Change of details on car insurance policy - doubling price

1940sGal

My sister renewed her car insurance last month. She changed insurer (if that matters) and was, at the time, driving with a provisional licence.

She has just come home having passed her test. She phoned her insurer to change the details only to be told that it would mean a £70 deposit PLUS another £360 added to the policy, thus almost doubling it in price.

She has my Dad and I as named drivers which brings the cost down a good amount.

Am i alone in thinking this is ridiculous? She's looking at cancelling it and going with someone else, having found quotes with her details amended for much cheaper than if she carried on with the current one.

Anyone else come up against this sort of thing?

Quentin

It's usual.

Too late now, but she should have enquired how much to pay once she passed (and starts driving alone towards an almost inevitable expense for her insurer)

InsideInsurance

The odd part is the £70 deposit though.... are you sure its an insurer and not a broker? If I had to guess I'd say that you are through a broker, they've cancelled the original policy and now sold her a new policy now that she has passed.

Newly qualified drivers are much higher risk than learner drivers and thus have a higher premium.

1940sGal

InsideInsurance wrote: »

The odd part is the £70 deposit though.... are you sure its an insurer and not a broker? If I had to guess I'd say that you are through a broker, they've cancelled the original policy and now sold her a new policy now that she has passed.

Newly qualified drivers are much higher risk than learner drivers and thus have a higher premium.

No as far as i know it's not a broker. She's with AutoDirect. My dad spoke to them and from what he's said, it is the policy that has risen.

I understand the added risk of her driving on her own, that's perfectly acceptable. But as i said she went on the internet and got quotes with her details amended to a full licence and she was getting a similar price to the one she has now, before she amended it.

InsideInsurance

AutoDirect are not an insurer they are an intermediary and in the case of Motor they have a panel of insurers and so are a broker.

It may well be worth cancelling and moving rather than updating but make sure you understand the cancellation charges before committing yourself to anything.

thenudeone

The first year after passing the test is probably the most risky year ever.

A learner driver always has an experienced driver with them which siginificantly limits the miles they can drive.

A newly passed driver doesn't have any limits, and can now drive round with a car full of friends of an evening (which some do). If the new driver has an accident and seriously injures the other occupants, the insurance company may have an eight-figure payout on their hands.

So the risk is clearly greater for a newly passed driver than a learner; and the policy price reflects that.

1940sGal

InsideInsurance wrote: »

AutoDirect are not an insurer they are an intermediary and in the case of Motor they have a panel of insurers and so are a broker.

It may well be worth cancelling and moving rather than updating but make sure you understand the cancellation charges before committing yourself to anything.

Interesting! Had no idea tbh. I'll tell Sis and she can either call them or get dad to do it. Either way she asked about cancelling and was told it would be £50 + however much of the month's insurance she'd used.

This though makes me wonder if it is a new policy. It wasn't clear whether the woman was referring to the cancelling of the current one or the (possible) new one.

Poppie68

My youngest daughter passed her test May 2011, we were paying £301 a month, this was the cheapest (and we shopped around... alot) in the end we got her put onto our multi car policy. This April renewal came through and they were asking for £211. My husband phoned them up and cancelled the policy, set up a new policy with the same company and low and behold £97.00. I don't know where they pluck their figures from.