Car insurance massive increase on address change

h3x3d

Hi, I drive a car worth around £900 and had secured a years insurance prior to moving house for about £200 (I've been driving for over 25 years).

I was shocked when I rang up to change my address to Belfast city and they quoted me £2500!  Surely there's something wrong with that!  The long and short of it is, a policy I paid in full 2 months ago, now has to be cancelled and that money lost. 

I understand that any changes in details can leas to premium increases, but that's ridiculous.  Has anyone ever come across such a price increase in a premium?  I suppose it's just another case of the citizens of Northern Ireland getting completely fleeced.

Sandtree

So are you currently in NI? If so I dont get your last point given you;ve been paying a tiny fraction of the average uk premium.

Alter_ego

Perhaps they foresee a possibility of some kind of disturbance in Belfast.

AdrianC

h3x3d said:

Hi, I drive a car worth around £900 and had secured a years insurance prior to moving house for about £200 (I've been driving for over 25 years).

I was shocked when I rang up to change my address to Belfast city and they quoted me £2500!  Surely there's something wrong with that!  The long and short of it is, a policy I paid in full 2 months ago, now has to be cancelled and that money lost. 

I understand that any changes in details can leas to premium increases, but that's ridiculous.  Has anyone ever come across such a price increase in a premium?  I suppose it's just another case of the citizens of Northern Ireland getting completely fleeced.

No, it's simply a case of your current insurer not wanting to insure people in that location. Such is their right.

Perhaps they don't want to cover NI at all.
Perhaps they already have too many customers in Belfast, and want to spread their risk geographically.
Perhaps they've had higher-than-average claims in that area.

I presume you knew two months ago that you were likely to be relocating in the near future?

Flight3287462

OP where are you currently living?

But in any case Adrian is probably close to the mark, have you had other quotes yet?

BOWFER

A colleague's insurance recently doubled for the sake of moving 1.23 miles within Aberdeen.
It's not like the area he's moved to is much worse, any local would say they are equally dodgy.

user1977

h3x3d said:

a policy I paid in full 2 months ago, now has to be cancelled and that money lost. 

The entire premium? I'd normally expect a pro rata refund (less an admin charge).

h3x3d

Sandtree said:

So are you currently in NI? If so I dont get your last point given you;ve been paying a tiny fraction of the average uk premium.

Yeah, I am.  To be fair, I'm not aware of the average UK premium.  It's just the jump from £200/annum to £2500 (possibly in addition to the previous £200) which caught me off guard.  Maybe £2500 is the normal amount people in the rest of the UK pay for a 0.9L 17 year old car.

h3x3d

AdrianC said:

h3x3d said:

Hi, I drive a car worth around £900 and had secured a years insurance prior to moving house for about £200 (I've been driving for over 25 years).

I was shocked when I rang up to change my address to Belfast city and they quoted me £2500!  Surely there's something wrong with that!  The long and short of it is, a policy I paid in full 2 months ago, now has to be cancelled and that money lost. 

I understand that any changes in details can leas to premium increases, but that's ridiculous.  Has anyone ever come across such a price increase in a premium?  I suppose it's just another case of the citizens of Northern Ireland getting completely fleeced.

No, it's simply a case of your current insurer not wanting to insure people in that location. Such is their right.

Perhaps they don't want to cover NI at all.
Perhaps they already have too many customers in Belfast, and want to spread their risk geographically.
Perhaps they've had higher-than-average claims in that area.

I presume you knew two months ago that you were likely to be relocating in the near future?

Yeah, with lockdown as it was, I knew that at some point within several months, I'd relocate.  So on hindsight, paying for a few months would have been better.  That's ignorance on my part.  And you make good points.  I just wonder what the insurance for someone half my age with a real car would be!

h3x3d

Hunyani_Flight_825 said:

OP where are you currently living?

But in any case Adrian is probably close to the mark, have you had other quotes yet?

I'm in Belfast city.  I've been quoted £280 from fresh comparison engines using the new address.  ie > £2000 cheaper.

h3x3d

user1977 said:

h3x3d said:

a policy I paid in full 2 months ago, now has to be cancelled and that money lost. 

The entire premium? I'd normally expect a pro rata refund (less an admin charge).

That's what I was wondering.  Is there a right for an individual to be refunded?  The policy began in Feb, so that's 4 months into it.  Is it a case of buyer beware?  Or should I push for a partial refund?