Car Insurance renewal has gone up 431% from £462 last year to £1,992,with no claims or changes!

Bilo999

My First Post !

I know that when we get offers to renew car insurance, the renewal always needs to be checked for market competitiveness and also circa 21 days before renewal, but I have never seen an suggested renewal of just over 431 % increase.....

There has been no change at all in our circumstances just another year of extra no claims bonus to 14 years 

I know I can change excesses etc... and have been expert every year in keeping the price market competitive, using every trick going .... but even a quick market comparison check is making it look like at least just under £1000 !

Main driver is my wife.... an NHS Nurse!

Irony is about 20 years ago I was interviewed and featured in a BBC Watchdog Value for Money film when there were crazy car insurance hikes... but this is nothing like that .... this is in my experience unheard of! 

I read an article that some people were seeing 70% increases .... if only it was that low !

This is madness!

baser999

I believe all insurance premiums have gone up considerably over the last year. Last year I paid £485 for combined car and home policy (£330/£155) The renewal on 21 July would be £829 (£624/£205) so a 70% increase. We changed the car in April but there was only a very small difference to pay so assumed the old and new cars were like-for-like as far as annual premiums were concerned. Like you I’ve been through the usual comparison sites and although I can get renewal figures down slightly, there are generally significant increases across the board. 

Looks like it’s down to negotiating with present insurers 🤞
If your wife’s a nurse, have you tried the sites offering NHS discounts? 

Bilo999

baser999 said:

If your wife’s a nurse, have you tried the sites offering NHS discounts? 

They will be on the list to check.... but sadly have never been competitive at all in the past... we don't go for the cheapest insurance, we aim for Defaqto 5 star ratings... as usually there is very little difference.

But the main point is .... 431 % increase !

MorningcoffeeIV

It's actually a 331% increase.

But increases in costs across the board will be a large part of it, as well as just naturally moving between risk categories.

cymruchris

Bilo999 said:

My First Post !

I know that when we get offers to renew car insurance, the renewal always needs to be checked for market competitiveness and also circa 21 days before renewal, but I have never seen an suggested renewal of just over 431 % increase.....

There has been no change at all in our circumstances just another year of extra no claims bonus to 14 years 

I know I can change excesses etc... and have been expert every year in keeping the price market competitive, using every trick going .... but even a quick market comparison check is making it look like at least just under £1000 !

Main driver is my wife.... an NHS Nurse!

Irony is about 20 years ago I was interviewed and featured in a BBC Watchdog Value for Money film when there were crazy car insurance hikes... but this is nothing like that .... this is in my experience unheard of! 

I read an article that some people were seeing 70% increases .... if only it was that low !

This is madness!

What's the vehicle? As much as your personal circumstances haven't changed - there are many external factors that influence the price you're quoted. Your example does seem extreme however.

It may be that the vehicle that's being insured has had a markedly upsurge in levels of theft - it could be your local area post code has seen huge numbers of claims - it could be lots of things.

Run the details through a few insurance companies to see what quotes you get compared to the 'renewal' to see what others are offering you.

Bilo999

MorningcoffeeIV said:

It's actually a 331% increase.

But increases in costs across the board will be a large part of it, as well as just naturally moving between risk categories.

I was not totally sure of the exact headline percentage (depending how you work the percentage out)... but 331% or 431% is still more than 70%

We have had this vehicle for about 4 years and the premiums have always remained about the same, and basically had a lesser version for about 4 years before that. 

For almost all that time, each year the AA (current broker) have always been market competitive after a call, after lots of research as we have another vehicle insured with them and are AA members.

I've also just noticed the excess has gone from £100 to £450 !

Shock is maybe too strong a description... but I'm lost for words as such a change 

Bilo999

cymruchris said:

What's the vehicle? As much as your personal circumstances haven't changed - there are many external factors that influence the price you're quoted. Your example does seem extreme however.

It may be that the vehicle that's being insured has had a markedly upsurge in levels of theft - it could be your local area post code has seen huge numbers of claims - it could be lots of things.

Run the details through a few insurance companies to see what quotes you get compared to the 'renewal' to see what others are offering you.

I'm aware that the vehicle does feature as a quite "stealable" brand (Land Rover Discovery Sport) but it's not their Range Rover that are the most desirable... 

I have had a quick search but know it's not quite the right time yet (too early) to get the right / best quotes

Novice_investor101

It may well be the vehicle. My employer’s security team actually sent an email round all our employees (nationwide) warning about the potential for car thefts & highlighted Land Rover’s as particular targets. 

Bilo999

We do live in a lowish crime area, in a quite close.... 

Funny thing has been over the years, it has always been cheaper to insure being parked on the drive rather than in the garage, as there was more perceived risk of it being damaged by falling objects in the garage than being stolen off the drive !

cymruchris

Bilo999 said:

cymruchris said:

What's the vehicle? As much as your personal circumstances haven't changed - there are many external factors that influence the price you're quoted. Your example does seem extreme however.

It may be that the vehicle that's being insured has had a markedly upsurge in levels of theft - it could be your local area post code has seen huge numbers of claims - it could be lots of things.

Run the details through a few insurance companies to see what quotes you get compared to the 'renewal' to see what others are offering you.

I'm aware that the vehicle does feature as a quite "stealable" brand (Land Rover Discovery Sport) but it's not their Range Rover that are the most desirable... 

I have had a quick search but know it's not quite the right time yet (too early) to get the right / best quotes

I had a feeling you were going to say Range Rover.

It may not be the 'top' stolen Range Rover - but the marque in general has been targetted what seems more significantly than any other. It's not a surprise that the quote is higher - but that doesn't stop you making comparisons. If you're going to keep the vehicle long-term (3+ years) it might be worth adding some decent additional security that could see a pay-back over the time you keep it.

It could be that the combination of the marque and the area of the country you live in have led to the extortionate quote. (Although cars are stolen everywhere, there are significant hotspots, so if you happen to be in a hotspot for Range Rovers - that'll all work against you, no matter how careful a driver you all are)

cymruchris

Bilo999 said:

We do live in a lowish crime area, in a quite close.... 

Funny thing has been over the years, it has always been cheaper to insure being parked on the drive rather than in the garage, as there was more perceived risk of it being damaged by falling objects in the garage than being stolen off the drive !

You have to watch those falling objects in the garage!!!

It may be that it's a nearby area that's seen the upspike, and you're on the periphary. As the hotspot expands, you've been drawn into the risk calculations.

I know I'm only guessing here - but there's usually an underlying reason (aside from insurance company greed) for policies going up significantly - not that they'll ever tell you exactly why.

You could run a couple of enquiry quotes on similar non-Range-Rover vehicles just to see how they stack up based on your circumstances - Say a Volvo XC90/Audi Q5/BMW X5/Nissan X-trail - see how they come back in comparison.

(To be fair when I've been deciding which car to buy - and want to run a whole host of quotes - I use a 'junk mail' email address, use a similar actual address, and a made-up name with a similar date of birth in order to generate quotes - ensuring I tick the 'no contact' option on communication preferences - and the 'I haven't bought the car yet' box - it's always given me the ball-park figures that I wanted before making an application in my own details - which has always come out the same (to a few pennies anyway)).