Insurance quote going from £800 to 950 to 1700!

SouthLondonUser

Every time I do an insurance quote, I use fake but realistic data to come up with indicative quotes. I do this because I don't want to be spammed by all the insurers (in my experience, opting out doesn't always work) and because I don't trust that insurance companies won't somehow use my quotes history against me. The 'fake' data is the address next door, a few months of difference in my DOB, etc.

The best quotes were all with Hastings essential, obtained in this chronological order:

Confused.com £850
CompareTheMarket: £970
GoCompare: £ 970

To be clear, all these 3 prices are for quotes with Hastings Essential.

I then went to Hastings Essential's website and got a quote for... £ 1,700!!!

How on Earth is any of this possible? I meticulously double checked that every single piece of information provided was absolutely identical. It doesn't make any sense. I understand prices can vary slightly from day to day, but this???

Pandilex

I expect because there are some people foolish enough to pay it. And those that aren't foolish enough will go to a price comparison site so it doesn't really matter anyway.

Equi

As said, because some people pay it. You get what you pay for in some cases..always read the small print.

But also, stop being silly and just use your own details.

[Deleted User]

Equi wrote: »

As said, because some people pay it. You get what you pay for in some cases..always read the small print.

But also, stop being silly and just use your own details.

Why do you think it's silly to get a dummy quote using different details?

It's a recommended way to get an idea of prices without causing problems for yourself.

EdGasketTheSecond

Using fake details doesn't work in my experience; the quotes are always much higher. Perhaps they can check who lives where to some extent, electoral role maybe? Or more likely the insurance database to check your history. And what about your poor neighbour having their address used for fake quotes??

AdrianC

treboeth wrote: »

Why do you think it's silly to get a dummy quote using different details?

Because insurers check that your identity and claimed previous history tie up with a variety of sources - public and proprietary - while calculating your premium. This is not the 1990s.

It's a recommended way to get an idea of prices without causing problems for yourself.

There are lots of "recommendations" made by people who don't actually understand what they're suggesting.

SouthLondonUser

It still doesn't explain the price difference, for quotes obtained just a few hours from each other.

Also, I don't understand how my neighbours would be affected. If I were to share a flat with a driver with a terrible driving history but with whom I have no financial connection, does that affect me? But, more importantly, are you saying that simply getting a quote will somehow affect drivers in the future? Could you please clarify?

Aylesbury_Duck

SouthLondonUser wrote: »

It still doesn't explain the price difference, for quotes obtained just a few hours from each other.

Also, I don't understand how my neighbours would be affected. If I were to share a flat with a driver with a terrible driving history but with whom I have no financial connection, does that affect me? But, more importantly, are you saying that simply getting a quote will somehow affect drivers in the future? Could you please clarify?

You're presumably using someone else's address to obtain dummy quotes? How can you be sure that doing so doesn't place some sort of marker on that address, pushing up genuine quotes from that address in future? Would you be happy to put your address on here so we can all obtain dummy insurance quotes using it, listing any claims we've had against your address?

Yes, sharing a flat with someone with a history of claims will probably affect you because postcodes are risk-assessed. Lots of claims from a particular postcode area suggests the policyholders in that area are higher-risk clients, therefore their premiums will be loaded accordingly.

elsien

As all your cheap quotes were via comparison websites, have you tried doing the same with your correct details instead of going direct to the insurer?

EdGasketTheSecond

SouthLondonUser wrote: »

It still doesn't explain the price difference, for quotes obtained just a few hours from each other.

Also, I don't understand how my neighbours would be affected. If I were to share a flat with a driver with a terrible driving history but with whom I have no financial connection, does that affect me? But, more importantly, are you saying that simply getting a quote will somehow affect drivers in the future? Could you please clarify?

Apparently dummy quotes can have consequences; see this thread:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5797314

Which is why in that thread I was arguing against insurers storing random data generated from internet quotes but seems I was shouted down so not everyone agrees.

iolanthe07

I would be really !!!!!! off if I discovered that my neighbour was using my address to get dummy insurance quotes. Who knows what the implications might be when I search for a genuine quote?