Car Insurance for over 70's

EightOfHearts

When somebody reaches the age of seventy should they expect their car insurance premium to increase if they have not made any claims for 5 years. If you had made a claim in the last 3 years will that make any difference.

InsideInsurance

Once you go past a certain age you typically will see premiums start to go back up again.

Evidently any declarable incidents will compound this

Aretnap

It does tend to go up a bit once you pass a certain age. People in late middle age tend to have the fewest accidents of any age group as they're getting into the stage of their life where they're at their most sensible and risk-averse, but by the time they get elderly the accident rate starts to creep up again as their eyesight, reflexes etc are maybe not as good as they once were. See page 4 here for some average figures

http://www.theaa.com/newsroom/bipi/201307-bipi.pdf

If someone's had an accident recently that's likely to push their premium up, regardless of their age.

If this is a question prompted by a renewal quote it's worth remembering that elderly people are often the most likely to accept their renewal quotes without shopping around first - which in extremis can lead to situations like this one. The best way to find out if you're paying too much is to look at the price comparison sites and see what other insurers are offering.

PaulPonting

It seem to very unfair the as you reach 70 your insurance premiums will go up. if you have not had an accident, or are covered by your no claims protection, anybody of that age or over should not be treated any differently to anyone else regardless of their age. Surely that comes under age discrimination. It is different if an elderly person has a succession of claims the quite rightly their premium should be increased considerably. I believe once a person reaches 70 they had to obtain a medical certificate stating the are safe to drive. The insurance premium should be based on their passed record not their age.

vaio

Fair point, someone needs to take that to court so there is a ruling similar to the gender one a few years ago

Aretnap

PaulPonting wrote: »

Surely that comes under age discrimination.

The Equalities Act allows age discrimination in relation to financial services like insurance. If it didn't, 70 year olds would pay the same for life insurance as 20 year olds - and I can't really see that happening any time soon.

I believe once a person reaches 70 they had to obtain a medical certificate stating the are safe to drive.

No they don't. They just have to tick a box on an application form to say that they're fit to drive. There's no medical examination or other check.

The insurance premium should be based on their passed record not their age.

Be careful what you wish for. Look at the table on page 4 of the link I posted above and you'll see that over 70s actually do rather well out of age-related premiums - they pay less for their car insurance than any other age group except 60-69 year olds. If insurers were prevented from using age to set premiums and the terms were levelled out across the board, over 70s would end up paying significantly more than they do now, as they'd have to subsidise the premiums of drivers who are in their teens and early 20s - who are by far the highest risk group.

skint_explorer

BUT if a teen gets a stike, is it still that they have to reset their tests. Early 20's have probably learned by their mistakes.

BUT 70 ?? They are the biggest idiots on the road. On Wednesday they are still doing 5mph trying to find home since Sunday.
Are they still of the generation that NEVER took a test ? They have a Free Bus Pass

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USE IT !

Dont bother replying, this place is ....................

d12345

It is an age thing, the older you get the more you pay for insurance.
My car insurance has been going up every year since I reached 65, I am now nearly 68, I have to keep insuring with a different company each year to get new customer discounts.


4 years I got a years car insurance, including cashback for £60.


Lowest quote this year has been £160. and that is with no claims for over 30 years.


Same with travel insurance, reach 66 and it goes sky high, more than double what my then 65 year old wife was quoted and I have less pre existing conditions than her.

*Scarlett

EightofHearts - who are you insured with?

Have you tried any of the over 50s companies?

http://www.rias.co.uk/car-insurance/

http://www.castlecover.co.uk/car-insurance.aspx

http://www.saga.co.uk/insurance/car-insurance.aspx

http://www.insure4retirement.co.uk/pages/car-insurance

http://www.ageuk.org.uk/products/insurance/car-insurance/

A claim within 3 years will certainly make a difference to the premium as many companies offer an optimum ncd of 9 years.

Get a few quotes - your current insurer may not be offering the best price.

InsideInsurance

Aretnap wrote: »

If it didn't, 70 year olds would pay the same for life insurance as 20 year olds - and I can't really see that happening any time soon.

Would have said the same about male and female drivers however the European Courts sorted that one out for us.

The more amusing would be Life insurance premiums being the same for a 20 year old and a 90 year old

MissingThePoint

Why should a person over 70 be penalised if he or she has had no accidents or has a protected no claims bonus that is still current. It should go on their track record and not their age. I do agree if a person over 70 has had several accidents then their premium should be loaded but not otherwise. I am not in that age group so it does affect me personally, but I do kmow of a neighbour whose premium has increased considerably, when he had no accidents or penalty points on his license and that was with Saga who are supposed to be one of the better insurance companies for the mature driver.