest you avoid Swinton no matter what

Christopher7

The only thing that is important is price ......... until you have to use the service i.e. claim, and then comes the true comparison.

personally I haven't had a bad claim experience with any insurer but i have heard horror stories about most.

My advice when buying insurance would be to keep the excess level manageable, how often nowadays do you see cars driving around damaged, this is because people can't afford their excess.

Look for the additional benefits that are free, e.g. courtesy car, legal expenses etc. Although don't pay for any of these, as you will usually be able to find these are free after the event but it's better to ensure they are included at the outset.

If you do claim, don't be bullied by the insurer to use their providers, they only have their own interests at heart and that is minimising their costs.

khiller1988

bulktrans wrote: »

Hi there,

I have to renew my car insurance in the next 5 days .. just wondering if someone could advice on the following -

1) how imp is the brand or co
2) I know it depends on individual circumstances but - what is an okay excess
3) are there any co's I should stay clear off ..

At present I am getting a good deal with Aviva incl the cashback .. my current provider Admiral are very expensive ..

Thnx

In terms of Xs the only thing i would say to watch out for is you don't have a young drivers/inexperienced xs hidden somewhere which would be ontop oif the 250 compulsary and any voluntary. If you do fall into this category, you may want to leave your vol xs low or you could end up paying a lot if you have to claim.
I have been with aviva previously and never had and quarells, I move around depending on price. Each insurance company has their own cons and pros though. If you are looking at paying on a monthly basis also check out for the interest you will be paying which ultimately would increase the amount you pay overall. I believe Direct line don't charge interest at the moment so may be worth looking at them to compare if your paying monthly installments

bulktrans

I am taking out a comprehensive policy as it's saving me money .. :-) and usually pay annual (one off payment). I will try to keep the excess manageable as adviced .. thnx

mikey72

InsideInsurance wrote: »

.............so just because you see they are the underwriter you cannot immediately tell if it is a great or bad product/ service.............. if they wanted greater "benefit of the doubt" given they could add that for another 20%.

It's gems like these that show why the public mistrust insurers.

greater "benfit of doubt"

So if I buy a the same policy from the same insurer, because I pay more to broker A, than to broker B, a higher percentage of broker A's clients get paid out on claims, than broker B's, all because broker B had paid for more "benefit of doubt" when they initially negotiated their contract with the insurer.

Nothing to do with how genuine the claim is, or the clients history, or any fact of the claim at the time, just that a higher percentage of claims with be knocked back with one broker than the other, and it's all pre-decided by the insurer before the policy is even re-sold to the customer.
Again "utmost good faith" doen't seem to come into it on the insurers side.

InsideInsurance

mikey72 wrote: »

So if I buy a the same policy from the same insurer, because I pay more to broker A, than to broker B, a higher percentage of broker A's clients get paid out on claims, than broker B's

No, you dont necessarily even pay more to broker A than you do to broker B.

The arrangement between the broker and the insurer (though in this case we were talking affinity partners but we will stick with the word broker) and dictates the price the broker pays. It is up to the broker A and broker B what they want to charge their customers and it certainly could be the case that despite broker A paying the higher wholesale price that their consumer price is lower and they just take a much thinner margin.

The sort of things we are talking about are the likes of the requirement to report a theft to the police within 24 hours of discovery. Broker B's customers would have a claim declined if they reported it to the police after 36 hours as per the T&Cs. Broker A's customers may have the claim accepted if it was reported after 36 hours despite the T&Cs because of the "brand" (aka fee paid). Both have their claims declined if they didnt bother reporting it at all.

I have to say that I don't think this is anything unique to the insurance market. There are plenty of manufactures that sell through different grades of retailers and depending on which grade of retailer you use will dictate the service you receive despite the manufacturer being the same.

Is it the insurer they should miss trust or the affinity brand that has negotiated it?

mikey72

InsideInsurance wrote: »

............Is it the insurer they should miss trust or the affinity brand that has negotiated it?

It's the face of the insurer either way.
So if the insurer doesn't mind how they are represented, and the affinity brand is a willing partner, is there any difference who the customer mistrusts?

As to unique, the phrase the insurer always quote is "utmost good faith". That's unique, or does the insurer apply different grades to that now as well?

hugoshavez

I hardly see it as a UGF issue Mikey. The insurer's up front about the conditions. If a "broker" negotiates what are essentially ex-gratia settlements up-front for the good of the brand they're promoting it has no effect on the person who has purchased through the other channel

InsideInsurance

mikey72 wrote: »

It's the face of the insurer either way.
So if the insurer doesn't mind how they are represented, and the affinity brand is a willing partner, is there any difference who the customer mistrusts?

Not really, many people think they are dealing with "Marks & Spencers" when they buy their M&S Home insurance and not Axa.

Take someone like "The Post Office", an affinity partner of the broker Budget and the level of awareness of who their insurer is even lower.

The whole concept of affinity partnerships is that it is not the face of the insurer but the face of the affinity that is seen. Most companies when looking for an affinity deal will look for an insurer/broker that mirrors their ethics (or at least can be paid enough to do so) but not always.

There are many complaints on this forum about how people expected more from X Insurance because X was always a brand they trusted when "X" is just the affinity not the insurer.

mikey72

InsideInsurance wrote: »

Not really, many people think they are dealing with "Marks & Spencers" when they buy their M&S Home insurance and not Axa.

Take someone like "The Post Office", an affinity partner of the broker Budget and the level of awareness of who their insurer is even lower.

The whole concept of affinity partnerships is that it is not the face of the insurer but the face of the affinity that is seen. Most companies when looking for an affinity deal will look for an insurer/broker that mirrors their ethics (or at least can be paid enough to do so) but not always.

There are many complaints on this forum about how people expected more from X Insurance because X was always a brand they trusted when "X" is just the affinity not the insurer.

That's what I mean.

No one complains about M&S, and would never buy clothes or food there again, they compalin about M&S insurance, and the insurance industry as a whole takes the hit.

Post office, again, no one stops using the Post Office, It's the Post Office Insurance, and the insurance industry takes the hit once again.

And the affinity brand is fine, as "everyone knows all insurers are like this anyway".