What has happened to Co-op Insurance?

madkingsoup

I have had Co-op home insurance for a couple of years and they've been great. Very affordable, with a good policy. Never had to claim, thankfully.

And then...

My renewal quote came in with a 33% increase from £247.77 to £329.55.

I went on their website to see what a new customer is charged for exactly the same policy: £205.05.

Armed with this, I rang up. Apparently there are "factors" for this - all vague and unrelated to my home. When she mentioned local flood risk, I knew it was rubbish as I live in a zero flood risk area. Oh no, she backtracked, she meant general flood risk means everyone's premiums go up. Why then, I asked, is a new customer charged 37% less then what they wanted to charge me if the risk factors have increased since last year?

And then she started calling my by my partner's name (joint policyholder). I corrected her. She apologised.

I said that if the premium cannot be reduced then I will not be renewing. No can do, she said, and called me by my partner's name again.

I will forgive it once, but twice is just rude.

So to recap: massive price hike, inconsistent and woolly flannel given as reasons, cannot even call me by my name.

Clearly not interested in my money. Byeeeee. :mad:

BoGoF

You are going to be disappointed if you think you are going to find an insurer that doesn't do this.

molerat

My renewal with direct line went up from £227 last year to £266 this. Got on the phone and they reduced to £218 for exactly the same cover so some will play ball.

Aretnap

The woman who answers the phone will not have access to the underwriting algorithm and it's very unlikely that she has any idea why your premium has gone up - she just knows what the computer tells her. Hence the rather wooly answers.

As above most insurers give discounts to new customers, just as Netflix give you a months free trial, my gym gave me 15 months for the price of 12 when I signed up, and Sainsbury's recently gave me a voucher for 20% off my first online shop. There's no point getting outraged about it - you might as well complain about the weather. Just think of it as a subsidy that lazy people pay to keep premiums low for those of us who can be bothered to spend 20 minutes a year shopping around.

If you like the cover and think it's good value then there's probably nothing to stop you signing up as a new customer online. If you're not going to as part of a grandstanding statement about how terrible CoOp's pricing policy is then you're cutting off your nose to spite your face as it's odds on that the company you do end up signing up with will have much the same pricing model - especially if they're giving you good value as a new customer.