Car Insurance Article Discussion

mikey72

Is that this ebike?
http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews90341.html

They charge for everything.
Legal Expenses (if applicable)
There is a charge of £17.70 included in all comprehensive premiums and £47.50 on all non-comprehensive premiums (both subject to Insurance Premium Tax if applicable) for Legal Expenses cover underwritten by IGI Insurance Company Limited.
Breakdown Assistance (if applicable)
There is a charge of £38 (subject to Insurance Premium Tax if applicable) included in all comprehensive premiums for breakdown assistance cover underwritten by Europ Assistance Insurance Limited.

Mid Term Changes to your policy will be subject to a £15 administration charge if the Additional Premium is over £20 or the Return Premium is over £25.
Refunds of less than £10 will not be allowed.

On cancellation of your annual policy when we receive your certificate of insurance you will be entitled to a refund on a pro rata basis for the period of insurance still remaining subject to you not having made a claim or a claim having been made against you during the period of cover. This will be less a cancellation charge of £75.
On cancellation of your Standard policy due to non receipt of copy driving licence and/or proof of NCD (No Claims Discount) on receipt of your certificate of insurance You will be entitled to a refund on a pro rata basis for the period of insurance still remaining subject to you not having made a claim or a claim having been made against you during the period of cover. This will be less a cancellation charge of £75
If you have a classic motorcycle policy and you cancel your policy having gone on cover, no refund of premium will be allowed.
We will charge £25 administration fee for the creation and release of duplicate documents and non standard letters.

(If it is them, I do believe you don't work in insurance though)

Steve_xx

lisyloo wrote: »

Go for it !!
I admire the spirit.

Thank you

If you wanted a bespoke wedding cake, bespoke suit or a bespoke holiday, then yes of course, if you are prepared to pay more than a mass produced item.
I'm not aware of bespoke insurance, so I think in the insurance context the answer would be no.

I'm surprised you are unaware of bespoke insurance as you portray to know a great deal about insurance otherwise.

No, my suggestion is that you write down the date, shop around and if necessary lapse the insurance by letter.

Yes

You can refuse particular insurance products - yes.
You cannot insist on particular product details such as terms and conditions - no.
Those are facts.

I think it is not beyond possibility to negotiate

Incorrect. (I've checked every year for my parents).
Some comapnies will not take you on as a new customer at an advanced age. The choice dwindles.
You existing company will generally keep you on.
That's my experience of doing it every year and I'm dealing with household names like Aviva and Dircect line.

I don't believe that in general an insurer will continue to offer you a policy when you attain a certain age without hiking the price. Your experience is the exception rather than the rule.

That's a wrong conclusion (about my beliefs).
They are capitalist money making businesses. I have never said they are benevolent. But they aren't all money grabbling lying scumbags either as you portray them.

You portray them to be benevolent , caring institiutions. Money grabbing they certainly are, lying scumbags are your own words, and not mine.

I've had quite reasonable service from companies that haven't tried to rip me off. For example my ebaike renewal this year was £102 - no pips squeaking here. They include legal & breakdown cover for that price and no amendement fees.

Good, long may your good experience continue. It's good to hear that you are a satisfied user of their services.

Don't try to pretend they are evil scumbags trying to rip everyone off for that price. £2 per week for insurance, legal and breakdown is an absolute bargain IMO.

Your words, not mine.

If that savings wasn't there I believe the admin costs would be passed on. They are a business, they have to make money.
They won't absorb those costs. They aren't benevolent you know
No problem with them making money at all. The problem is when they assume 30%+ increases year on year are acceptable.

Ok, but do you accept that your personal experience is perhaps not the whole picture?
I certainly accept that mine isn't complete.
As I said me ebike quote was £102 for the year, so I'm not being ripped off.

If you're happy, that's ok.

My parents have had good renewal quotes from Direct Line, so I don't believe all companies are ripping people off.
I accept your personal experience may be different, but I think you have to consider that other people's experience may be different. I certainly accept that my experience my not be universal or even common. I am open minded that people have different experiences, are you? You appear not to be.

I fully accept, and have said so here in my replies to you, that my comments are based on my own experience and/or perception of how the industry operates.

I do not seek to persuade anybody to my view nor dissuade anybody from theirs.

lisyloo

They charge for everything.

Hi Mikey,

Sorry I confused you (or anyone else).
What I meant was it's included in the price which I accept isn't the same as free (sorry I took that as read).

I always make changes below the threshold and never incurr fees, so in the context of my personal circumstances is free (although I accept your point that it's misleading to say it's free out of that context).
I have recently changed from this company.

I do believe you don't work in insurance though

Great. I'm glad we can accept we all genuinely have different views and opinions rather than anyone being biased or having a vested interest.

lisyloo

Hi Steve_XX,

I don't believe that in general an insurer will continue to offer you a policy when you attain a certain age without hiking the price. Your experience is the exception rather than the rule.

