Car Insurance Quotes...They make it up!!!

brownie4583

I have been with my present car insurance company for around 8 years now and every August i receive my renewal,i go on Confused.com,Go Compare etc,get very similar deals for £50-£100 less,i then ring my company stating i have had quotes that are cheaper and lo and behold the reply is always,"If we match those quotes will you stay with us?",or "We have checked your details and it's now gone down to the same as those other quotes" etc.
Around 4-5 years ago my quote of £512 went down to £365 literally after about a 3 minute phone call to them!
Call me cynical,but do they work on the fact that a certain percentage of customers will just pay it and not query it,so i would have paid £147 for nothing on the same policy!

scotsbob

Of course they "make it up." How many people with your make/model of car, with your driving history live in your post code area?
The company "make up" a quote, based on statistics, for you. If you query it, they look more closely and see if they can trim their margins.

neilmcl

Most of the cheaper deals around will contain discounts specifically to entice new customers. For obvious reasons your standard renewal premium isn't going to contain this discount.

brownie4583

No,but only when i ring up

fivetide

Why do you keep giving them your money when they keep trying to fiddle you?

I do the same thing as you and when the price magically drops I tell them to try again next year. If they really wanted my business, they'd have offered me their cheapest price in the first place.

It's even better when you see a quote on the comparison sites from the same firm for less! Always a good one that.

5t.

mikey72

brownie4583 wrote: »

I have been with my present car insurance company for around 8 years now and every August i receive my renewal,i go on Confused.com,Go Compare etc,get very similar deals for £50-£100 less,i then ring my company stating i have had quotes that are cheaper and lo and behold the reply is always,"If we match those quotes will you stay with us?",or "We have checked your details and it's now gone down to the same as those other quotes" etc.
Around 4-5 years ago my quote of £512 went down to £365 literally after about a 3 minute phone call to them!
Call me cynical,but do they work on the fact that a certain percentage of customers will just pay it and not query it,so i would have paid £147 for nothing on the same policy!

Shop around, and move every year.

adamc260

mikey72 wrote: »

Shop around, and move every year.

Insurance is about more than just price... you may be happy with the policy you have but simply want it to be a bit more competitive.

Insurer A offers price at £350
Insurer B offers price at £400

Doesn't mean they offer the same 'benefits' or 'level' of cover, if Insurer B is happy to reduce or match the quote, why should you simply 'change'.. all your doing is cutting your nose off to spite your face, especially if insurer b has a better policy!

wba31

Some people do just get the renewal through and keep paying. I used to live with a friend, who had been driving accident free for 10 years, so had 10 years NCB, was driving a 1.6 Astra and was paying £800 a year, because he'd just stuck with the same company. When his insurance was up for renewal, i sat him down, and the look on his face when he was quoted £250 for the year was priceless...

tom999_2

wba31 wrote: »

Some people do just get the renewal through and keep paying. I used to live with a friend, who had been driving accident free for 10 years, so had 10 years NCB, was driving a 1.6 Astra and was paying £800 a year, because he'd just stuck with the same company. When his insurance was up for renewal, i sat him down, and the look on his face when he was quoted £250 for the year was priceless...

Yep, this is what I think most insurance companies rely on. Most people are too lazy/busy to shop around. Also, some polices have automatic auto-renewal, so it's a good idea to cancel that for any new policy.

garynuman

Also, some polices have automatic auto-renewal

It's not just insurance companies that do this.

Whenever I get a renewal reminder from the AA, the price is consistently £60-£80 more expensive than my current agreement.

I simply phone them up (armed with the "introductory rates" of the RAC!) and insist they reduce it to match their cover or threaten to cancel. I always explain that I am happy to "bounce" between the introductory rates of the big 3 (AA, RAC, Green Flag) as I have no faith in their "loyalty schemes" (wine racks, golfing caddies and cheap weekends are no use to me.)

People have become too lackadaisical and just don't check - organisations such as AA (and especially insurance providers) count on this!

Gaz

kingell

Hello

Since they were taken over some years ago the AA has descended into an abyss for customer service. New laws prevent repeated claims annually (see below).:beer:
My insurance expired on July 29th. The AA had written to me telling me that they would match or even improve on any other quote.

I got a lower quote, rang them on the 24th and was asked to send the details.

As nothing had happened by 29th (expiry day) I rang and was advised that they needed a letterhead from the company. I told them that letter heads are not used on the Internet, did a page dump and sent them a copy.

I was told I was covered for the time being. After another 5 days they E-mailed me to say that they would not match because they didn't have a letter head.

I sent a very angry E-Mail and told them I had been unable to use my car as I might not have wanted to renew with them.
I also advised them as follows:

Please note;"You now have the right to cancel any agreement you made for a retailer, hotel, gym, lender, technology provider – in fact anyone – to take money in future from your debit or credit card.FSA guidance and the law itself which is reg.55 of the Payment Services Regulations 2009."

I had a reply saying that as a gesture of goodwill they would not charge me for the extra days covered!!! :mad:

Since then I've had an offer of cheap contents insurance - so I've telephoned and asked to be removed from their database.

I've found the road service good but I've only used it 3 times in over 50 years.:A

Frankly my advice would be " have nothing to do with AA insurance services". Use a comparison site and take the best offer which meets your requirements.:T