LV= Car Insurance Auto Renewal

brizzie_2

The letter said "you don't need to do a thing". Only £586. "To make renewing your LV=insurance as easy as possible, we'll automatically renew your policy."

Really? I so appreciate companies whose only concern is to make my life easier. Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of trust. Checked my mileage and noticed the miles were a lot higher than my current travel arrangements. A reduction to £496 followed. But enter the exact same details into the LV= website and it came out at £418. Double checked on the phone and all the cover was exactly the same. They then retrieved the online quote and put it in place and cancelled the auto renewal of the existing policy.

The explanation for this huge gap was an online discount. But surely swapping policies and direct debit details costs them a lot more than just renewing at the cheapest rate. In this case they could have lost me to Esure at a £450 quote. The real reason of course is that sufficient people must accept a £170 higher renewal quote to outweigh the really pee'd off minority who bother to check.

£170 saved by checking things like the estimated mileage still being valid, and getting a re-quote as a "new customer". So I have the inconvenience of a new policy number and more paperwork landing on the doormat. Big deal.

It is sad that LV=, as one of the last remaining mutuals, engage in this kind of shenanigans. That's life, trust no-one when it comes to car insurance quotes!

Quentin

Why didn't you do the correct MSE thing and scour the market?

There may still be time, depending on if your renewal date has passed, but you may find a much cheaper deal elsewhere (even if LV are the cheapest, you could have got £25 cashback had you bought your new policy via a cashback site).

(See if they charge any cancellation fee before moving elsewhere if you find it cheaper elsewhere and do the sums!)

brizzie_2

I did do the correct thing and checked every alternative or I wouldn't have found the Esure option. I got the cheapest deal possible by over £30. I get additional discounts by being a CSMA member. Sorry, I wasn't asking for advice but sharing a £170 saving and how I got it. Thanks anyway.

LV= have discounts to members of a number of organisations via Frizzells.

Parking_Trouble

Quentin wrote: »

Why didn't you do the correct MSE thing and scour the market?

There may still be time, depending on if your renewal date has passed, but you may find a much cheaper deal elsewhere (even if LV are the cheapest, you could have got £25 cashback had you bought your new policy via a cashback site).

(See if they charge any cancellation fee before moving elsewhere if you find it cheaper elsewhere and do the sums!)

You should know Quentin, that you shouldn't choose a policy on price alone.

Quentin

Parking_Trouble wrote: »

You should know Quentin, that you shouldn't choose a policy on price alone.

Some people come here wanting the cheapest policy, and do get good advice on that from MSE.


Its up to them isn't it?


(We can't all afford to get the "best" policy!)

Parking_Trouble

(We can't all afford to get the "best" policy!)

No, but as a trusted advisor on here you know all about the pitfalls of the small print and which insurers are difficult to deal with. Paying a few quid more could avoid lots of problems when it comes to making a claim or a change to the policy.

I moved to LV= based on price and quality of policy and service.

The OP has suffered the usual renewal trap that all insurers use to raise revenue and profit. It is not a reason on its own to change from an insurer that otherwise has a good reputation.

Always check if your insurer is taking you for a ride by getting a new qu