Car Insurance Increase

tberry6686

Here we go again. It's the same tired old excuse why companies cannot release 'commercially sensitive information'. That's just bull! There is no value in withholding this information unless they have got something to hide. If it's so obvious then please enlighten me?

So if you ran a company then you would be quite happy to hand your competitors all the data you use to calculate prices etc ?

Doubt if your company would be around for long.

CKhalvashi

thor wrote: »

Sorry but you are being naive. Just because the cust rep says that the postcode is a higher risk does mean it is so. If it was then why do they not allow access to the raw data they use to come up with their 'fact'?

It's also important to remember, that 'better' areas are worst for insurance anyway.

I drove through a residential area yesterday, with average car age c.15-20 years (and the bulk made up of older cars)

I live in an area where the bulk of cars are much newer, and generally worth more.

Which area do you think the insurance costs are higher in and why? (Clue: It's the second, and because when claims happen, they're more expensive)

CK

peachyprice

Roosters72 wrote: »

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.

Which claims do you think are going to be higher, claims for smashed windows, wing mirrors and bodywork along the busy road at your old address or claims for entire cars being stolen from drives at your new address?

whatmichaelsays

thor wrote: »

Here we go again. It's the same tired old excuse why companies cannot release 'commercially sensitive information'. That's just bull! There is no value in withholding this information unless they have got something to hide. If it's so obvious then please enlighten me?

I was in ASDA the other day and they refused to tell me how much they pay for tins of Heinz soup. It's an absolute disgrace.

thor

tberry6686 wrote: »

So if you ran a company then you would be quite happy to hand your competitors all the data you use to calculate prices etc ?

Doubt if your company would be around for long.

Sorry but there is no way that info could be used against them.

Aretnap

Claims data is a valuable resource which an insurer can use to look for patterns and assess risks more accurately in future. A large proprietary data set gives an insurer a competitive advantage over other insurers who may have a less extensive data set and therefore less information with which to calculate their prices. So no, they're not going to share it with all and sundry just to persuade a few nonentities on the Internet (most of whom would have no idea how to interpret the data even if they had access to it) that they're don't set their prices at random.

grumpytoo

Dangermac wrote: »

The 'fact' that you referred to in your first post is clearly not. You tried to backtrack on a subsequent post (changing the fact that you were apparently referring to)

As you believe that insurance is a scam, I am presuming that you dont purchase any more insurance than is legally required. i.e presumably you only buy Third Party Motor Insurance. Presumably, you dont purchase household insurance etc.

Or is it just another one of your 'facts' ?

DM

I have just become aware of a huge insurance scam. Now at this point I must point out that I am a Senior Citizen who owned a Commer 15 cwt van many years ago when I lived and worked in London. The previous vehicle was an Austin A30 but with living in bedsits the van was ideal just in case the landlady wanted the room back and a flit was required. At that time there was no quibbling whatsoever in altering the policy from the Austin to the Commer but now insurers have split motor insurance into CAR insurance and VAN insurance. Could anyone tell me when this scam was invented?

The situation was that a friend who was in dire straits was selling his house (he had inherited his mothers bungalow some years earlier but the cost of running two homes had been ruinous) As storage of his things was clearly going to be a major problem he said "I need more vans" and I was in fact pestered into doing a Buy It Now on a Renault Extra disability vehicle (this is basically a Renault 5 with a "Pope-mobile" rear section and a wheelchair ramp - ideal for wheeling sack-trucks!) At the time I was paying insurance on three cars, my Land Rover Discovery and two "dead" Peugeots both of which had failed MOTs for various nit-picks and were on SORN. (the insurance is still needed for when they are repaired and taken for another MOT)

As the Peugeot 406 needed its drivers side sill welding (yuk) I figured that its insurance could be transferred to the Renault Extra.

"Oh no" my insurer said, "You cannot transfer CAR insurance onto a van. Vans have to have VAN insurance so it will need a separate policy and you will have to start again."

This is reminiscent of the board game Snakes & Ladders!

Cheapest quote was £165 for third party only and as its basically just a Renault 5 I was not impressed especially as I'm paying money for nothing on my two "dead" cars. As I mentioned earlier I never had any of this BS when I migrated from the Austin to the Commer so why is this BS being dished-out now?

One can surmise that the inventor of this scam got a nice fat bonus for it but I'm so disgusted that the purchase of the Renault Extra is being aborted. How is it that vehicles such as the Renault Espace and Grand Espace are classed as CARS when in fact they are really vans but a similar sort of vehicle which is smaller is classed as a van?

I feel that as motorists are compelled by the government into having motor insurance, the government ought to crack down on what I regard as insurance scams. I am extremely vexed by all this red tape.

grumpytoo

peachyprice wrote: »

Which claims do you think are going to be higher, claims for smashed windows, wing mirrors and bodywork along the busy road at your old address or claims for entire cars being stolen from drives at your new address?

Things are not always what they seem to be.

For example Cheltenham used to be quite OK-yah with retired ex-military people living there. In actual fact the rot set in over forty years ago. For example a colleague in Evesham complained that his three year old car had failed its MOT for a totally bald tyre. Closer inspection revealed that the wheel did not even match the others on the car it had been switched! Allegedly the M.O. is that a small boy is sent to deflate the new tyre using a matchstick. Later a "tyre fitter" in a boiler suit arrives whistling as he works and he takes away the deflated wheel that has the new tyre and fits the wheel with the inflated but bald tyre. The victim thinks that the wheel must have been switched in the Cheltenham main car park several weeks previously. Of course if one was to be involved in an accident with the bald tyre fitted........... The car owner had to buy a new and proper type of wheel from Vauxhall and it was a lot of money.

Nowadays things are worse. For example a Cheltenham pub changed hands and was revamped as a yobs pub. Allegedly a good night out for the yobs was to kick off the wing mirrors of parked cars and/or to make their way home by marching over car roofs. Fortunately a friends father-in law had garaged his car that night.

Unfortunately the entire row of lock-up garages were broken into some time later by cutting through all the door hinges and dropping the doors to the ground. Presumably battery powered tools with a large number of spare batteries were involved. Most of the cars were modern and had good alarms and immobilisers so they were not touched. The friends father-in-law however had a classic Ford Fiesta and its tank was always kept full in case he wanted to go anywhere. The car was stolen but two weeks later the police said "We've found your car but its been burnt out". Presumably the thieves used up the tank of petrol in the two weeks and not wanting to pay for any more they just lit the car.

Another friend in Cheltenham was involved in a near miss as he pulled out of his driveway. He thought that he had got away with it but the speeding vehicle made a handbrake-turn then came back and rammed him before driving off. The police found the offending car half an hour later but it was on fire. Joy riders again.
Of course it only takes a few rat-boys to bring down a whole area. The damaged vehicle was a classic Vauxhall Chevette that was almost part of the family.

Empirical results show that when these offenders are killed or jailed the crime rate falls to a few percent of what it was previously.

Take care!