Opaque insurance prices and whole-of-market brokers

ChumpusRex

Just had a curious argument with my usual insurance broker.

I have always had my car dealer serviced, but the cost is prohibitive for an old car. So, I wanted to get the brakes serviced at an independent garage using aftermarket brake pads.

Out of paranoia, I called the insurer, who basically said that I could not do that, and that they would cancel my insurance if I didn't use original specification parts.

I checked with the broker who confirmed that my current insurer could not cover me for aftermarket brake pads. So we arranged a requote for a new policy, with "brake modifications".

The original policy had cost about £700. The requote came in at over £2000. Curious as to why a trivial change would render the car effectively uninsurable I pressed them for an answer, but they were unable to give one.

I then tried a price comparison site and immediately got a quote under identical circumstances for under £500. Again, I queried the price discrepancy with the broker, who said that although they were "whole of market" they couldn't quote from the whole of the market.

So, I'm just very curious as to whether i was treated correctly by a) my initial insurer and
b) my broker.

Because really, it seems inexplicable that getting your car serviced at kwik fit or wherever should invalidate your insurance. It's like putting Goodyear tyres on your car, if it came with Dunlops and that invalidating your insurance.

dacouch

Someone is pulling your leg.

Which broker is this and who is your Insurer?

"h

forgotmyname

I think someone misunderstood. And assumed you meant you wanted to fit non standard braking parts.

Aftermarket brake pads maybe the exact same pads fitted by the dealer but wont come in the dealers posh and expensive box.

I fitted a heater motor to an Audi A4 the dealer wanted something silly like £400. I got one from europarts or GSF for less than £100. It was the same brand. The only difference was the date marker stamped into the case.

InsideInsurance

ChumpusRex wrote: »

The original policy had cost about £700. The requote came in at over £2000. Curious as to why a trivial change would render the car effectively uninsurable I pressed them for an answer, but they were unable to give one.

I then tried a price comparison site and immediately got a quote under identical circumstances for under £500. Again, I queried the price discrepancy with the broker, who said that although they were "whole of market" they couldn't quote from the whole of the market.

Replacing parts is arguably a grey area and it really is a judgement call. If its simply replacing an existing part with an identical but unbranded item then I would strongly argue its not a modification and in most cases an engineer inspecting the vehicle wouldnt be able to tell anyway.

In this case however you are replacing them with something different and the fact they are painted red is going to stick out like a sore thumb. Plus there are some areas such as brakes and suspension that insurers will always be more sensitive about than others (eg gear knob)

I am uncertain if the £2,000 quote was for a mid term adjustment or was to cancel the original policy and rebroke the business? If its an MTA then things are different because you are locked into an insurer and they may have originally placed your business with someone who hates modifications but that wasnt originally an issue as you had none to declare.


As to "whole of market", there is a caveat to that in insurance that they only deal with insurers/ intermediaries and products that allow distribution via brokers. So no broker can quote on behalf of DL, Admiral, Marks & Spencers etc. Likewise they tend to have two options, do a quote from their standard panel which is systematic and instant or switch to whole of market which is often manual and required contacting other human beings. Needless to say the fees the broker charges are much higher for the second than the first as do the insurers also charge more for this.

If you have a basically standard risk it'll almost never be cheaper to do it the manual way. If you are something unusual, unfortunately like my business insurance, then you dont have any option as the systematic approach just ends up with declines