Why does my name affect my insurance?

itsnathanhere

I've just done my first car insurance renewal. Been with admiral for a year, told them I was leaving because their new quote was £2,400 (which is actually more than I was paying the year before!) and I was getting quotes of £900 elsewhere (including Admiral...). The lady over the phone was doing her best to match the price to the one on the comparison site, but something went a bit wrong.

My surname has an apostrophe, and a lot of websites won't let you enter apostrophes, so I had to enter my surname without it. When the Admiral lady matched my quote and was able to include an apostrophe, it shot up from £900 to £1300 on the comparison site because they could 'track my history'.

Two questions:

• If the details I've entered in the comparison site are the same, why does my name make a difference?
• Are these figures normal for a 25 year old firefighter with a year's no claims bonus, driving a 1.6 Skoda?!

I've never been in an accident or made a claim in any way on my insurance. So what could they get from my 'history' that makes a difference to my risk factor? Worth submitting a freedom of information request to see what details they hold on me?

Any help is appreciated!

[Deleted User]

itsnathanhere wrote: »

I
[*]Are these figures normal for a 25 year old firefighter with a year's no claims bonus, driving a 1.6 Skoda?!
[/LIST]

Yes. They look spot on.

itsnathanhere

Thanks! Reading back it looks like I was having a moan - just wanted to make sure I wasn't being a plonker

Trentenders

Take the apostrophe off again(?).

eddddy

itsnathanhere wrote: »

When the Admiral lady matched my quote and was able to include an apostrophe, it shot up from £900 to £1300 on the comparison site because they could 'track my history'.

itsnathanhere wrote: »

So what could they get from my 'history' that makes a difference to my risk factor?

It's almost certainly this:

itsnathanhere wrote: »

Been with admiral for a year,..

Admiral probably offer new customers a discount in their first year (so you probably got that discount last year).

Once the system matched your name, it realised that you are not a new customer - so the 'new customer discount' was removed.

AnotherJoe

Just be a tart and move on, there is no loyalty.