Renewing existing car insurance

debpetestep

I received a renewal quote for my car insurance which was more than 40% more expensive than last year, when I called Hastings they offered me a £10 reduction. I used the Moneysupermarket tool, as well as Compare the Market to shop around. I found a considerably cheaper quote which I opted for. I contacted Hastings to confirm I would not be renewing, at this point they then offered me over £100 discount, when I asked how come this was now possible they did not have a plausible answer.

DullGreyGuy

debpetestep said:

I received a renewal quote for my car insurance which was more than 40% more expensive than last year, when I called Hastings they offered me a £10 reduction. I used the Moneysupermarket tool, as well as Compare the Market to shop around. I found a considerably cheaper quote which I opted for. I contacted Hastings to confirm I would not be renewing, at this point they then offered me over £100 discount, when I asked how come this was now possible they did not have a plausible answer.

What would you accept as plausible answer?

Either they:

A) reduced the cover, removed optional extras etc to reduce the price; or

sacrificed their commissions/sold below cost etc

Hastings is a broker, though their group includes an insurance entity that is on their panel. They have other revenue generating opportunities with customers and aren't personally on the hook for any poor claims experiences.

Ectophile

That seems to be what Hastings Direct does every year.  Eventually, I got fed up and switched elsewhere, even after Hastings Direct managed to undercut the other company by a few pence.

I ended up in a pointless argument with a telesales person who didn't want to cancel the renewal because they had beaten the other quote.

DullGreyGuy

Ectophile said:

That seems to be what Hastings Direct does every year.  Eventually, I got fed up and switched elsewhere, even after Hastings Direct managed to undercut the other company by a few pence.

I ended up in a pointless argument with a telesales person who didn't want to cancel the renewal because they had beaten the other quote.

You have to remember the regulations changed in 2022 such that for Home or Motor the price set for a renewing customer cannot be any higher than a new customer would get for the same product via the same distribution channel. 

There were plenty of companies that gave deep new customer discounts which naturally started dropping off at the first renewal but would often quickly be reapplied if you told them you had a better quote elsewhere. Certainly not the preserve of Hastings alone (plus as brokers the insurers are often the ones setting the price (or at least the base of the price)) but its activity that should have stopped. 

ROY47

Just had renewal documents for mine  and my wife's car

£608 for both cars

Did a quote on line with compare mkt

 exactly the same insurance  details  age ,mileage .. same excess, legal cover, courtesy car etc .

Nothing different to renewal quote 

same company came up on list   £208 cheaper   for both cars rang them and they matched compare mkt quote

This thing about not charging existing customers more than new is a farce

Will try the same next year

DullGreyGuy

You rang them up, so it's likely logged as a telephone sale. The rules allows insurers to differentiate by channel so next year your renewal quote must be no more expensive than a new business telephone quote but can be different to a quote via an aggregator

facade

DullGreyGuy said:

You rang them up, so it's likely logged as a telephone sale. The rules allows insurers to differentiate by channel so next year your renewal quote must be no more expensive than a new business telephone quote but can be different to a quote via an aggregator

That assumes that the new business and the returning customer are offered the exact same product, rather than products that appear to be the same but have slightly different  cover......

clued

I followed Martin's rules when renewing my insurance.  I live in London and am 89, and have had no claims or convictions.  The cheapest quote was 150% up on last year, and all 3 comparison sites came up with AXA.   There appears to be no alternative ; Direct Line, Saga, NFU and a broker all quoted 300% and more.  This seems like a conspiracy to eliminate older drivers!

p4nd

I’ve spoken to my insurance provider 3 times this week to discuss my renewal quote; the first guy was helpful and added “a discount” then was able to add a discount a second time. 

So he’s knocked off around 40 quid then another 40 quid. 

I called on Tuesday and spoke to someone else, a woman who was like getting blood out of a stone. Convo wasn’t going anywhere and was proper “computer says no”.

so I left it a few days. I then called back the day before the current term expires. Spoke to another person, a guy this time who seemed genuinely up beat and cheery…

was able to shave off another £70.

so in space of about a week I’ve saved £160 and seen my premium rise YOY by +12%.

Pays to be persistent!

DullGreyGuy

As long as you are clear on what they are doing to make the cuts... a former client got a lot of positive noises from customers when agents switched them from the Standard to Essentials policy and saved them 20%, until it came to there being a claim.