Car Insurance Article Discussion

Steve_xx

lisyloo wrote: »

I am happy to disagree about personal preferences.
However there are some facts (not opinions) that you are quite wrong about.

For example
1) Companies do not help themslevs. You voluntarily give them authorisation.
2) No-one if forced into anything. You voluntarily agree to their terms.
3) Some comapnies do reward loyalty (I've named 3 from personal experience).
4) Some people (that frequent these boards) do like auto-renewal. I am not one of them.
5) Choice is available.

These are FACTS

1. They do. I don't volunteer to let them help themselves. I have that feature imposed on me if I wish to have a particular policy

2. I refer you to my answer to question 1

3. Not in my experience

4. Agreed

5. ...and sometimes that choice is Hobson's

Whether or not they are "facts" does not makes them acceptable.

mikey72

lisyloo wrote: »

I am happy to disagree about personal preferences.
However there are some facts (not opinions) that you are quite wrong about.

For example
1) Companies do not help themslevs. You voluntarily give them authorisation.
2) No-one if forced into anything. You voluntarily agree to their terms.
3) Some comapnies do reward loyalty (I've named 3 from personal experience).
4) Some people (that frequent these boards) do like auto-renewal. I am not one of them.
5) Choice is available.

These are FACTS

They may be FACTS, but NOT TRUE facts I'm afraid.

Esure autorenew, or at least mine intends to try. And if you think rewading loyalty means being dearer on the auto renew, as opposed to buying new on line at a cheaper price, they fit that as well, as we've moved back and to for that very reason.

(Can't comment on your other two choices, I've never used them)

lynnpin

When I originally mentioned auto renewal it was because I was worried that it was going to be the norm for all insurers and if that is the case I believe it is wrong.

I spent a great deal of time combing through quotes and the policy I chose did not mention anything about auto renewal until I got to the payment stage so I checked others on my shortlist and found they also left it to the last minute before warning of this.

The company I was with last year mentioned nothing in my renewal papers in August but the warning of auto renewal suddenly appeared in a friend's renewal reminder in October with the same company.

I fear this is not going to go away.

mikey72

I wouldn't mind autorenwal if the insurer put their best price on it.
The fact you can get a much better price on-line with the same company, or that they will instantly reduce it when you phone to cancel shows it as the blatent attempt to fleece the customer that it is. (even with lisyloos recommended esure).
There should also be a cost free (totally cost free that is) cooling off period if the autorenew does go ahead, not another inflated cancellation charge, to allow for the mistakes that appear to get made, or the documents going astray.

Steve_xx

lynnpin wrote: »

When I originally mentioned auto renewal it was because I was worried that it was going to be the norm for all insurers and if that is the case I believe it is wrong.

I spent a great deal of time combing through quotes and the policy I chose did not mention anything about auto renewal until I got to the payment stage so I checked others on my shortlist and found they also left it to the last minute before warning of this.

The company I was with last year mentioned nothing in my renewal papers in August but the warning of auto renewal suddenly appeared in a friend's renewal reminder in October with the same company.

I fear this is not going to go away.

Yes I agree with you. This is nothing short of sharp practise and it's just anohter way of insurance companies helping themselves to your cash and securing future business in the name of supposedly just trying to be helpful in ensuring that you are not without insurance. In sending you a reminder letter a month before the due date, to my mind, would adequately fulfil their need to advertise the fact that they are willing too reinsure you.

At the very least there ought to be an optional selection available, as to whether one wishes to agree to continuous authority, when they offer a quote.

Steve_xx

mikey72 wrote: »

I wouldn't mind autorenwal if the insurer put their best price on it.
The fact you can get a much better price on-line with the same company, or that they will instantly reduce it when you phone to cancel shows it as the blatent attempt to fleece the customer that it is. (even with lisyloos recommended esure)

Yes, in my experience this is absolutely so. It is easily possible for a vehicle insurer to double the cost of it's original policy within a period of two years if you leave it unchecked.

lisyloo

I fear this is not going to go away.

Agreed.
So my advice is deal with it as it's here to stay.
record your dates and write a template letter to make it as easy as possible. Also watch out for home insurance, breakdown recovery, any other insurance and magazine subscriptions.
Campain and warn people if you like, write letters, but in the meantime you have to deal with it.

Yes, in my experience this is absolutely so. It is easily possible for a vehicle insurer to double the cost of it's original policy within a period of two years if you leave it unchecked.

Agreed, but this is nothing to do with autorenewal.
If don't auto-renew they will still double it.
They can't take your money by continuous authority but you'll still get the same quote.

mikey72

lisyloo wrote: »

Agreed.
So my advice is deal with it as it's here to stay.
record your dates and write a template letter to make it as easy as possible. Also watch out for home insurance, breakdown recovery, any other insurance and magazine subscriptions.
Campain and warn people if you like, write letters, but in the meantime you have to deal with it.



Agreed, but this is nothing to do with autorenewal.
If don't auto-renew they will still double it.
They can't take your money by continuous authority but you'll still get the same quote.

No answer to that really.
Either you're incredibly naive, or you haven't read any of the other posts, or both.

Steve_xx

lisyloo wrote: »

Agreed.
So my advice is deal with it as it's here to stay.
record your dates and write a template letter to make it as easy as possible. Also watch out for home insurance, breakdown recovery, any other insurance and magazine subscriptions.
Campain and warn people if you like, write letters, but in the meantime you have to deal with it.

Not necessarily. If it becomes too prolific the Office of Fair Trading might decide that it needs regulation.


Agreed, but this is nothing to do with autorenewal.
If don't auto-renew they will still double it.
They can't take your money by continuous authority but you'll still get the same quote.

No, this is not the case. On several occasions I have been able to reduce the cost substantially by making a phone call to the incumbent insurer. If it's done by continuous authority you may not notice what's happening. This is, of course, just what the insurer hopes for as it can then squeeze you until the pips come out.

lisyloo

Either you're incredibly naive, or you haven't read any of the other posts, or both.

Well there's some mis-understanding somewhere.
I am referring to the INITIAL renewal quote that you get from the insurer on paper which will be no different whether you are on auto-renewal or not.
Of course you can phone them up and haggle it down.
This applies whether you are on auto-renewal or not.

This issue is not related to auto-renewal.
You get the same inital quote either way and in both cases you can change it by taking action.

The only difference is that with auto renewal it will go through automatically if you don't read your post (which amazingly some people admit).
But by either system you will get the SAME quote initially on paper.
I agree you can haggele it down in both cases.

If it's done by continuous authority you may not notice what's happening.

Only if you don't bother making sure you're insured at renewal and don't bother reading your post either.
I knwo things very occassionally get lost in the post, which is why I would recommend keeping your own records.
You cannot rely on a computer system for something as important as this. Ultimately it's the drivers reposnsibility to make sure they are insured.

If you are the sort of person that doesn't notice what's happening does that mean you are going to not notice your polciy has ended and drive without insurance?
I think the answer has to be in some cases a resounding yes.