Oh yes, it has gone up and we accept that, I'm not denying hat.
We fully accept the price will rise when the risk (age related) increases.
But having done full searches each year I don't believe they are getting ripped off by staying with the same insurer. If they were then we would change the insurance.

It's funny but it does seem that my experience with insurers (over 25 years) of my husband, myself and more recently my parents, appears to be exceptional. Oh well, perhaps it is.

You portray them to be benevolent , caring institiutions.

That's not my belief, so that's your inference.
I don't believe they are either benevolent or caring.
But my experience over 25 years has that I've been treated fairly.
I've had a few minor claims in that time.
Damage was fixed pretty quickly, was given very nice hire car (saab) on last claim, haven't been penalised very much at all.
I've been treated very reasonably when making amendments as well.
I made a couple with ebike and was not charged fees and in one case got a refund.
My parents had a claim 4 years ago. A man ran into the road into their car (and wrote it off).
Despite the motorist not having the benefit of the doubt in this case, their insurer (NU at the time now Aviva) refuted a personal injury case that was a complete try on (the man was traiing greyhounds and running and at fault). I am fairly impressed by their stance as everyone told me the motorist would not get the benefit of the doubt in this case. I understand (from these forums) that service at Aviva has gone down hill but I was certinaly impressed with them. In fact at the end they refunded the excess out of their own pocket even though they never recovered it.

I'm sorry if my 25 years of experience is not representative, but I believe that I (and my family, friends and biking friends) have been treated pretty fairly to be honest.

I fully accept, and have said so here in my replies to you, that my comments are based on my own experience and/or perception of how the industry operates.

I do not seek to persuade anybody to my view nor dissuade anybody from theirs.

Good.
I accept that your experiences are different from mine xx
I also accept that the "truth" of the matter may not be refelected in my experience and that it's very hard for any of us to know the truth (unless we have worked in the industry for decades), so we need to keep an open mind on these matters.
My experience is not the be all and end all, but neither is yours.

I also consider the premiums I get to be very good value for money e.g. my bike is now £120 including legal, breakdown (including Europe). I actually think that's staggering value for money for both insurance and european level breakdown cover.

lynnpin

lisyloo wrote: »

But I have to wonder why you do business with the company if you don't trust them at all.

Unfortunately I left my insurance to the last day before renewing so I was pushed for time to chose another provider. From looking at the others on my shortlist (each time having to get to the point of paying before the small print of auto renewal was mentioned) I could see a trend I didn't like but had to chose one of them as there was no more time to search.

lisyloo

each time having to get to the point of paying before the small print of auto renewal was mentioned

I would check out whether this is correct, that they tell you afterwards. That doesn't seem right to me.

You need to be sure you haven't ticked a box that says "I agree to the terms and conditions" where it's included, but if they genuinely have not told you until afterwards, then that does not seem right.

lynnpin

Well they do tell you before you pay and not after but it's annoying you have to get that far into the process before finding out.

lisyloo

Well you don't have to. You could do some prior research and get information from a site like this.
Here's an example.
(I have no connection to this site, just trying to pass on some useful info).

http://www.matthewsguide.co.uk/LIN/churchill.php

The Direct Line Group have a habit of increasing compulsory excess at renewal without properly explaining or highligting this on the renewal notice. They also impose automatic renewal of policies without properly telling their client.

BTW - I certainly agree that what is described here (imposition without properly telling you) IS sharp practice and if you want to do something about it you should complain about it and write to the relevant authorities/regulators.

I think this webpage also highlights just how many factors there are to take into consideration and why I say you won't find your ideal policy off the shelf and you have to make trade-offs. You will have a very hard time IMO in getting a policy that suits all your desires (unless you want to pay over the odds for a bespoke one).

Quentin

That matthewsguide shouldn't be taken as gospel. You quote them having a go at Direct Line when in fact DL tell you from the outset about their automatic renewal policy in their policy document (condition 14):

14. Automatic renewal
We may automatically renew your policy on the renewal date. If we plan to automatically renew, we will let you know we are planning to do this before your cover ends together with sending you details of the renewal premium. If you do not want to renew this policy, you should let us know before the renewal date.

lisyloo

You quote them having a go at Direct Line when in fact DL tell you from the outset about their automatic renewal policy in their policy document (condition 14):

I agree with you Quentin.
Any information on the internet may be incorrect out of date or both.

The problem is that Lynn and Steve want to go DIY but want minimum work by having their priority features made clear up front.
The problem is that what is priority for them isn't for other people and it's not possible to put ALL the info in the headlines.

We may automatically renew your policy on the renewal date.

This does not tell me if my policy is renewable or not.
MAY means it might be or might not be.
I can't agree that this is clear about what's going to happen.
I get round by phoning them up to ask if it isn't clear to me and I don't consider that to be anything worth complaning about TBH.