Car Insurance Increase

Roosters72

Hi, Recently moved house to somewhere better. The car insurance address change ushered in a price increase (outwith the service charge for the paperwork) as the customer service rep said the new postcode was a higher risk. Now, I know for a fact she is wrong, but do I have any options to appeal or make the insurance company see this error? On my previous road the local cars' wing mirrors and windows got smashed on an almost weekly basis, and it was on a main road (if not THE main road) in my town. The new place is off road, with private parking spaces. There is not a chance on earth my car is more at risk here. They are simply wrong.

Do these company clump an area into the equation when giving prices and not take an individual look at circumstances? The only thing I can think of, is there is a dual carriage way seen from the front window, surely they don't include that as a potential risk?

Thanks
Roost

rs65

Try dummy quotes for both addresses and see what the difference is. Make sure you are comparing the insurer and not a broker.

Aretnap

They base the rating for a postcode on the overall number and amount of claims from people in that postcode. The risk of having your wing mirror whacked by a drunk driver in the middle of the night is only a small part of the equation. If one or two of your new neighbours have caused serious accidents giving rise to five or six figure personal injury claims, that adds up to a lot of cracked wing mirrors.

Claims rates vary widely between different areas of the country - to a large extent postcode is a marker for social class, so if you've gone from an upmarket to a slightly less upmarket area that might explain the increase.

Ultimately there's no route by which you can "appeal" or insist that they reassess their pricing for your new postcode, though you can look at the price comparison websites and see if you can find cheaper cover for your new address from another company. If you can then you have the option of cancelling your policy rather than paying the extra - though check the terms and conditions as there will likely be a cancellation fee which you'll have to factor in when deciding if it's cheaper to move.

Roosters72

rs65 wrote: »

Try dummy quotes for both addresses and see what the difference is. Make sure you are comparing the insurer and not a broker.

Thanks for the reply. I couldn't really understand exactly what you meant, I thought maybe I could find out a reason for the increase somehow, but I guess you meant price difference?. So I went ahead and compared a dummy quote at both addresses from an alternative insurer and low and behold, the price is higher at my old address like I thought it should be all along. It gives no reason that I can see, only shows a lower quote.

So it seems my current ensurer is trying to rip me off or something :mad:

Edit* Thanks for that info Artenap very useful

rs65

Roosters72 wrote: »

So I went ahead and compared a dummy quote at both addresses from an alternative insurer

You need to try your current insurer. What another insurer charges is irrelevant.

Gloomendoom

It could be that your current insurer has had more claims in the area that you moved to than in the area that you moved from.

http://www.motorcarinsuranceuk.co.uk/post-code-ratings.php

rs65

Gloomendoom wrote: »

It could be that your current insurer has had more claims in the area that you moved to than in the area that you moved from.

http://www.motorcarinsuranceuk.co.uk/post-code-ratings.php

That's motorbike ratings isn't it?

Roosters72

rs65 wrote: »

You need to try your current insurer. What another insurer charges is irrelevant.

Ah, so I did pick you up wrong, apologies I still don't get what I am going to get from the dummy quotes from my current insurer? Anyway, done a quote with them and got the same results that they reckon this new address is higher premium than the last.

Thanks for the responses all

rs65

Roosters72 wrote: »

Ah, so I did pick you up wrong, apologies I still don't get what I am going to get from the dummy quotes from my current insurer? Anyway, done a quote with them and got the same results that they reckon this new address is higher premium than the last.

Each insurer can rated addresses how they wish. Your insurer rates your new address higher so the 'fact' you originally thought was wrong.

dacouch

rs65 wrote: »

That's motorbike ratings isn't it?

Yes Aviva's motorbike ratings from seven + years ago, had little relation to car insurance ratings then and even less relevant now

Roosters72

rs65 wrote: »

Each insurer can rated addresses how they wish. Your insurer rates your new address higher so the 'fact' you originally thought was wrong.

I see, thanks for the info. So you wanted me to find out if my insurer rated the new address higher risk? I told you they did at the start, I dont get what the idea was for me to do a dummy run with them, unless im missing something? And yes, they can rate it as they please, and it is still a 'fact' my car is safer where I am now than my old place, doesnt matter how the insurer rates it, theyre simply wrong, I should know, I lived in both areas, they havent.