Haggling renewal quote “mystery discount”?

p4nd

Why is renewing car insurance so mysterious? Why can’t it be like broadband?

Renewal quote email arrived, around £900. This is up from approx £650.

I rang up my provider (1st central) and spoke to someone who said they would see if there was “any discount” they could apply to my quote. Turns out… there was! And I was quoted £863.72, inc breakdown cover. 

I said I didn’t want the breakdown cover, what would it be without? 

“Higher… it’s a special package, I can’t just remove aspects”

hmm. 

I then asked if it was possible to round it down to £860 on the nose, as I found the number quoted “strange”.

I was then put on hold again, and then told it was my lucky day and that “the system” was letting the agent apply an additional discount. 

So, £860 you’re thinking? I know I was.

£813.79.

hmm. Again.

has anyone experience of this? I’ve got the new lower, random quote emailed across so I can renew this.

my question… just how much lower can I actually go with this? Can a mystery third discount be applied to get below 800?

At present I feel like they’re just plucking random numbers out of thin air. 

Many thanks!

AdeyPG

My broker's renewal quote for my classic car was, allegedly, 12% cheaper than last year - but was in fact the same price.

They claimed that I paid £171 last year when I actually paid £151. So I rang them, explained this and asked for a quote 12% cheaper than last year, which they agreed as it was their mistake.

They came back with a quote from another company of £132.76, but my excess would increase from £125 to £750.
I declined this on the basis that I have an agreed value on my car and that was too big a hit to take. After I said that I would not be renewing, I was asked to hold while they spoke to the underwriting team. Less than 2 minutes later I was offered a policy with my current insurer, same package (fully comp., 4000 miles, full breakdown cover, legal cover, £125 excess and agreed value) for a premium of £130.06. 

This is, in fact, £2.94 cheaper than the first policy I took out on the car with them with 8 years ago!!

Shows that it pays not to accept the first, or even second, quote they give you!

Bigphil1474

It's very weird but I don't think they actually have any rules when it comes to renewal offers. It appears to me that they have an absolute minimum price, but they offer above that until you negotiate and either reach that minimum figure or give up. I think they are all pretty much the same though.

I was with Tesco insurance a few years ago and the first renewal had gone up a few £ which was fine, the next year it went up by about 50%, so I called and they wouldn't offer any discounts so went elsewhere. A year later, Tesco emailed me with an offer to re-join them which was lower than what I paid the year before I left. I went to LV for a couple of years, and when their renewal quote was high, I contacted them and they dropped it right down to a similar level as the year before the first time, the next year they wouldn't budge.

I'm in my third year with Sheila's Wheels, and both renewals have been no more than a few £ higher than previous year, so stuck with them. Will see what happens in February. I've only paid £200 - £250 each year for the last 7 or 8 years so not a lot of leeway downwards. I have full NCB (no claim since 2001), always protect NCB, and always have Business Use class 1. 

HHarry

I’m a little surprised that you use Broadband as your comparion for transparent pricing.

Every 18 months I had to ring up Virgin Media and pretend I was cancelling my services in order to get a discount applied - which would be in the region of £30 or £40 a month.  Even my current Now contract involved a phone call at the end of the contract, where they could suddenly find another 10% discount to keep me.

Many companies do it - insurance, breakdown, broadband, Sky.  It’s part of their business model.  Sure, I’d like a fairer, more honest system where you just get the best price they can do, but that’s not how Capitalism works!

saajan_12

p4nd said:

Why is renewing car insurance so mysterious? Why can’t it be like broadband?

Its the same with broadband.. 
Current provider (A) £21 deal was expiring, and renewal offer was £23.
Called to ask if thats the best deal, and they immediately offered best and final @ £22
I said competition is cheaper, so I'll rather cancel. They found a special discount to absolutely final £21. 
However turned out I still had to go through the 30 days notice on the out of contract rate, which was super high and so switching was now not so bad. 

Alternative provider (B) had £20 on their website plus some installation costs. 
I abandoned the transaction, and they emailed me offering £19, which made it in line with the A's price. 
I asked if they could beat it to justify the hassle of switching, even to £18. They immediately offered 3x the speed and £14, vastly undercutting. 

DullGreyGuy

Bigphil1474 said:

It's very weird but I don't think they actually have any rules when it comes to renewal offers.

Since Jan 2022 there have been rules but they aren't as simple as the red top headlines would have lead people to believe. 

p4nd said:

my question… just how much lower can I actually go with this? Can a mystery third discount be applied to get below 800?

You have to remember 1st Central is an intermediary not an insurer. There is the potential for them to look to different insurers, look at different policy wordings, look at their commission level etc. All of which can potentially reduce the premium but some will also reduce the quality of cover. 

The days of dealing with direct insurers and phoning for big discounts has almost gone because of the reg changes but there is more scope of intermediaries.