Car Insurance - Postcode change

DUTR

Aretnap wrote: »

Postcode is one of the biggest ratings factors for car insurance. Not sure why you'd expect your premium to reduce on moving to a less upmarket area but broadly speaking the opposite is true - wealthy areas have lower claims rates than poorer areas, and rural areas lower than urban areas.

The insurer's own attitudes make a difference too - each insurer has its own target market and the cheapest company for a leafy village in Cheshire won't necessarily be the most competitive for an urban part of Manchester. I have no idea what NFU's rating structure looks like, but the fact that they're the National Farmer's Union does make me wonder whether they really see Manchester as their core market.

You can make a complaint if you think you've been treated unfairly, and escalate it to the Ombudsman if you're not happy with the response. But if your only ground for complaint is that you think the price for the new location is too high then you are wasting your time - the ombudsman will not tell an insurer what price it should charge. If NFU are being unfair to you personally then you may have a chance - for example if they're treating you as a captive customer and trying to charge you more than they'd charge someone else living in the same postcode. But nothing you've said suggests that they're doing that.

In view of the size of the increase it is worth checking how much you'd get back if you cancel mid-term and consider whether it's worth switching to a new insurer now rather than waiting until renewal.

Broadly speaking maybe yes, however around in the Midlands, it would appear that the affluent areas are targetted for vehicle crime and burglary than the less affluent. After all there is more pickings than in a less affluent one.

trailingspouse

We moved from a nice house in the middle of nowhere to a house on a main road on the outskirts of Bradford. I fully expected the insurance to go up - but no, it went down. Because the first house had an Oldham postcode (we were nowhere near Oldham, not even in the same county!!), and the new house... doesn't.

teddysmum

My son reckoned that IT causes higher charges. He used to have two jobs one of which was in par time in IT and asking for quotes stating admin (his main job) gave lower quotes.

takman

teddysmum wrote: »

My son reckoned that IT causes higher charges. He used to have two jobs one of which was in par time in IT and asking for quotes stating admin (his main job) gave lower quotes.

The difference in prices can be found on the MSE job picker:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/insurance/car-insurance-job-picker/

It allows you to find the cheapest relevant job title.

mattk_180

Clifford_Pope wrote: »

As a matter of interest, has ANYONE ever had a staggering reduction in premium when changing post code? Yes, a £200 reduction from £500 to £300 annually moving about 3 miles away.

On average there should be no net change, because those going up will be balanced by those going down. Anyone believe that ? No

OP - As others have said, the insurer can charge what they like and moving to an M25 postcode they are likely going to be able to justify it.


NFU are quite particular with their postcode ratings and have very strict underwriting.


The only thing you can do is shop around. Be grateful that you are at renewal so don't have to wait long to move or suffer huge cancellation fees.