Significant car insurance increase upon moving house

Frankidoobie

Hi all,

I have a car insurance policy with 1st Central insurance. I paid upfront for the policy when I bought my car, was insured provisionally for around £680 which increased to around £980 when I passed my test. I phoned them today to tell them that I had moved house and that my annual mileage would be decreasing. They told me that my change had increased my premium and that I would need to pay an extra £1600, bringing my annual premium to around £2500. They have given me 7 days to pay up or cancel. If I cancel I will only receive a refund of £560, despite having only been insured for 96 days.

Essentially, I'd like to know how they can justify such a massive increase (especially since I can get insured for £700 with a different insurer) and also why the refund they've offered is so blatantly disproportionate to the amount of time I have actually been insured.

Obviously what I need to do is cancel and get a new policy, but any advice on where I stand with the pitiful refund will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

vaio

cancel & take out the £700 policy.

Then lodge a complaint about the refund with your old insurer.

the FOS view is that it should be broadly pro rata plus an admin fee of £50 so if your insurer is offering significantly less than that then escalate to the FOS

When did you pass your test?

forgotmyname

Thats how cheap companies work. Make no changes and you saved money over all those other more expensive quotes. But make any changes and their till keeps ringing with the charges for each change.

Doesnt matter what another insurer wants. The cheaper insurer now may have wanted £1600 previously.

Peteholl89

The best way to find off if they are ripping you off is a new business quote using the exact same details as your current policy at your new address. If your current insurers price is genuinely that high then thats fair enough.
The refund may be lower than you expected because the additional premium you paid when you passed your test probably included non refundable admin fee. Also any add ons you have like legal assistance, breakdown cover or hire car would also be payable in full after cooling off period.

whatmichaelsays

The issue for the increase is likely to be down to how the insurer estimates their risk at your new address. If it is a postcode which has a higher crime rate, or an area which features disproportionately highly in the insurers book, they will calculate their risk accordingly.

As for a refund, you can ask for a breakdown of fees. Do you have any additional services, such as breakdown cover of legal protection? These will be non refundable.

InsideInsurance

Peteholl89 wrote: »

The best way to find off if they are ripping you off is a new business quote using the exact same details as your current policy at your new address. If your current insurers price is genuinely that high then thats fair enough.

The OP is currently insured through an intermediary and so even if they get another quote from Central it doesnt mean that the new business quote has been placed with the same insurer.

When you buy through an intermediary you are tied into both the intermediary and the underlying insurer so when you've done the CoA they've had to keep you with the same insurer even though another one of their panel may be cheaper for the new risk details.