How on earth do Home Insurance Prices rise like this?!

mgfvvc

Max68 said:

Maybe dunstonh is right, maybe they just don't want me as a customer anymore but as I say above if they don't want customers who have never claimed god knows what their target base is.

Their target base isn't customers who have never claimed in the past, it's customers who won't claim in the future.

Max68

mgfvvc said:

Max68 said:

Maybe dunstonh is right, maybe they just don't want me as a customer anymore but as I say above if they don't want customers who have never claimed god knows what their target base is.

Their target base isn't customers who have never claimed in the past, it's customers who won't claim in the future.

Nostradamus must run the Co-Op then!  

Just did a quote for next door on Co Op site.  Using fake info obviously but based on the numbers living there.  Quote was £2240.06.  Must be something about the area the Co-Op doesn't like, which is ironic since their local store sits right by a pond!  

Aretnap

Max68 said:

Maybe dunstonh is right, maybe they just don't want me as a customer anymore but as I say above if they don't want customers who have never claimed god knows what their target base is.

Possibly customers in a different type of house, possibly customers with more (or fewer) valuables, possibly customers in a different area.

Not even necessarily because they think there's anything wrong with your area. Insurers like to spread their risk. If they insure lots of houses in your local area then a bad storm or flood in your area could leave them with a very expensive set of claims all at once. So they might increase prices in your area and reduce then in areas where they insure few or no houses, until they have a more balanced distribution of customers.

Underwriting is a complicated process - a lot more complicated than "no claims - good risk". If you scroll to the bottom of the list on the comparison site you'll probably find that there are a few other insurers offering you similar or even more expensive quotes. They're not robbing you either - they also just don't much want your business for whatever reason (quite possibly a completely different reason).

daveyjp

Insurers change their alogrithms for quotes all the time.  I was with LV for years, then their prices went crazy, now they are best value every time I get quotes.  

Bonus for the consumer is the insurance market is very competitive, there is no loyalty so move on.

MacPingu1986

Max68 said:

Nostradamus must run the Co-Op then!  

Nothing to with Nostradamus, making informed judgments on evaluating and pricing future risk is literally what running an insurance business is about.

Aretnap

I remember someone posting a screenshot from a comparison site a while ago of a car insurance quote for over £100,000. The insurer obviously isn't actually expecting anybody to pay that much, it's just the algorithm's way of saying "sorry, but we really, really don't need you as a customer right at this moment".

Most insurers won't actually show you quite like that and if the algorithm spits out a number above a certain threshold it will just come back as "unable to quote for your details". However where renewals are concerned a lot of people get worried that if an insurer doesn't give then a renewal quote they have to declare forever more that they have been refused insurance, so arguably it's better for an insurer to use a high renewal price as a passive blocker than say outright "were not going to insure you next year".

Max68

Aretnap said:

I remember someone posting a screenshot from a comparison site a while ago of a car insurance quote for over £100,000. The insurer obviously isn't actually expecting anybody to pay that much, it's just the algorithm's way of saying "sorry, but we really, really don't need you as a customer right at this moment".

Most insurers won't actually show you quite like that and if the algorithm spits out a number above a certain threshold it will just come back as "unable to quote for your details". However where renewals are concerned a lot of people get worried that if an insurer doesn't give then a renewal quote they have to declare forever more that they have been refused insurance, so arguably it's better for an insurer to use a high renewal price as a passive blocker than say outright "were not going to insure you next year".

Guess that's a fair point.  Think I had similar once years ago when did an online quote and it just came up as "we can't give you a quote right now".  Only issue I can see with that is if you get a message saying they "won't" insure your property they won't give you a reason so if someone needed to declare that they had been refused insurance and were asked why they wouldn't be able to give a reason.

Aretnap

Max68 said:

Aretnap said:

I remember someone posting a screenshot from a comparison site a while ago of a car insurance quote for over £100,000. The insurer obviously isn't actually expecting anybody to pay that much, it's just the algorithm's way of saying "sorry, but we really, really don't need you as a customer right at this moment".

