Car insurance up 40%

bratfud_lad

I have been with Saga for 4 years and received my renewal quote last week showing an increase of 40%, up from £500 to £700! A quick check on the comparison sites got AXA at £443 so I rang Saga who then reduced their quote to £550 but wouldn't go any lower.
I will obviously go with AXA but as Sagas business model is to target the over 50s many of them will not have access to the interweb and think they are getting special offers due to being with Saga.
I emailed them asking for a justification for the massive increase and got a response saying that all insurers were putting premiums up by this amount due to fraudulent claims for personel injury and uninsured drivers.
I asked them to quote me as a new customer but they declined so went on their website but that wouldn't quote me either just a message saying they don't quote for 'mystery shopper'.
If only they had offered the reduced premium of £550 in the first place I may very well have accepted it without checking other quotes.

Rip off Britain strikes again!!

mikey72

bratfud_lad wrote: »

I have been with Saga for 4 years and received my renewal quote last week showing an increase of 40%, up from £500 to £700! A quick check on the comparison sites got AXA at £443 so I rang Saga who then reduced their quote to £550 but wouldn't go any lower.
I will obviously go with AXA but as Sagas business model is to target the over 50s many of them will not have access to the interweb and think they are getting special offers due to being with Saga.
I emailed them asking for a justification for the massive increase and got a response saying that all insurers were putting premiums up by this amount due to fraudulent claims for personel injury and uninsured drivers.
I asked them to quote me as a new customer but they declined so went on their website but that wouldn't quote me either just a message saying they don't quote for 'mystery shopper'.
If only they had offered the reduced premium of £550 in the first place I may very well have accepted it without checking other quotes.

Rip off Britain strikes again!!

I'm not entirely sure it's rip of Britain, as any other company that target the elderly, massively overcharge some customers for the same product they can sell to others much more cheaply, or reduce the price when challenged, would soon be on rogue traders. Particuarly when the section of the market they target is specifically the most vulnerable, who don't have internet skills, or the ability or confidence to haggle, but do normally have trust in Saga based mainly on their advertising angle as being for over 50's only.

dunstonh

Rip off Britain strikes again!!

How is it a rip off? A company is free to offer its services at the price it wants. If you dont like it then you can elsewhere.

Your focus seems to be totally on premium and nothing else. That doesnt mean saga have to market to you on premium and nothing else. Personally, I am not sure I would want an AXA general insurance product as it may be cheap but it wont be quality and their claims record is not market leading by a long way.

mikey72

dunstonh wrote: »

How is it a rip off? A company is free to offer its services at the price it wants. If you dont like it then you can elsewhere...............

Maybe Saga could use that line in their advertising?

forgotmyname

Saga know they have many silver surfers. Thats why when you try and get a quote from them online it knows your already a customer and refuses to quote.

The system knows the online quote will be cheaper than your renewal.

Spread the word and go elsewhere.

bratfud_lad

Thought I would give an update, after much work on the comparison sites I decided to try Direct Line and got a quote of £350, I also needed breakdown cover so followed the link through to their partner company Green Flag who then quoted £72. On a hunch I went direct to the Green Flag site and got the exact same breakdown cover for £48! So finally I got insurance and breakdown cover for £398 against Sagas renewal offer of £700!!
I still maintain the whole industry is a con and rip off the same as having to change bank savings and ISAs every year, not to mention having to change utility companies as well. Life's to short for all that

adamc260

bratfud_lad wrote: »

Thought I would give an update, after much work on the comparison sites I decided to try Direct Line and got a quote of £350, I also needed breakdown cover so followed the link through to their partner company Green Flag who then quoted £72. On a hunch I went direct to the Green Flag site and got the exact same breakdown cover for £48! So finally I got insurance and breakdown cover for £398 against Sagas renewal offer of £700!!
I still maintain the whole industry is a con and rip off the same as having to change bank savings and ISAs every year, not to mention having to change utility companies as well. Life's to short for all that

Every company has a different target market and are looking for different things and that's why the pricing structure is so different.

You may of been saga's target market for a while and the price has increased to maybe suggest you no longer are... or it could just be they need to up the prices due to the number of claims, who knows!?

It's no skin off your nose though, there are lots of other companies out there who want your business and aslong as your happy with the COVER as well as the price then that's fine.. but if you shop purely on price you may have a shock when you come to claim. Insurance is far more than just 'Well both policies have protected no claims and a courtesy car....'