Car insurance nightmare. Please help!

Iceweasel

MattV wrote: »

They said that they could reinstate the policy but as I have updated my bank card I am no longer covered! Any other advice as to how I get my policy reinstated?

If they have offered to reinstate your policy then for goodness sake pay them asap.

I don't understand what a new bank card has to do with anything.

Did you change bank or bank account number too?

OddballJamie

force_ten wrote: »

if i am happy with the new premium then yes i do auto renew, but if not i will do a quote for new business online and then get them to match there own price

I also keep an eye on the rest of the market but there are some insurance providers that i wouldn't use even if they were half the money i pay now

More of a conscious decision then, when compared to the OPs blindly paying yearly.

I don't think I've ever had a renewal quote that's worked out cheaper, last years was close but then I lowered the excess to nothing and got £60 Quidco on top, coming out at £180 total.

OddballJamie

Iceweasel wrote: »

If they have offered to reinstate your policy then for goodness sake pay them asap.

I don't understand what a new bank card has to do with anything.

Did you change bank or bank account number too?

New bank card would produce a new Visa/Mastercard number.

Sounds like they were paying by continuous payment authority rather than Direct Debit.

Changing address is the big one too, insurance should have been made aware asap.

InsideInsurance

OddballJamie wrote: »

Seriously? I don't know a single person who does this.

I've been with the same company for 4 years but I always start up a fresh policy with Quidco and new customer discount.

29% sounds more plausible
http://www.gocompare.com/press-office/2014/08/auto-renewals-2014/

Based on your own link it would suggest the retention rate of autorenewal customer is going to be more than 29% as it says that 36% have been with their own insure for 3 or more years and so logically there will be those that have also been with them for 2 years on top of that.

Their stats also come from the Springboard Community and so you'd also have to question if these are representative of the whole market? Are these online only people already and thus more savvy about things like comparison sites or do they also phone pensioners that have never used a computer?

The rate will inevitably also vary between new brands that are making land grab so inevitably picking up promiscuous customers and those who are in the cash cow stage of their company cycle where they have a large back book of customers that have been with them for donkeys years.

My current client had a retention rate of 75% in 2011 and 73% in 2012 for Car insurance. Cant quickly spot what their rate was for last year. I know a prior client was around 86% but that was back in 2008. As both are large insurers in the car market either the world has changed massively in 18 months or the retention rates are higher than you imagine.

OddballJamie

InsideInsurance wrote: »

Based on your own link it would suggest the retention rate of autorenewal customer is going to be more than 29% as it says that 36% have been with their own insure for 3 or more years and so logically there will be those that have also been with them for 2 years on top of that.

Their stats also come from the Springboard Community and so you'd also have to question if these are representative of the whole market? Are these online only people already and thus more savvy about things like comparison sites or do they also phone pensioners that have never used a computer?

The rate will inevitably also vary between new brands that are making land grab so inevitably picking up promiscuous customers and those who are in the cash cow stage of their company cycle where they have a large back book of customers that have been with them for donkeys years.

My current client had a retention rate of 75% in 2011 and 73% in 2012 for Car insurance. Cant quickly spot what their rate was for last year. I know a prior client was around 86% but that was back in 2008. As both are large insurers in the car market either the world has changed massively in 18 months or the retention rates are higher than you imagine.

I'm not talking about retention rates, the subject is auto renew.

A decent sales team can get high retention simply by good negotiation when the customer calls to cancel.

What I'm getting at is renewal without any interaction between company and client. There's no way this is as high as 80%, 10-20 years ago maybe. Nowadays people are getting more savy with how it works and for the not so savy you can't get through an episode of Corrie without a meercat on the screen.

MattV

My policy started on the 1st Sept 14 and runs until 31st Aug 15. I have spoken to my bank today and they have informed me that my old card was valid until the 8th Sept. I received all new documents way before that date. I also started a new job, in a new part of the world in late August so changing my insurers was never going to happen this year. As for checking to see if the money went out, no I didnt. I bank online and things have been crazy with the new job so no opportunity to check. Why would i? I have the policy, schedule and letter from LV stating that I was insured. This is possibly why My car wasn't take away from me on Sunday. I have since found out that all of LVs computer crashed early in Sept and this delayed them taking the money from their customers account. If they hadn't have crashed the money would have just gone through and we would have no issues. I have now lodged a formal complaint with the company and my case has been reopened. I should find out the outcome in the next 24/48 hours.

OddballJamie

Still doesn't explain why you didn't tell them you moved.

MattV

By the way my new address is a higher risk than the old one. Chichester down to Taunton! I did not have a Direct debit as they took the payment in one hit using the long card number in the middle. This card stopped working on the 8th Sept, the policy started on the 1st. Legally, how much ti,r do they have to take this money? They have not offered to reinstate my old policy but simply offered me a new one which I have taken out as otherwise I would not be able to drive. However, I am pushing hard for them to reinstate my old policy so she I take my documents to the police station they will all be valid and I will face no further investigation! I am an honest working man, I have had my own named insurance since I was 17. Never had an issue before. The additional points could stop me from driving and the knock on effect could potentially be a loss of job. This whole situation is a nightmare and very stressful.

MattV

To be honest I thought I did update my policy with the new address. I have never had to use it so just didn't check

FiremanDave

MattV wrote: »

By the way my new address is a higher risk than the old one. Chichester down to Taunton! I did not have a Direct debit as they took the payment in one hit using the long card number in the middle. This card stopped working on the 8th Sept, the policy started on the 1st. Legally, how much ti,r do they have to take this money? They have not offered to reinstate my old policy but simply offered me a new one which I have taken out as otherwise I would not be able to drive. However, I am pushing hard for them to reinstate my old policy so she I take my documents to the police station they will all be valid and I will face no further investigation! I am an honest working man, I have had my own named insurance since I was 17. Never had an issue before. The additional points could stop me from driving and the knock on effect could potentially be a loss of job. This whole situation is a nightmare and very stressful.

Why will the additional points stop you driving, licence revocation?

If you have told the insurance company you are facing prosecution for no insurance. Their new policy may already account for your impending conviction. So I cannot see anything there to stop you driving.