Absurd quotes for occupation change

thomas812

Hey all,

I am looking for quotes for my car insurance,
I am currently paying £860 a year for a Ford Fiesta ST-2 at 19 years of age, no claims and £250 excess with one additional driver (mother) - No claims or convictions on both of us.

I just landed a new job, as an IT Apprenticeship and just looking at quotes out of curiosity.
I am using various sites, but mainly comparethemarket
The ONLY thing I am changing in these quotes is my occupation, nothing else.

Quote 1:
Occupation - Student living at home - £900 (roughly what im paying now)

Quote 2:
Occupation - IT Apprenticeship at a design consultancy - £1700

Quote 3: (for when/if I pass my apprenticeship)
Occupation - IT Technician at a design consultancy - £2300

Quote 4: (Purely as a random test)
Occupation - Nurse for NHS - £1300

Quote 5: (Old occupation)
Occupation - Retail Customer Assistant - £860

As you can see, the prices are changing drastically as I change my occupation... which in my opinion is really unfair and absurd.

Is there any way to avoid this as much as possible or do you think getting onto the phone to them would sort it all out telling them that it is outrageous that they're charging me over £1000 more just because of a job change yet nothing else has changed?

How truthful do you need to be when it comes to insurance occupations? I know lying can cause your insurance to be voided, however this is ridiculous.
Has anyone else had this problem and how did you get around it?

My only explanation is that they assume I will be making more money, thus charge me more.. But C'mon!

Thanks!

Aretnap

thomas812 wrote: »

Is there any way to avoid this as much as possible or do you think getting onto the phone to them would sort it all out telling them that it is outrageous that they're charging me over £1000 more just because of a job change yet nothing else has changed?

You mean, if you phone then up and tell them that you don't approve of their pricing model, will they offer you a completely different price instead? I guess the worst that can happen is that they say no...

How truthful do you need to be when it comes to insurance occupations? I know lying can cause your insurance to be voided...

I think you answer your own question here.

If there is more than one description on the menu which can reasonably and truthfully be used to describe your job then you can put down either. However if you lie about your occupation, or 'stretch the truth' beyond what a disinterested person would consider honest and accurate, in order to get a cheaper premium then you risk having your policy voided and might as well not insure your car at all.

My only explanation is that they assume I will be making more money, thus charge me more.!

That may be part of it. For much the same reason flights are cheaper if your stay includes a Saturday night than if it doesn't - leisure travellers are more price sensitive than business ones.

However occupation also is a significant rating factor in itself. Think of whether you would prefer to insure a vicar or a footballer as a simple example of why.

Then add in the fact that in many cases occupation is essentially a proxy for gender. It is illegal to charge men more than women these days, in spite of the fact that men (particularly young men) have far more serious accidents than women. However it is still legal to charge bricklayers more than nurses, or Subaru drivers more than people who drive pink Minis. IT is still a mostly male profession, so it would not surprise me at all if young IT workers had a higher accident rate than young nurses, or other female dominated jobs.

thomas812

Aretnap wrote: »

You mean, if you phone then up and tell them that you don't approve of their pricing model, will they offer you a completely different price instead? I guess the worst that can happen is that they say no...

Well, yes. It's called negotiating and obviously I understand it's a completely different sector, however they want more customers, so they will be competitive on pricing. I've had to do it with various phone contracts, broadband and landline too. Just have to be firm with them.

Then add in the fact that in many cases occupation is essentially a proxy for gender. It is illegal to charge men more than women these days, in spite of the fact that men (particularly young men) have far more serious accidents than women. However it is still legal to charge bricklayers more than nurses, or Subaru drivers more than people who drive pink Minis. IT is still a mostly male profession, so it would not surprise me at all if young IT workers had a higher accident rate than young nurses, or other female dominated jobs.

That is a very good point, however over a £1000 increase? That seems a little unfair, but I guess that's life. Luckily, my insurance doesn't run out until May next year, so possibly would be able to get it cheaper then, or as I will still be in the apprenticeship, use that as my occupation for another year.

But I understand your points, all valid.
Insurance is just one of those things with so many variables that can dramatically effect the pricing

I've just gone and edited my current insurance quote online and done an online quote and they've said it'd be roughly the same price, which the comparison sight said it was £2300 instead of £860..Interesting. :rotfl:

in_my_wellies

Aretnap wrote: »

Think of whether you would prefer to insure a vicar or a footballer as a simple example of why.

Then add in the fact that in many cases occupation is essentially a proxy for gender. It is illegal to charge men more than women these days, in spite of the fact that men (particularly young men) have far more serious accidents than women. However it is still legal to charge bricklayers more than nurses, or Subaru drivers more than people who drive pink Minis. IT is still a mostly male profession, so it would not surprise me at all if young IT workers had a higher accident rate than young nurses, or other female dominated jobs.

I agree with all you are saying but don't understand the following. My son didn't own a car. He left uni, bought a car and began a new job in the motor racing industry. He had also moved into lodgings. He thought his policy would be sky high but when he tried alternatives like designer, engineer, etc., these were all higher.

Takmon

thomas812 wrote: »

I am using various sites, but mainly comparethemarket
The ONLY thing I am changing in these quotes is my my occupation, nothing else.

So your using your real name, address etc and getting different quotes with completely different occupations?. This will most likely flag up as you possibly attempting insurance fraud to get the lowest price, which may explain some of the high pricing.

It's not a good idea to do this with your real details, so hopefully your using made up details similar to your own to obtain the quotes.

molerat

I wonder what is causing the problem, Apprentice, IT or Design Consultancy - it may be down to covering the risk of driving with all that white powder up your nose :eek: Do you need to be that specific ?

System

Takmon wrote: »

This will most likely flag up as you possibly attempting insurance fraud to get the lowest price, which may explain some of the high pricing.

They don't seem to take insurance fraud very seriously then. You mean if you pay them £1000 they will agree to overlook it and insure you anyway?

Takmon

Clifford_Pope wrote: »

They don't seem to take insurance fraud very seriously then. You mean if you pay them £1000 they will agree to overlook it and insure you anyway?

No :rotfl:

It could be higher due to to the cost of the extra checks they will need to carry out if they insure you. But i have seen this myself when doing dummy quotes and changing certain details repeatedly it does increase the price.