Car Insurance

Sandtree

NottinghamKnight said:

Sandtree said:

Biggus_Dickus said:

Sandtree said:

Biggus_Dickus said:

It does seem a bit incongruous that car insurance companies, given the same parameters, can offer such vastly different quotes, but that’s how it is, and twas ever thus;...Car insurance pricing is a black art, imho.                                                                                                   

Go to the bookies and ask for the odds of a dozen random events all occurring and you will see that Ladbrooks also offers different odds to William Hill... same difference, they've access to the same information but assess the odds differently.

Indeed they do,  but you rarely see a horse at 3/1 with Ladbrokes and 10/1 with William Hill;...however, car insurance quotes (for the same car) can vary hugely between the different companies, which I guess is the point of the OP’s thread starter

Horse racing isnt random enough though as you know there is one winner etc... motor insurance the probability of a claim in any year is less predictable and they cannot control the payout hence need a more compounded effect and so a fairer comparison would be combining less routine bets.

As others have mentioned however, odds are only one part of the equation (or the risk premium) but this can be adjusted to reflect other commercial considerations... I guess a bookies could decide they really want to get into betting on the Oscars and so offer preferential odds to try and attract customers... I am guessing betting rules however may stop them adjusting the odds based on how likely a customer is going to keep coming back to be a loyal customer.

Not sure whether betting rules allow them to adjust odds for individuals but if you start winning too often they'll ban you pretty quick. 

I've no idea on gambling laws either but certainly propensity modelling will identify customers who are likely to stick around and so may lower premiums in the first year or two and then creep them up after they're in (an activity the FCO is looking to ban)... not sure bookies can try to get you addicted with bonuses and then give you progressively worse odds to punish your loyalty if they identify you as the type that wont be shopping around.

[Deleted User]

ctal said:

I am with Churchill and took advice not to renew and looked for a new insurance company, filled all the person questions (which from now on will use fictitious names) and applied for a quote to LV Insurance, they quoted TWICE the amount that Churchill asked for - how can this be right, anyone looking for a renewal knows where not to go now.
Neil 

Never rule out your incumbent insurer before getting quotes. This year my current insurer (Admiral/Elephant) quoted £480 to renew, I went on all the comparison sites and got £426 as my lowest quote. Spoke to Admiral on the online chat and told them a porkie that my lowest comparison was £406 and the matched it without question!

(BTW that is the only lie I would make when applying for insurance!)

Sandtree

[Deleted User] said:
Never rule out your incumbent insurer before getting quotes. This year my current insurer (Admiral/Elephant) quoted £480 to renew, I went on all the comparison sites and got £426 as my lowest quote. Spoke to Admiral on the online chat and told them a porkie that my lowest comparison was £406 and the matched it without question!

(BTW that is the only lie I would make when applying for insurance!)

Some would argue that you missed out on a trick... a few years ago when my car insurance was with Admiral Group you didnt have to give any specifics but simply say you were shopping around and what was the best they could do and they would often slash 20% off or more.

"Without question" suggests there was more fat to cut!

[Deleted User]

Sandtree said:

[Deleted User] said:
Never rule out your incumbent insurer before getting quotes. This year my current insurer (Admiral/Elephant) quoted £480 to renew, I went on all the comparison sites and got £426 as my lowest quote. Spoke to Admiral on the online chat and told them a porkie that my lowest comparison was £406 and the matched it without question!

(BTW that is the only lie I would make when applying for insurance!)

Some would argue that you missed out on a trick... a few years ago when my car insurance was with Admiral Group you didnt have to give any specifics but simply say you were shopping around and what was the best they could do and they would often slash 20% off or more.

"Without question" suggests there was more fat to cut!

Yes, I thought that afterwards as a money saving addict. Wondered how much further I could have gone - possibly a bit more because they gave me 15%.

Will try better next time!

Sandtree

Deleted_User said:

Sandtree said:

Deleted_User said:
Never rule out your incumbent insurer before getting quotes. This year my current insurer (Admiral/Elephant) quoted £480 to renew, I went on all the comparison sites and got £426 as my lowest quote. Spoke to Admiral on the online chat and told them a porkie that my lowest comparison was £406 and the matched it without question!

(BTW that is the only lie I would make when applying for insurance!)

Some would argue that you missed out on a trick... a few years ago when my car insurance was with Admiral Group you didnt have to give any specifics but simply say you were shopping around and what was the best they could do and they would often slash 20% off or more.

"Without question" suggests there was more fat to cut!

Yes, I thought that afterwards as a money saving addict. Wondered how much further I could have gone - possibly a bit more because they gave me 15%.

Will try better next time!

Maybe sometime you'll evolve onto considering Value rather than price but you are a young padawan