Aviva ridiculous car insurance renewal quote

Currently with Aviva.  £432.33 previous year, £677.61 renewal quote.  That's a price hike of 64%.  They want almost £700 for a 7 year old car which sits on my driveway most of the time.  I've been a car insurance holder with them for approximately 3 years, and have held other policies for over 7 years, and this is the reward.

I tried calling them up, which in itself is almost impossible as you can't find a number, and when you do their voice assistant tries its best to disconnect you and direct you to their website.  When I eventually spoke to someone, they're talking in broken-english and they're completely disinterested and just tell me the price is what the price is.

Just wanting a rant as I'm absolutely disgusted at being mugged off by these racketeering companies. Whether it's energy firms or supermarket prices or now insurance companies, I feel like I'm being priced out of the country, 90% of my wages go to line some fat cat's pockets.
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Comments

  • Slinky
    Slinky Posts: 10,884 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    edited 27 March 2024 at 6:24PM
    I used a price comparison tool via the topcashback website, which gave me a much cheaper quote than my renewal, and there's £45 cashback coming my way in a few weeks.  Edit to say it may take a few weeks to come through, but both my OH and I got £40 cashback last year.


    Make £2025 in 2025
    Prolific £229.82, Octopoints £4.27, Topcashback £290.85, Tesco Clubcard challenges £60, Misc Sales £321, Airtime £10.
    Total £915.94/£2025 45.2%

    Make £2024 in 2024
    Prolific £907.37, Chase Intt £59.97, Chase roundup int £3.55, Chase CB £122.88, Roadkill £1.30, Octopus referral reward £50, Octopoints £70.46, Topcashback £112.03, Shopmium referral £3, Iceland bonus £4, Ipsos survey £20, Misc Sales £55.44
    Total £1410/£2024  70%

    Make £2023 in 2023  Total: £2606.33/£2023  128.8%



  • JosephK
    JosephK Posts: 268 Forumite
    Ninth Anniversary 100 Posts Name Dropper
    Fairly common level of increase for many companies lately- attributed largely to rocketing cost of repairs. My last renewal went up by similar percentage with a different company to Aviva. Managed to find equivalent cover elsewhere but still up by about a third
  • dunstonh
    dunstonh Posts: 119,090 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Currently with Aviva.  £432.33 previous year, £677.61 renewal quote.  That's a price hike of 64%.
    So, not particularly ridiculous then.

     They want almost £700 for a 7 year old car which sits on my driveway most of the time. 
    It doesn't matter if your car is 1 year old or 10 years old when you are in an accident and someone is killed or has life-changing injuries. 

    I've been a car insurance holder with them for approximately 3 years, and have held other policies for over 7 years, and this is the reward.
    Why do you think you need to be rewarded?

    I tried calling them up, which in itself is almost impossible as you can't find a number, and when you do their voice assistant tries its best to disconnect you and direct you to their website.  When I eventually spoke to someone, they're talking in broken-english and they're completely disinterested and just tell me the price is what the price is.
    You have quoted the price in your first paragraph.  So, they must have told you the price for you to give it to us.

    Just wanting a rant as I'm absolutely disgusted at being mugged off by these racketeering companies.
    If its racketeering, how do you explain them being loss making in recent years?

    Whether it's energy firms or supermarket prices or now insurance companies, I feel like I'm being priced out of the country, 90% of my wages go to line some fat cat's pockets.
    Rants are fine but you generally find they don't go down well here.   Most prefer discussion and explanation.

    You are doing well if 90% of your wages go to line some fat cat's pockets.  Over half of mine goes in tax before I even start.



    I am an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA). The comments I make are just my opinion and are for discussion purposes only. They are not financial advice and you should not treat them as such. If you feel an area discussed may be relevant to you, then please seek advice from an Independent Financial Adviser local to you.
  • daveyjp
    daveyjp Posts: 13,308 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Other insurance companies are available.
  • TELLIT01
    TELLIT01 Posts: 17,730 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary 10,000 Posts Name Dropper PPI Party Pooper
    Check other companies.  My old insurer wanted over £400 and I got insured for under £200 by shopping around.  All types of insurance have become significantly more expensive over the past couple of years.
  • Shedman
    Shedman Posts: 1,558 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    To offer a counterpoint I have been very pleased with Aviva recently.  

    The renewal for my 9 year old Ford Focus Estate went up by around 10% (£245 vs £220) and only 8% on the wife's small car so, given the overall increases that are being bandied around, we were very pleased. But even more surprising was that I replaced my Focus with a brand new £30k+ Hybrid SUV (insurance group 23E compared to 12E for the Focus) a week after renewal and there was no increase in premium at all when I was expecting at least a doubling in price if not more.  

    In addition our cycle policy covering our ebikes switched from Barclays to Aviva during last year and I was expecting quite a hike from the very low premium that Barclays charged of just £23 (for any number of bikes we owned up to a value of £1500 each one) and yet the Aviva renewal quote has just come through and its now just over £18 for the year.  
  • DullGreyGuy
    DullGreyGuy Posts: 17,141 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Second Anniversary Name Dropper
    Shedman said:
    I replaced my Focus with a brand new £30k+ Hybrid SUV (insurance group 23E compared to 12E for the Focus) a week after renewal and there was no increase in premium at all when I was expecting at least a doubling in price if not more.
    I really think that the "insurance group" information should be got rid of... it's a measure of the cost of repairing the car and certain features; it's NOT what insurers use to price policies. 

    I looked to replace a group 23 car with either a Mini Cooper S (group 28) or a Mercedes SL (group 50). The Mini would have increased my premiums by about £300 per year, the Mercedes reduced my insurance by circa £200 despite being much higher group, three times the value etc. 

    Insurers come up with their own views of cars, in practice a certain type of person likes a certain type of car. Hot hatches are often more expensive to insurer than luxury cars because even if they aren't a teenager anymore many who buy one still drive like they are one. Plus if you hit a pedestrian it doesn't tend to matter too much if it's a Fiesta or a Ferrari the bill for their lifetime of lost earnings etc will be the same. 
  • Lavendyr
    Lavendyr Posts: 2,605 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    I am insured with Aviva. It is really easy to find their number and get them on the phone. The voice assistant does offer online alternatives but the last few times I have phoned them, I've got through in a reasonable time (sub 15 mins) and have been helped quickly. I have also had good support through the chat function when some details on my insurance needed to be changed. I should also say that separate to the above, I am going through a motor insurance claim with them at the moment and they have been extremely helpful in addressing my queries. 

    Insurance prices are going up, but if you are unhappy with the renewal quote, do some shopping around - use MSE's recommended tools for starters - and then phone Aviva and see if they can match. 
  • BoGoF
    BoGoF Posts: 7,098 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Also pleased with my Aviva renewal quote - £336 last year and down to £332 this year. Was dreading my renewal quote based on comparison sites where was coming in at £700ish.
  • Devon_Scrooge
    Devon_Scrooge Posts: 10 Forumite
    Sixth Anniversary First Post
    12 month old thread I know.
    I've had a policy with Aviva for a few years and been happy with it.  It actually went down a little in price in 2024.
    I used to insure with Tesco, both the Wife and I had zero excess policies.  Tesco decided to slap an £800 excess on my policy (no changes, claims or convictions) so went with Aviva as they offered me a zero excess policy.
    Just had the quote for April 2025 renewal, and it's gone up by over 30% - a £58 increase.  Again, no change in ploicy or vehicle, no claims or convictions.  This is despite Martin saying beware - car insurance has fallen by an average of 16%.
    It's all very well people saying "shop around on the comparison sites" but it's not easy to find zero excess policies.
    Don't know whether to bite the bullet and just pay it, or look elsewhere (with some difficulty).
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