Most insurers won't actually show you quite like that and if the algorithm spits out a number above a certain threshold it will just come back as "unable to quote for your details". However where renewals are concerned a lot of people get worried that if an insurer doesn't give then a renewal quote they have to declare forever more that they have been refused insurance, so arguably it's better for an insurer to use a high renewal price as a passive blocker than say outright "were not going to insure you next year".

Guess that's a fair point.  Think I had similar once years ago when did an online quote and it just came up as "we can't give you a quote right now".  Only issue I can see with that is if you get a message saying they "won't" insure your property they won't give you a reason so if someone needed to declare that they had been refused insurance and were asked why they wouldn't be able to give a reason.

Actually being refused insurance is not the same as an insurer declining to give you a quote. It refers to an insurer refusing to cover you having already accepted you as a customer, usually because they think you've lied about something.

Declining to quote happens all the time and anyone who has ever used a comparison site will have had a few insurers come back as unable to offer a quote, for all sorts of reasons. Saga won't give you a quote if you are under 50. Hiscox won't quote for car insurance if your car is worth less than about £50K. There are probably specialist car insurers dealing with high risk cases who won't quote for you unless you have at least one drink driving conviction. You don't have to declare forever more that you have been refused insurance just because they were all on the price comparison site.

I agree the question about refusal is dreadfully worded though and it does cause confusion. It can be more of a real issue with renewal quotes as apparently there are a few insurers who will ask if you have ever been declined a renewal as well as refused insurance - though I'm not sure that I can ever remember being asked that myself. If so it does probably make life easier for the customer to give them a very high renewal quote rather than refuse outright to offer one.

Linton

Max68 said:

TELLIT01 said:

Have there been flooding issues in your locality in the past year?  That would seem to be the most likely cause of such a massive increase.  All you can do is get on price comparison sites and look for alternative insurers.

No consolation to you, but my home and contents insurance through Direct Line has fallen for the past 2 years.

No flooding around my area no.  Never has been here.  Other side of town has had some issues but that's where they decided to build on flood plains!  Was with DL for 5 years but they have been astronomic price wise for me since, up in the 800's mark.  Think they were one of those who claimed the stream was a risk even though the environment agency say not and it's never flooded in the 30 years I have been here.  It just gets frustrating when you have paid literally thousands of pounds over the years for something you never use and yet it still goes up astronomically like that.  If it's a £20-£40 increase you could half understand it but over £1500 increase is bonkers.  

Maybe dunstonh is right, maybe they just don't want me as a customer anymore but as I say above if they don't want customers who have never claimed god knows what their target base is.

The issue may be that insurers need a good range of types of houses, level of flood risk, size, location etc etc.  So the answer may be nothing to do with you and your house in particular but simply they already cover enough houses like yours at the moment.  WIth a small amount of effort you should have no difficulty finding something much cheaper.

Max68

Linton said.

The issue may be that insurers need a good range of types of houses, level of flood risk, size, location etc etc.  So the answer may be nothing to do with you and your house in particular but simply they already cover enough houses like yours at the moment.  WIth a small amount of effort you should have no difficulty finding something much cheaper.

Yes thanks, went with Swiftcover in the end for £363.  Still more expensive than most years but affordable.  What's interesting is the questions comparison sites use now.  Some companies consider a loft and a garage (that's attached to the house) "rooms" but I called Swift and they don't unless the loft and garage have been made into living spaces.  The other insteresting thing is that even comparison sites now seem further away than eachother price wise.  I always find Money Supermarket the most expensive.  Theuy had the same policy I got for £363 down as £410.  You really have to shop around.

I also checked out the Gov.uk long-term-flood-risk.service for my postcode.  Surface water Yearly chance of flooding and Yearly chance of flooding between 2040 and 2060 is down as Very Low, the lowest option available.  Rivers and the sea Yearly chance of flooding Very Low.  Yearly chance of flooding between 2036 and 2069 "No Data Available".  Considering the sea is 15 miles away and nearest river is over 2 miles off it would have to be a disaster of mega proportions as it stands currently for us to be flooded.  Handy little tool that is.