MSE News: Car and home insurers to be banned from charging existing customers more than newbies

Sandtree

Marvel1 said:
Aviva just did it now

New rules don't come in until next year.

Even then, saying free legal cover won't itself be an issue just as long as the total price for the person that bought last year is no more than yours.

csgohan4

One of the reasons why I handle my parents, insurance renewals due to being ripped off. Found out they were paying 500£ for home insurance, where on a comparison website, got it to under 100£, absolutely ripped off

But This doesn't change the fact you still need to shop around at renewal, other insurers new customer rates maybe better than your own insurer

Taylorbins

Despite changes coming into effect for Insurance companies in January 2022 for not offering better deals for new customers against existing, nothing changes and insurance companies are still scamming customers. 
Caravan and Motorhome Club Insurance (operated through Devitt Insurance) offered my renewal despite an additional 1 year NCB with an increase in premium. Despite the usual negotiation at the ideal timing to get the best deal (Martin's advice), they were adamant of an £100 increase for this years policy. Told them I did not want to renew. Requested the usual comparison sites and also a new quote from CMC Insurance making sure it was effective from the following day of my policy expiring. No surprise that the new quote was some £90 cheaper than their renewal quote. Under the terms of their policy it states this needed to be new business. However as a broker they had changed the insurance underwriter, therefore I am a new customer to the new broker and its a new policy so I believe this met all criteria. Agreed and arranged the policy, sent through proof of NCB and they accepted and put the policy in place. Some 1 month later they called me to say I had breached their policy and as I was an existing customer I was not entitled to the "New Customer Price & Discount" and that they now required a renewal price of £532 because I needed the policy immediately. £100 more than the renewal price and nearly £200 over what was quoted as a new customer. Absolutely shocking customer service and treatment for existing customers and one I will be referring to FSA. Buyer beware when dealing with the Caravan and Motorhome Insurance Company.

Sandtree

A caravan is not a car or traditional home insurance and so was outside of the scope of the new rules... you may live in your caravan and so consider it home but it isn't legally home insurance

MrFrugalFever

I can’t see how this can possibly be enforced or followed as we all know that insurance companies use individual circumstances to assess risk, the only way it would work is if you got a renewal through that was more expensive than if you joined them - but only you would know that by checking and comparing. It’s all too easy for them to use ‘risk’ as a get out of jail free card.

Also, for the love of god, I wish they would do away with their extortionate’administration’ or ‘cancellation’ fees.

Annemos

This resonates with a negative Trustpilot review I saw earlier today. 

Major retail shop. Offering home and contents renewal to an existing customer at about 600 pounds.

Customer went on a comparison site and said he found 20 quotes, like for like, and the average of those quotes was about 220 pounds. Same comparison site gave the major retail shop quote as about 260 pounds for a new customer. 

Customer feeling aggrieved. (Trustpilot reply says please contact us to discuss.)

The only thing I can think of is that maybe the renewal was with the old Insurer that does not work with the shop any more. Whereas the Comparison site is showing the new Insurer who has taken over the policies. 


Sandtree.... does absolutely EVERYTHING have to be the same (i.e. IDENTICAL  in every way), for quotes to be the same for an existing customer and a new one? 

Am I correct in thinking, that quite a few customers do not realise that when they renew through retail shops or "companies for the older people" etc etc, that underlying facts and parameters may have changed. And that will mean the price-match that people are expecting will not be fulfilled. 

Could it also be, that in this case, the new Insurer does not really want to take over the existing customers and would rather leave them with the old Insurer? (If the customer does not query it.)

(Hope I am making sense!) 

Sandtree

MrFrugalFever said:

I can’t see how this can possibly be enforced or followed as we all know that insurance companies use individual circumstances to assess risk, the only way it would work is if you got a renewal through that was more expensive than if you joined them - but only you would know that by checking and comparing. It’s all too easy for them to use ‘risk’ as a get out of jail free card.

Also, for the love of god, I wish they would do away with their extortionate’administration’ or ‘cancellation’ fees.

No, its very easy to see from their formula in their rating engine... obviously Joe Public cannot see that but the regulator can.

They can do away with fees but then they have to raise the premiums to compensate and given people will switch from a household/established name to an unknown startup based overseas to save £1 no one is going to move first. The regulator accepts its perfectly reasonable that those that make 10 changes a year carry the cost of that rather than the 70% that make no changes at all.

Annemos said:

This resonates with a negative Trustpilot review I saw earlier today. 

Major retail shop. Offering home and contents renewal to an existing customer at about 600 pounds.

Customer went on a comparison site and said he found 20 quotes, like for like, and the average of those quotes was about 220 pounds. Same comparison site gave the major retail shop quote as about 260 pounds for a new customer. 

Customer feeling aggrieved. (Trustpilot reply says please contact us to discuss.)

The only thing I can think of is that maybe the renewal was with the old Insurer that does not work with the shop any more. Whereas the Comparison site is showing the new Insurer who has taken over the policies. 


Sandtree.... does absolutely EVERYTHING have to be the same (i.e. IDENTICAL  in every way), for quotes to be the same for an existing customer and a new one? 

Am I correct in thinking, that quite a few customers do not realise that when they renew through retail shops or "companies for the older people" etc etc, that underlying facts and parameters may have changed. And that will mean the price-match that people are expecting will not be fulfilled. 

Could it also be, that in this case, the new Insurer does not really want to take over the existing customers and would rather leave them with the old Insurer? (If the customer does not query it.)

(Hope I am making sense!) 

The channel has to be the same too... so if they original bought over the phone (eg phoned up to renegotiate) and are now getting new quotes via the comparison site/aggregator then that is a different channel and even if everything else was identical they could still price different. In reality many insures sell a budget version of their product on comparison sites because customers via that channel are much more price sensitive than those buying over the phone.

Where a company that brands other's policies to themselves change their underwriter (which I think you are talking about) I have no idea if the new rules apply because its a renewal with Sage or Old Fogeys Insurance or if they are considered new customers because its gone from RSA to UKI (for example)... not been THAT close to the rules as haven't worked in consumer insurance underwriting for a few years.

Annemos

Thanks for making me laugh Sandtree. "Old Fogeys". 

Interesting your last paragraph..... that it is not quite clear. 

Sandtree

Annemos said:

Thanks for making me laugh Sandtree. "Old Fogeys". 

Interesting your last paragraph..... that it is not quite clear. 

For the avoidance of doubt, its not clear to me based on the light reading I've done. That isn't to say it isn't very clear if you actually sit down and read the rules end to end... I've more looked at the analysis that others have done and they dont go down to that level of nuance but instead predicting pricing impacts overall, discussing vulnerable customers and how the change will be positive to some groups but negative to others and should the FCA be doing something that they admit will be negative to a group of vulnerable customers etc.

[Deleted User]

It will mean a slightly different new policy every year, with the old one getting a big price hike.