Car Insurance Fiddle

Roland_Sausage

My insurer charged my something like £80 extra to switch from a 1.9 VW Golf GT TDI to a 1.6 Ford Focus.

The Focus has much less grunt and seems overall a more sensible car, so I just assumed the price increase was because the Focus was newer and therefore worth more.

Gloomendoom

When I was looking for insurance recently, I was asked what similar high powered vehicle I had previously owned and also how long I had been driving my current car since it was modified.

They must have been happy with my answers because the resulting premium was very reasonable. Cheaper than the mainstream insurers were quoting for a totally standard car.

mattyprice4004

Chris_Cat wrote: »

Thank you for your replies. My 48 year old wife would love to be a boy racer, but sadly not. She has 15 years no claims bonus.

Anyway I told them what I think of them and that we're off next year, though I expect they're all the same.

Ho hum.

Having a whinge at some poor sod on minimum wage does help - he didn't make the price up and is only passing on what he's told.
Plus, you don't want to make enemies with call centre staff!

It's not hard to understand the difference - it's a small car chosen by boy racers - the fact your wife drives it is irrelevant. It's the car that's caused the increased premium.

Also, why on earth wouldn't you get quoted before changing car? Surely no one is daft enough to go and buy a car without checking the costs associated with doing so if less than £60 is so important?

It's hardly a fiddle, it could have been avoided with forethought and a quick call before purchase.

cynicalgit_2

Love the way insurance companies charge "admin" fees when you change address.

InsideInsurance

cynicalgit wrote: »

Love the way insurance companies charge "admin" fees when you change address.

Which is better:

1) Everyone pays an extra £50 a year irrespective of if you make changes

2) Only people that make changes pay £25 per change they make which they know about before buying the policy?

The regulators consider it fairer to charge only those that use a service on a per use basis rather than blanket charge everyone irrespective of if they use the service or not.

Whilst the call centre guys tend not to be on much more than minimum wage they do actually get paid and work in a building that needs maintaining etc. I'm sure the call waiting times would be a tad longer if they just worked for the love

The reality of insurance is that people will switch insurers to save £1 and so if insurers can knock off money by removing coverages or services and having them as optional extras instead then they will to reduce their headline prices.

There are insurers that dont charge admin fees but their annual premiums are higher instead. You makes your choices and pays your price

arcon5

mattyprice4004 wrote: »

Having a whinge at some poor sod on minimum wage does help - he didn't make the price up and is only passing on what he's told.

To be fair, the chap in the call center is representing the company op is disgruntled with - so, so long as ops not making a personal attack, there's nothing wrong with a whinge at this 'poor sod'.

It's not hard to understand the difference - it's a small car chosen by boy racers - the fact your wife drives it is irrelevant. It's the car that's caused the increased premium.

This.

A 'boy racer' simply wouldn't be seen in a Picasso. In fact, no self-respecting individual would be seen in one of these cars, they have to be by far the most uncomfortable ride with the poorest design (inside and out) you'll ever see.

TrickyWicky

As many others here have said it's the car being popular with the young male ego headed brats that has pushed this up. It's the modern day equivalent of the ford escort which used to be so popular with them a decade or two back.

Your wife may have x, y, z years of experience, NCB etc but that doesn't mean she won't be lending it to her teenage son like my neighbours have with theirs. He couldn't afford the insurance so his mum has fronted him - added him to her policy for ocassional use and she never uses it anymore because he uses it every day. He's also done a lot of damage to it including a new set of alloys that daddy had to pay for.

Add to that the fact that it's also going to be higher risk for theft, then there is the risk of it being wrapped round a lamp post etc...

Not rocket science I'm afraid. If it was something sensible like a ford ka (you know, something really gutless) then the cost would of been a lot lower.

vassa

It's done for one reason and one reason only - it's an excuse to add more money onto your premium. No other reason or rationale behind it.

Chris_Cat

mattyprice4004 wrote: »

Having a whinge at some poor sod on minimum wage does help - he didn't make the price up and is only passing on what he's told.
Plus, you don't want to make enemies with call centre staff!

It's not hard to understand the difference - it's a small car chosen by boy racers - the fact your wife drives it is irrelevant. It's the car that's caused the increased premium.

Also, why on earth wouldn't you get quoted before changing car? Surely no one is daft enough to go and buy a car without checking the costs associated with doing so if less than £60 is so important?

It's hardly a fiddle, it could have been avoided with forethought and a quick call before purchase.

I didn't have a go at the bloke on the phone, I sent them an email separately. Of course it's not his fault.

The money isn't critical, it just seemed odd that a smaller car would attract higher insurance.

So wind your neck in, thank you.

scheming_gypsy

InsideInsurance wrote: »

Which is better:

1) Everyone pays an extra £50 a year irrespective of if you make changes

2) Only people that make changes pay £25 per change they make which they know about before buying the policy?

Option 3.
All insurance companies have a decent web portal - like Swiftcover - where you can make changes without the admin fee. Swiftcover only charge the admin fee if you phone to make a change