Insurance rip off???

kabul76

Hi everyone, I would really appreciate any kind of info or suggestion you might have on my case. I'll try to be as precise as possible.
I have started my car policy with Octagon Insurance almost 2 years ago for a Fiat Punto (W plate). I have bought another car a month ago (Focus, 02 plate) scrapped the first one, moved house and I did a swap of insurance. My insurance has gone up quite a bit...from 55£ to 179£.
Now I know that someone at first glance could say that the Focus and the change of area could affect the premium BUT......I have been to many comparison websites and filled the forms with my new details (address, job, partner with a DR10 conviction, miles per year and so on). The monthly premium is way cheaper than what I need to pay now for the last 3 instalments.
The lady at the phone just told me that this is "what our system says". I am lost and I don't know why the premium is so high. If for instance I had a twin brother, living next door and with a partner with a dr10 conviction, doing my same job, my very same miles and starting his insurance today....he would pay less than half of what I pay now.
This is it, I hope to find help from any of yous.
Have a nice day!
Francesco

dunstonh

My insurance has gone up quite a bit...from 55£ to 179£.

Is the £179 including admin charge? A lot of admin charges are in the £50 range nowadays so the premium may be £129 plus a one of £50.

The lady at the phone just told me that this is "what our system says". I am lost and I don't know why the premium is so high.

The lady on the phone won't know how insurance pricing works or why. if she did, she would not be on the phone.

Insurance is priced on risk and different companies have different views on risk based on their claims experience and quality of their database. Some insurers focus on certain target markets and price well for those but purposely price with an uncompetitive quote outside of that target market. A W plate punto would almost certainly have little value
be written off even with a minor claim. So, most of the cost is for providing 3rd party cover etc. The 02 focus may be repairable with minor damage and less likely to be written off. So, you have that third party cover and increased cost of your own vehicle as well.

Insurance rip off???

Where?

kabul76

dunstonh wrote: »

Is the £179 including admin charge? A lot of admin charges are in the £50 range nowadays so the premium may be £129 plus a one of £50.

First of all thank you very much for taking time to answer my questions.

Unfortunately not....I have my last 3 instalments at 179£ each. The lady didn't mention any admin charge and in my last letter from them didn't show anything about it.

I realize also that I have not been clear on my post. Sorry about that!

The premium for my hypothetical twin brother with exactly my same details of around 1000£ per year (and mine of around 2000£!!!) is based on the same insurer (Octagon)....for this reason I am feeling ripped off. Quite a bit

Thanks again

TBagpuss

I can't explain the 'twin brother' scenario but part of the hike may be because it is a new-to-you car so they take into account that you are driving a car you are less familiar with.

I recently changed cars. When I got quotes online, based on the Reg. number, the quotes were based on me having had the car for several years (I assume they were looking at the last date it had changed hands, and obviously at the point I was getting quotes, it had not yet been transferred to me) I had to manually adjust for this as it wasn't immediately obvious.

It made a difference of about £120 on insurance of around £420 on the policy I actually bought - on some of the quotes the difference was bigger.

I was in the position of buying new (as my old car was written off 2 weeks before the insurance was due for renewal, so I was starting a new policy rather than adjusting an old one)

fred7777

It's simply that as you are paying by instalments (monthly) they know they can charge you a hefty cancellation fee if you cancel the policy before your term is up so they can also charge you a hefty fee for any changes you make to the policy.

You are being ripped off and unfortunately there isn't anything you can do but look for a better deal when your year is up.

kabul76

fred7777 wrote: »

It's simply that as you are paying by instalments (monthly) they know they can charge you a hefty cancellation fee if you cancel the policy before your term is up so they can also charge you a hefty fee for any changes you make to the policy.

You are being ripped off and unfortunately there isn't anything you can do but look for a better deal when your year is up.

I am thinking just that! I don't think there is any kind of "watchdog" of any sort to look after this matter. I need to pay and shut up!!! Unbelievable!

kabul76

TBagpuss wrote: »

I can't explain the 'twin brother' scenario but part of the hike may be because it is a new-to-you car so they take into account that you are driving a car you are less familiar with.

Hi, thanks for your answer, the twin brother scenario is this:
both with the same details, car, job, partner with DR10 offence. The only difference is this: he is starting a new insurance and needs to pay 80£ in monthly instalments while me, just swapping car and moving next door to him I need to pay the equivalent of 179£ a month.

....and I don't see any difference between a Punto and a Focus...apart from less reliability of the first one

Thanks again!

nobbysn*ts

About the same price then? 3 months at £125 a month more, or 12 months at £25. give or take a few quid for the mid term change fee.

kabul76

Hi, thanks to all of you for your answers. It is appalling anyway that insurance companies can do this in such a civilized country. No customers protection whatsoever...so much to learn from other countries!
Thanks again guys!!!

dunstonh

No customers protection whatsoever...so much to learn from other countries!

There is a lot of consumer protection and the UK offers more than most countries.

A lot of ex-pats fall foul of this when they are in other countries and expect UK standards but don't get them.

In the case of the price difference, a number of providers operate heavy year one discounting and then phase that out over a period. So, new pricing can be lower for existing. Maybe that is what is happening here.

whatmichaelsays

kabul76 wrote: »

Hi, thanks for your answer, the twin brother scenario is this:
both with the same details, car, job, partner with DR10 offence. The only difference is this: he is starting a new insurance and needs to pay 80£ in monthly instalments while me, just swapping car and moving next door to him I need to pay the equivalent of 179£ a month.

....and I don't see any difference between a Punto and a Focus...apart from less reliability of the first one

Thanks again!

Octagon is a broker, not an insurer - this is important to explain the situation you are in

When you approach Octagon (or any broker) as a new customer, it searches all of the insurers on its books for the lowest quote. However, when you make a change mid-term, it will only query the insurer that you are actually with originally.

So if you are with insurer A, who happens to view a Ford Focus and/or your new postcode as a higher risk than insurer B, you will pay more - because you are stuck with insurer A for the rest of your term. However, if you are a brand new customer, Octagon will offer you a quote from insurer B, because that is probably the cheapest quote.

Ultimately, you agreed a 12 month policy for your Punto (paying monthly is irrelevant to that point). That locks you into that particular insurer - and whatever underwriting criteria they use - for 12 months. You're getting cheaper quotes online because you are asking the whole insurance market - not just one insurer.