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Car insurance unjust?
I'm after your thoughts/suggestions about this please.
My 33 year old son works in his home town of Telford and stays with us at least 1 night/week and often over weekends, when his girlfriend joins him. He spends the rest of the week with his partner and they have a rented flat in the centre of Birmingham. They intend to buy a property together shortly, probably somewhere between Telford and Birmingham. The majority of my sons time is spent in Telford and his gym, doctor, dentist etc are all there.
I have recently changed my car and I'm giving my son my old car, it's 11 years old and only worth £2,200, but it's a very reliable Citroen C5 estate. He's selling his current car privately. His flat has a secure, small underground private carpark and his workplace also has private parking.
In September I checked the cost of fully comp insurance for my son on the Citroen and found the best price was £824/year. Using the same details, but our Telford address, reduced this to £399. I tried this again yesterday and got prices of £1040 and £427. My son has been driving since he was 17 and has never had any claims, he's a very careful and safe driver. The +100% loading for having an address in Birmingham seems totally unfair to me, particularly when the insurance is half the value of the car. I'm searching for ways to improve on this. Using our home address in Telford does make a huge difference, but I'm worried that this would probably be illegal in the eys of the insurance companies (although their quotes seem like robbery to me).
If you have any ideas, I'd very much like to hear them and thank you for your input.
My 33 year old son works in his home town of Telford and stays with us at least 1 night/week and often over weekends, when his girlfriend joins him. He spends the rest of the week with his partner and they have a rented flat in the centre of Birmingham. They intend to buy a property together shortly, probably somewhere between Telford and Birmingham. The majority of my sons time is spent in Telford and his gym, doctor, dentist etc are all there.
I have recently changed my car and I'm giving my son my old car, it's 11 years old and only worth £2,200, but it's a very reliable Citroen C5 estate. He's selling his current car privately. His flat has a secure, small underground private carpark and his workplace also has private parking.
In September I checked the cost of fully comp insurance for my son on the Citroen and found the best price was £824/year. Using the same details, but our Telford address, reduced this to £399. I tried this again yesterday and got prices of £1040 and £427. My son has been driving since he was 17 and has never had any claims, he's a very careful and safe driver. The +100% loading for having an address in Birmingham seems totally unfair to me, particularly when the insurance is half the value of the car. I'm searching for ways to improve on this. Using our home address in Telford does make a huge difference, but I'm worried that this would probably be illegal in the eys of the insurance companies (although their quotes seem like robbery to me).
If you have any ideas, I'd very much like to hear them and thank you for your input.
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Comments
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Yes, saying he lives in Telford when he lives in Birmingham, to reduce his insurance premium, would be fraudulent...
Insurance in Brum is more expensive than in Telford for one simple reason. Claims are far higher there.
BTW, why are you doing this for him...? He's 33. He's an adult. He can find his own insurance...0 -
Shock horror Birmingham insurance costs more than Telford. Unless your son is dishonest then those are the prices.0
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Some aspects of underwriting appear transparent and other seem to be some sort of dark art. He will have to ensure the car at his home address. In that he has no choice. I have no clue why Birmingham should attract a premium that this that much higher - perhaps the stats indicate that it is a high risk area for theft or damage.
In reality, there is little you can do about it. You have already researched the market, the accumulation of NCB will have an impact in years to come and advance driving course can reduce premiums but basically you are stuck with whatever the premiums are.0 -
Unfortunately as the stats insurance companies use are affected by post code, and the level/type of claims from those post codes. I once moved 1.5 miles but that changed the first part of my post code. My insurance doubled.0
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I have no clue why Birmingham should attract a premium that this that much higher - perhaps the stats indicate that it is a high risk area for theft or damage.
A lot of crime, car jackings, crash for cash:
https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/how-nearly-every-car-thief-16565557
https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/scary-new-tactic-car-thieves-15556175
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-471719890 -
Lots of cars with temporarily malfunctioning brakelights and a dozen passengers in Birmingham.0
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EdGasketTheSecond wrote: »
Yeah, but is it all that bad? I've driven through some pretty dire parts (Moseley Road for example) but other areas don't seem so bad.0 -
Also the value of the car is irrelevant when comparing it to the premium.
Try adding you onto the policy, it may make it a little cheaper.0 -
Telfords a town, Birminghams a large city so more people to hit or be hit by. An 11 year old C5 estate wont be high on the car jackers list.0
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