Direct line vs Aviva car insurance

Scotbot

I have just had my renewal letter from direct line. £900 for a 5 yeasr old auris, driver over 55 3 yrs no claims. I have bee  insured for 4 years with them having returned from overseas so started with 0 no claims. Had minor bump in year 1 which was my fault

 One of the comparison sites starts at £250 with RAC or SAGA and Aviva quoted £350. 

Does direct Line seem expensive to other people?
Obvious a huge difference, anyone any experience with Aviva? 

tasticz

It changes all the time. Search and switch. 

Sandtree

Many insurers load the renewal quotes of loyal customers so that they can offer deep discounts to new customers... a practice the regulator is looking to stop. 

Have you tried doing a new quote on DL's website? Many arent sophisticated to spot the returning customer (or it causes issues with their marketing messages) and so enables you to get new business prices again.

Aviva sell under many brands and models and so how they are can vary a fair amount depending on your route in. Have had car insurance but never made a claim (dont currently have a car) and our home insurance is a M&S but underwritten by Aviva but again no claims made.

hollie.weimeraner

I have Aviva  multicar policies .  I pay £55 per month for my Auris Tourer and a Merc SLK.  They are by far the cheapest for me (Direct Line want nearly double).  They are a 5 star Defaqto insurance provider.  You only really find out how good they are when you claim.  However, you can manage your policy online and they do not charge admin fees to change details. I've been with tyhem a few years and if I haven't been able to amend the policy online I've rung them and they have done it without charge. I can't fault them. The Auris costs more than the Merc but that could be to do with the surge in Cat thefts.

daveyjp

Have been with Aviva and GA (same company) for many years.  DL always expensive for me.

Claim time is when you find out how good an insurance company is and my last claim was about 8 years ago with LV.  They were excellent, but year after despite no fault on my part renewal doubled.

Neil49

If you stay with the same company for that long then they will increase your quote by as much as they can get away with. 

The home page of the MSE site highlights the importance of shopping around and to do so about 23 days before your current policy expires. Here's the link

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2021/05/cheap-car-insurance-renewal-seven-year-low/

Three years ago I was with Saga but they bumped up the quote because I had been with them for 2 years so I switched to LV. This time around LV increased the quote by 15% so I did another search using the MSE guide and got a much better quote elsewhere. My choice was limited as my car has a panoramic sun roof and quite a few insurers either won't cover them or impose a high excess. 

Jaybee_16

Underwriting criteria changes. I always get online quotes at renewal time and for about six years Direct Line were the cheapest for me. Then one year they were about £100 dearer than other insurers so I moved to Saga, who used to be horrendously expensive but were suddenly the cheapest.

csgohan4

I was direct line for 2-3 years for my Auris and Aviva were always expensive, surprisingly for the first time, Aviva were cheaper than DL on the price comparison websites.

Loyalty no longer pays

mgfvvc

Scotbot said:

Does direct Line seem expensive to other people?

It can be. All insurers can be expensive if you don't fall into their "target" market. For me they were reasonably competitive for 4 years, but this year their renewal was expensive. They were more than double the cheapest comparison site quote and I have no idea why my premiums were hiked when the market trend is for lower premiums. They wouldn't offer me a competitive price, so my renewal is going to LV.

Scotbot said:
Obvious a huge difference, anyone any experience with Aviva? 

Aviva is a big reputable insurer. They were fine when I insured with them and their predecessors Commercial Union and General Accident. I have minimal experience of their claims process.