Car / home insurance increases - more than expected?

Mosh

TheBanker said:

Fortunately through changing insurers, I was able to get the price down. My car insurance was about 10% more than I paid last year, my home insurance is about 10% lower. Across both policies, shopping around has saved me about £400 so well worth doing. 

I wonder if we'll see an increase in uninsured drivers as a result of the rising costs?

Wish I could get my car / home down to those levels! I've shopped around and can't even come close

I wonder if insurance companies are trying to blame higher costs on uninsured drivers... which in turn is causing more uninsured drivers :-/

jackieblack

TheBanker said:

Both my car and home (b&c) insurances fell due in the last two months. Both had increased by about 60% compared to last year. I was expecting an increase due to inflation but not to that extent. Nothing about my circumstances has changed and I've not made any claims.

Fortunately through changing insurers, I was able to get the price down. My car insurance was about 10% more than I paid last year, my home insurance is about 10% lower. Across both policies, shopping around has saved me about £400 so well worth doing. 

Similar here. I phoned previous insurer when I got the massively increased home insurance renewal, having already got comparison quotes, and they basically said ‘sorry, nothing we can do’ (have previously always been able to negotiate to within ballpark of comparisons) so I went elsewhere and got same cover for around 10% cheaper than I paid last year.

When I got car renewal (same insurer, same massive increase) I didn’t even bother ringing them, just took new policy with same new insurer as home insurance (having previously got comparisons), again around 10% cheaper than last year.

I guess for some reason I’m no longer the target demographic for my previous insurer… 🤷🏻‍♀️

Mosh

jackieblack said:

home insurance renewal, having already got comparison quotes, and they basically said ‘sorry, nothing we can do’ (have previously always been able to negotiate to within ballpark of comparisons) so I went elsewhere and got same cover for around 10% cheaper than I paid last year.

When I got car renewal (same insurer, same massive increase) I didn’t even bother ringing them, just took new policy with same new insurer as home insurance (having previously got comparisons), again around 10% cheaper than last year.

Wish I could get mine cheaper. I've done all the shopping around, all the comparison sites. Car insurance is up £120-ish (40%) on last year with the "best" deals despite no claims, convictions, changes, etc. Home insurance up £45 (33%-ish) with the best deal (which is the current insurer). £90 more if I look at anywhere else. Once more, no changes, no claims, etc.

Sea_Shell

TheBanker said:

Both my car and home (b&c) insurances fell due in the last two months. Both had increased by about 60% compared to last year. I was expecting an increase due to inflation but not to that extent. Nothing about my circumstances has changed and I've not made any claims.

Fortunately through changing insurers, I was able to get the price down. My car insurance was about 10% more than I paid last year, my home insurance is about 10% lower. Across both policies, shopping around has saved me about £400 so well worth doing. 

I wonder if we'll see an increase in uninsured drivers as a result of the rising costs?

I think that's highly likely.

People NEED their cars, and even if they scrape together the premium, chances are costs will be cut elsewhere, leading to potentially more dangerous cars on the road.

Tyres being the obvious area where they'll be eeked out as long as possible and only changed once an MOT is due ☹️.

You'll always get those that win "traffic cop bingo".  No tax, insurance or MOT, or even a licence.    House!!!

Aristotle67

TheBanker said:

I wonder if we'll see an increase in uninsured drivers as a result of the rising costs?

Almost certainly; it is one of, if not the, most commonly committed offences in the UK. 

My car insurance renewal quote with AXA has gone up by 6%. An increase I could live with. However, If it sounds to good to be true.....

Sure enough, there is a significant change. The compulsory excess on the policy has increased from £0 to £200. The windscreen replacement increased from £75 to £115 and a repair from £15 to £25.

I suppose there are two ways of looking at this. With a no claims bonus of 16 years I am perhaps less likely to be make a claim this year (tempting fate!) and thus the increase in the excess may not effect me; therefore the premium increase is very competitive. On the other hand, it can be argued that it is in effect a stealth increase of £200 on the policy. I am looking around at present to see what others can offer.

It is always worth checking to see what has been added/removed/amended/adjusted on policies; especially in the current climate. 

DullGreyGuy

Aristotle67 said:

TheBanker said:

I wonder if we'll see an increase in uninsured drivers as a result of the rising costs?

Almost certainly; it is one of, if not the, most commonly committed offences in the UK. 

Love to know where you got that statistic from... vehicle offences in total are only the 5th most common types of crime in the UK after violence, theft, fraud and computer miss-use. Of that speeding is by far the most common vehicle offence. 

Aristotle67

DullGreyGuy said:

Love to know where you got that statistic from... vehicle offences in total are only the 5th most common types of crime in the UK after violence, theft, fraud and computer miss-use. Of that speeding is by far the most common vehicle offence. 

From various organisations concerned with motoring. It has been estimated that there are over 2 million drivers in the UK who do not have the required insurance to drive their vehicle, though a far smaller number (probably around 300,000) are caught each year. I will readily concede that there might be more than 2 million people that speed, though.

Recorded offences and offences committed but which go unrecorded throw up different sets of figures, of course, and it is very problematic using estimated numbers. That said, as an academic lawyer, I take the figures from the British Crime Survey with a very large pinch of salt. 

In any case it probably takes us off topic in the thread so perhaps I shouldn't have brought it up. 

Mosh

Dug around for ages, and got a couple of quotes which undercut Admiral by a small but noticeable margin. Went back to them and... nope. They'd rather lose a customer than take £25 off my (now £546 after discount - last year £392) premium. Given that they've upped my premium by such a vast sum (the most _by far_ in the 7 years I've been with them), I find this a little poor.

CSI_Yorkshire

I'm sure they are completely devastated to lose you rather than go against their actuarial advice.

DullGreyGuy

CSI_Yorkshire said:

I'm sure they are completely devastated to lose you rather than go against their actuarial advice.

Do Admiral have actuaries these days? Guess with Solvency II they must have.  Pre-SII they were always very proud of the fact they didnt have any and the analysis was done by statisticians rather than actuaries.