Car Insurance companies really screwing me around..

DullGreyGuy

ButterCheese said:

Northern_Wanderer said:

Why didn't you just switch insurance you had to the new car? 

 

There is no such thing as "switching" policies or "changing the vehicle on the policy".  All that happens is they cancel the policy on the old one and re-calculate for the new one, starting a new policy.  The premium would still go up.

You can't buy a 1L Rover and start your policy, then ask to switch it to your new Bugatti Veyron and expect to pay the same sort of price

No insurer I have ever been with or worked for cancels a policy for a change of vehicle... yes the premiums are recalculated based on the new underwriting information but the policy continues uninterrupted for the remainder of its term. So if you switch vehicle after 10 months in another 2 months you get a renewal quote with an additional years NCD. 

Where you would get a new policy from the same firm is if you are with an intermediary with a panel of insurers and the current insurer won't insure your particular vehicle but another insurer will. You therefore have to at a minimum take out a new 12 month contract and lose your part year NCD; in most cases the cancellation fees are waived to try and help secure the new policy. 

Northern_Wanderer

ButterCheese said:

Northern_Wanderer said:

Why didn't you just switch insurance you had to the new car? 

 

There is no such thing as "switching" policies or "changing the vehicle on the policy".  All that happens is they cancel the policy on the old one and re-calculate for the new one, starting a new policy.  The premium would still go up.

You can't buy a 1L Rover and start your policy, then ask to switch it to your new Bugatti Veyron and expect to pay the same sort of price

Usually if you change your car mid-policy, you call the insurer who then tells you the extra due for the remainder of the policy term. This avoids cancellation fees. I've never started a new policy mid term with a vehicle change. I've always changed the vehicle on the policy I had. You are giving incorrect info.

Frozen_up_north

My insurance has reduced in cost, both house and car. So insurance premiums aren’t necessarily increasing for everyone.
I changed my car for a brand new model of the same type with around 4 months remaining on the policy, it cost £11.63 to change the car details with Aviva.

The old price was £427, this April it dropped to £356

Generally newer cars are safer cars, so you are less likely to have collisions and therefore less claims.

Northern_Wanderer

Frozen_up_north said:

Generally newer cars are safer cars, so you are less likely to have collisions and therefore less claims.

I'm not convinced, all that tech and infotainment system can be distracting. I don't understand why I'm not allowed to touch my phone but am allowed to use touchscreen on infotainment sytem. Bring back knobs and buttons....

DullGreyGuy

Northern_Wanderer said:

Frozen_up_north said:

Generally newer cars are safer cars, so you are less likely to have collisions and therefore less claims.

I'm not convinced, all that tech and infotainment system can be distracting. I don't understand why I'm not allowed to touch my phone but am allowed to use touchscreen on infotainment sytem. Bring back knobs and buttons....

Well you need to be able to interact with your car to be able to safely drive it like turning on your fog lights, changing the cruise control speed as you approach a change in speed limit etc. 

In principle they could change the law so that you can do those things but not change the radio station but there'd need to be a mountain of case law built up on what actions are allowable and what actions arent as there are arguments. Would also be difficult for the police to get evidence of exactly what the person was doing at the time so probably require car manufactures to log all interactions with the system meaning most the older cars on the road can't be prosecuted as getting video of someone definitely hitting the radio button and not the screen demister just under it will be hard. 

born_again

Northern_Wanderer said:

Frozen_up_north said:

Generally newer cars are safer cars, so you are less likely to have collisions and therefore less claims.

I'm not convinced, all that tech and infotainment system can be distracting. I don't understand why I'm not allowed to touch my phone but am allowed to use touchscreen on infotainment sytem. Bring back knobs and buttons....

How did you manage with push button radio's or even worse CD players in car....🤷‍♀️

Many systems have voice control for functions.

Grey_Critic

There is of course the question of where you live. That can have a dramatic effect on premiums - Bradford for example is expensive.

Northern_Wanderer

born_again said:

Northern_Wanderer said:

Frozen_up_north said:

Generally newer cars are safer cars, so you are less likely to have collisions and therefore less claims.

I'm not convinced, all that tech and infotainment system can be distracting. I don't understand why I'm not allowed to touch my phone but am allowed to use touchscreen on infotainment sytem. Bring back knobs and buttons....

How did you manage with push button radio's or even worse CD players in car....🤷‍♀️

Many systems have voice control for functions.

I managed pretty good, quick glance, stick your hand over to adjust knob, keep your eyes on the road. Pretty safe to me.

EssexExile

Northern_Wanderer said:

Why didn't you just switch insurance you had to the new car?

Not all car insurers will insure vans, not all van insurers will insure cars.

HHarry

As Essex says above, some Insurers won’t accept NCB from a van when swapping to a car (even if that NCB originally came from a car).