Car insurance more expensive when I use my surname

Riccimouse

I completely understand that, I'm still waiting for a response from the providers and ombudsman to confirm this but I did suspect it would have been because of this.

Its just really distressing me how my clean insurance history all the no claims I've worked towards are basically pointless as something which I was unaware of has basically made me a higher "risk"

Dispute me paying for insurance up front. These things should be assessed on an individual basis.

[Deleted User]

Customers don't want to pay the additional cost of an individual assessment.

Riccimouse

Also sorry. I've had the CCJ for over 2 years now and my premium has essentially doubled this time round. This was not an issue last year as the quotes I was getting were reasonable.

It's this year where the prices have increased. Nothing else has changed.

sevenhills

Riccimouse wrote: »

Each one of the companies I've contacted have stated that they cannot tell me the reason as to why the price the way they do. All they state is that this would put them at a disadvantage from there competitors.

It is illogical to think that they would discriminate on the name alone; I have read that when people compare numerous times with different information, they increase the premium because of suspected fraud.


They know who you are because of the cookies on your PC, you use different names and they think that is rather suspect.

Aretnap

If people who tick box A make more claims, on average, then people who tick box B, insurers will charge higher premiums. WHY people who tick box A make more claims doesn't really come into it. But you can speculate on why a CCJ or a poor credit history might be a sign of higher risk; various possible reasons include

(1) People with money problems are probably less likely to keep their cars well maintained - all that servicing costs money after all - so they're more likely to be driving dangerous, unroadworthy cars

(2) You are more likely to get a CCJ if you're the sort of person who doesn't deal with paperwork very well... and insurers don't like people who don't deal with paperwork very well. It's much harder to defend a claim from a third party if your customer won't answer your letters and give his side of the story. And they certainly don't want the sort of customer who takes three days to tell them that they've had an at-fault accident - it means that by the time they've contacted the third party to offer to provide a hire car, he's already got one through an accident management company who will bill your insurer at extortionate rates, for something they could have provided much more cheaply if they'd only had the opportunity sooner.


(3) Many of the big ratings factors, eg occupation, postcode, are largely markers for social class. So people with poor credit histories may be a higher risk for much the same reasons that manual workers have more accidents than professional/managerial workers, and peopel who live in inner cities make more claims than people in leafy suburbs. Why is that? Well, that gets you into a sort of social commentary and stereotyping that makes people uncomfortable, so it's probably best all round to say it's just down to statistics, as insurers do.

Riccimouse wrote: »

Dispute me paying for insurance up front. These things should be assessed on an individual basis.

Mass market insurance is more or less necessarily priced by a computer using a fairly small number of variables, without human intervention in individual cases. If you don't like that approach then as an alternative you could go to Lloyds of London where you can sit down for tea and biscuits with your underwriter, discuss your circumstances in detail with him, and see what he thinks of the risk you pose. However you would inevitably pay extra - a lot extra - for that sort of personalised service, so in practice nobody does it.

Riccimouse

Hi guys. I know there not being rasist. I was using over kill to be honest. However as it appears on paper it could be interpreted as them discriminating.

As for:(1) People with money problems are probably less likely to keep their cars well maintained - all that servicing costs money after all - so they're more likely to be driving dangerous, unroadworthy cars

All my cars are maintained to a high standard, and adhear to all the same MOT standards as everyone else's on the road.


(2) You are more likely to get a CCJ if you're the sort of person who doesn't deal with paperwork very well... and insurers don't like people who don't deal with paperwork very well. It's much harder to defend a claim from a third party if your customer won't answer your letters and give his side of the story. And they certainly don't want the sort of customer who takes three days to tell them that they've had an at-fault accident - it means that by the time they've contacted the third party to offer to provide a hire car, he's already got one through an accident management company who will bill your insurer at extortionate rates, for something they could have provided much more cheaply if they'd only had the opportunity sooner.

My CCJ was issued because all the letters went to an old address. I also struggle with organization due to dyslexia. I always try my absolute best to be organised :-)

I don't know what else I can do, what ever the reason something (most likely due to a CCJ) I find it incredibly unfair how a insurance providers are charging me more for something which I need to have buy law.

Hopefully the request ive made for my information will clarify the reason

Riccimouse

And as above the CCJ is not a new thing. I've had it over 2 years and it's only this renewal where my premium has essentially doubled, and my current provider won't or is unable to give me. A reason why.

Only by searching through comparison sites have I discovered that changing my surname gives me a much cheaper price.

Surly if these companies or insurance brokers quote prices they must have to be able to justify this price. Just like banks, car finance, mortgages can justify there interest rates based on credit history.

Just feel like I'm between a rock and a hard place trying to get answers as to why a legal mandatory "service" is unable to explain there pricing.

Crude example, if I hired a builder I'd expect him to be able to break down an invoice and tell me about the costs.

forgotmyname

Will your builder give you the costs of wastage, how many sections of brick will he waste? How much cement will they waste?

If he fits a steel girder will he tell you the weight of the metal he needs to trim off it, if its not a standard size?

No the builder just lumps certain items together like a garage list sundries on your service bill.

The builder wont tell you what discount he gets at each store he purchases from will he?

Dangermac

Riccimouse wrote: »

And as above the CCJ is not a new thing. I've had it over 2 years and it's only this renewal where my premium has essentially doubled, and my current provider won't or is unable to give me. A reason why.

Only by searching through comparison sites have I discovered that changing my surname gives me a much cheaper price.

Surly if these companies or insurance brokers quote prices they must have to be able to justify this price. Just like banks, car finance, mortgages can justify there interest rates based on credit history.

Just feel like I'm between a rock and a hard place trying to get answers as to why a legal mandatory "service" is unable to explain there pricing.

Crude example, if I hired a builder I'd expect him to be able to break down an invoice and tell me about the costs.

i can see where you're coming from, however, bear in mind that insurance quotations are predictions of what the future brings - not just in respect of you - but every policyholder that the insurer has - that's the essence of insurance (that the premiums of the many pay for the losses of the few)

So, in effect, the premium will include:

- Predictions of claims (not just from you)
- Operating costs and expenses (staff, premises etc)
- Liability incurred but not reported
- Insurance Premium Tax
- Insurer's reinsurance costs
- Claims inflation (have a read about the issue with Ogden tables)
- Profit (you will be amazed at how many insurers dont make an underwriting profit)

Your premium reflects your small piece of the insurer's jigsaw, and their calculation about how much they need to charge you to cover the above.

DM

Dean000000

It’s quite simply a risk profile thing.

It could be that there is a family with the same surname had 5 claims last year.... could even be a direct relation.... either way, they may see that people with your surname present a great risk.

I accept this doesn’t change your specific risk profile...but that’s not how it works...

For the same reason, I wouldn’t be surprised if people with the surname ‘bin-laden’ pay more for travel insurance....(not even saying that for jokes)

Point is it may not be you bringing the premium up, but other with the same or similar names.