Unfair car insurance prices

stronghold

Hello. I recently bought a new vehicle and had to inform my insurance company of the changes. They sent out a new policy statement and I was shocked to see the price me and my wife were paying. My wife deals with all our finacial payments so I was in the dark about this. Our insurance costs £716 and breaks down to £66.46 a month. I checked an online compare site and most of them were under £300 (cheapest £274) I contacted my insurers and ask them why, for the same policy I am paying nearly three times as much. They informed me that it was because it is with a different underwriter. I was incensed, so I asked what the cancellation fee would be. They said that it would cost me £35 plus 85% of cover paid for my car because I cancelled 7 months into the contract and had 5 months still to run. The total being £296 thats more than the full years cover on certain quotes i have aquired.Is it right for insurers to charge these large sums and is there any way of getting out of this?
Thank You.

rs65

Insurers can offer whatever price they want - its up to the individual to accept or not. There are huge ranges of prices for everyone.

I think the only way out is to cancel, as you have already investigated - just check your policy to make sure the charges are correct. Or leave until renewal and make your own choice.

Sorry to say that its your wife you have an issue with rather than insurers.

Time to check the cost of your home insurance, broadband, landline, utilities etc...

InsideInsurance

If you are talking about different underwriters (aka insurers) then you are speaking to your broker not your insurer!

Different insurers prefer different customers and you'll never find one that is cheapest for everyone in all circumstances. The other challenge is that you are buying a years policy, irrespective of if you pay it in full up front or get a loan from them to be able to pay it in installments.

When you buy you are generally buying the cheapest for what you are today but if you know changes are going to be coming then check admin fees for the changes and what the post change price is likely to be. The big caveat is if you are using brokers then you need to ensure the 2 prices you receive are with the same underwriter because as you've found you cannot switch mid term.

olly300

The way to get out of it is when you renew do a comparison. And follow the advice rs65 gave you as this is what this site if for.

Also next time before you change car get a quote from your insurer of the likely cost of a mid-term adjustment.

dunstonh

Retailers can set their prices as they wish. It is not unfair. It is up the buyer to decide whether they want to buy that product if they want.

Nearly always it is best to check on renewal to see how yours is priced compared to others and that is the time to change if need be. Not mid term.

stronghold

rs65 wrote: »

Insurers can offer whatever price they want - its up to the individual to accept or not. There are huge ranges of prices for everyone.

I think the only way out is to cancel, as you have already investigated - just check your policy to make sure the charges are correct. Or leave until renewal and make your own choice.

Sorry to say that its your wife you have an issue with rather than insurers.

Time to check the cost of your home insurance, broadband, landline, utilities etc...

Thanks. I'll take more interest in our finacial dealings from now on.

forgotmyname

Why shop at Harrods when you can get stuff from Aldi or Tesco?

dunstonh

forgotmyname wrote: »

Why shop at Harrods when you can get stuff from Aldi or Tesco?

because it is not unfair or unlawful to shop at Harrods if you choose to. it is a choice you make.

forgotmyname

dunstonh wrote: »

because it is not unfair or unlawful to shop at Harrods if you choose to. it is a choice you make.

Nice answer but wrong.

You shop at Harrods because you get a bag saying Harrods so you can pretend you have money and you can sell it on ebay to recoup some of that money

Shame it doesnt work with car insurance, Nobody gets to see you paid extra, And nothing to sell on ebay after

Do Harrods sell car insurance? Will they give away free bags?

:beer:

real1314

stronghold wrote: »

Hello. I recently bought a new vehicle and had to inform my insurance company of the changes. They sent out a new policy statement and I was shocked to see the price me and my wife were paying. My wife deals with all our finacial payments so I was in the dark about this. Our insurance costs £716 and breaks down to £66.46 a month. I checked an online compare site and most of them were under £300 (cheapest £274) I contacted my insurers and ask them why, for the same policy I am paying nearly three times as much. They informed me that it was because it is with a different underwriter. I was incensed, so I asked what the cancellation fee would be. They said that it would cost me £35 plus 85% of cover paid for my car because I cancelled 7 months into the contract and had 5 months still to run. The total being £296 thats more than the full years cover on certain quotes i have aquired.Is it right for insurers to charge these large sums and is there any way of getting out of this?
Thank You.

The probably rounded things up a bit; there's a lot of it about - about 3 times as much as you'd expect!
:cool: