GoCompare Free Excess Cover

PennineLady

Hi guys,

Is Go Compare's "Excess Cover" really free as they advertise?.

I got some competitive quotes with their service yesterday and when I went to the Insurers Website to purchase I decided to change my Voluntary Excess from Zero to £200 (may as well because of the 'free' excess Cover) and the premium actually went up! I went back to the GoCompare sit & selected a higher voluntary excess and the result is the same, prices appear to increase!

In my mind the ONLY reason the premium increases is to accommodate the "Free" Excess cover.

If all rating factors remain the same, when customer selects to reduce the insurers liability by selecting a higher Voluntary Excess, surely the premium should come down?

I wish they would be more honest and upfront or at least explain exactly how it is possible, if all other rating factors stay the same, for premiums to GO UP when an increased voluntary excess is selected!

As it stands GoCompare are saying there is no additional cost to the excess cover as it's a little gift from them to us where they'll give £250 of our excess refunded on car insurance claims with no catch!

I hope some insurance experts on here can help me understand how premiums can go up if a higher voluntary excess is selected or is the price increase to pay for the 'free' excess cover? 

Many thanks!

born_again

Go Compare is only a comparison site, offering Excess cover. Not a insurance company.
So you pay the insurance company for the policy, not go compare.

Try other sites or direct with company that is offering insurance & see what they offer 👍

PennineLady

Thanks Born-again

I've done what you suggest both on GoCompare, then directly on the insurers website and the figures are the same. The more Voluntary Excess I select, the more I pay - doesn't make sense to me. 

I also rang (People's Choice - Part Of Hastings):

Quote With Nil Excess (£95 Comp Excess) £301.47
Quote With £250 Excess (Plus £95 Comp Excess) £304.50

I asked for an explanation and all I got from the gentleman was a Vol excess is not guaranteed to lower the premium

jjmmww1

PennineLady said:

Thanks Born-again

I've done what you suggest both on GoCompare, then directly on the insurers website and the figures are the same. The more Voluntary Excess I select, the more I pay - doesn't make sense to me. 

I also rang (People's Choice - Part Of Hastings):

Quote With Nil Excess (£95 Comp Excess) £301.47
Quote With £250 Excess (Plus £95 Comp Excess) £304.50

I asked for an explanation and all I got from the gentleman was a Vol excess is not guaranteed to lower the premium

Think your find this is the same with most insurances. When i redone my house insurance a few month ago it was £3 a month cheaper to have £7000 personal cover than it was to have £1000 

DullGreyGuy

PennineLady said:

Hi guys,

Is Go Compare's "Excess Cover" really free as they advertise?.

I got some competitive quotes with their service yesterday and when I went to the Insurers Website to purchase I decided to change my Voluntary Excess from Zero to £200 (may as well because of the 'free' excess Cover) and the premium actually went up! I went back to the GoCompare sit & selected a higher voluntary excess and the result is the same, prices appear to increase!

In my mind the ONLY reason the premium increases is to accommodate the "Free" Excess cover.

If all rating factors remain the same, when customer selects to reduce the insurers liability by selecting a higher Voluntary Excess, surely the premium should come down?

I wish they would be more honest and upfront or at least explain exactly how it is possible, if all other rating factors stay the same, for premiums to GO UP when an increased voluntary excess is selected!

As it stands GoCompare are saying there is no additional cost to the excess cover as it's a little gift from them to us where they'll give £250 of our excess refunded on car insurance claims with no catch!

I hope some insurance experts on here can help me understand how premiums can go up if a higher voluntary excess is selected or is the price increase to pay for the 'free' excess cover? 

This is the result of negative selection... most people just get a quote and buy it. So what type of people do you think go for TPFT or a £2,000 excess? Generally those that are high risk drivers (or those in financial distress which may be seen as a fraud risk) and as such when you do your statistical analysis of claims experience -v- policyholder traits you find that those selecting £0 excess actually have some of the best claims experience (ie frequency x severity) and hence attract the lowest prices. Similarly Comp is normally cheaper than TPO/TPFT for the same reasons. 

It does vary a little by insurer and not all offer £0 but generally a lowish excess is the sweet spot and very high excess is the most expensive. 

GC are simply an aggregator, they just display the quotes that the brokers/insurers on their panel are returning to them and have no say in their pricing. They will get a notable commission if you buy from them and clearly have just done a deal with a wholesale seller of excess insurance to buy policies out of the commissions they receive. Unsurprisingly wholesale insurance is vastly cheaper especially when it's going to be bundled -v- when you sell it as a discrete product.