Car Insurance thru the roof AXA NI Belfast

david39ni

Hi I am from Belfast and I have been with AXA Ni for a number of years,
I have had no accidents within 5 years and no claims they said they would charge me £530 
instead of the last years renewl price of £320 has other people exp this.
Trouble is I like AXANI and not sure of whom to move to instead some companies have really bad reviews online.

When I asked them for a valid reason behind this they said they wouldnt give me one and just blamed covid?

JJ_Egan

This year 2021 my Direct Line policy went up £35 .

England though not NI .

david39ni

Ended up going with Hughes Insurance they got me in at £349 instead of AXANI £530 so a good saving their of £181 which is better than nothing means can pay it off in full this year instead of per month so its a win for them

Lou76

I'm not sure about now, but 20 years (when I was still a student) I had a job at Kwik Fit insurance - it paid my beer money. 🥴

Anyway, back then we couldn't be beaten on price for NI customers.   Sadly I can't remember the underwriters then who were giving policies, or even if they're still around now.

Just posted to say, I could kind of understand it then, being mid 90s, but surely now a BT postcode doesn't still preclude you from the majority of underwriters? 

I'm guessing/hoping it's just the standard practice of hoping you'll be too lazy/loyal to change?

strawb_shortcake

Is it possible that some of the riots in Belfast earlier this year may have had a negative impact on insurance premiums??

Biscuit49

There are lots of reasons it could have been affected.

For example, while we know the effect our own claims or driving record can have on our insurance premiums, other peoples can too. So if your particular postcode had seen an increase in theft, accident claims, even one massive claim, then it could impact your premium even if you have a good record yourself.

The other thing I have seen impact premiums in NI, is crash for cash claims. I know a couple of years ago it was rife in certain areas of NI and some insurers were refusing to even cover in those areas.

Even something simple like your occupation, could be that for whatever reason they have had a bad experience of certain occupation types and upped your premium if you fall in that category. Insurers can rate on so many factors, even credit history now.

ripplyuk

It’s the NI protocol. From what I’ve been told, a lot of insurers are pulling out. We’re stuck in this limbo where we’re not fully EU but not fully U.K. anymore either so it’s too much red tape and hassle for them. I got a call from one of my insurers (not car insurance) and was told they can’t offer policies here anymore so mine will end at the renewal date. The knock on effect is that insurers who still offer cover here can increase prices as there’s less competition. 

CreditCardJunkie

This happens to me every year. Get your cheapest quote online and they should match it.

Biscuit49

CreditCardJunkie said:

This happens to me every year. Get your cheapest quote online and they should match it.

This is going to stop happening soon, or at least that is the intention of the FCA new legislation.

This is to stop Insurers offering cheaper prices to new customers than renewal customers. In theory a new customer should now receive the same quote as a renewal customer, or vice versa. The only potential difference would be loyalty discounts, meaning renewals could actually be cheaper.

I think some are expecting to see renewal prices reduce, but in reality as new business prices are heavily discounted to tempt a customer to insure, often at a loss, hoping to retain that business in future years, it could actually see new business prices pushed up to meet renewal prices rather than a reduction in renewal prices.

[Deleted User]

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skycatcher

Admiral renewal was £40 up on last year and when i rang them up I ended up getting it £10 cheaper than last year and I'm in NI