Insurance Occupation Madness

LabLover65

Just been trying to work out the correct occupation to declare for a trainee solicitor's car insurance. 

I was looking at the options on your site and noticed that the cheapest legal occupation to declare is a Sheriff's Clerk, who would pay £325.  The most expensive occupation is a Sheriff's Officer (ie the same job in most reasonable people's eyes) who would pay £4394, ie more that ten times as much.

I have noted the same elsewhere, eg if you are an immunologist you pay £1507, compared to £612 for a hospital consultant, which includes immunologists.

Whilst I appreciate the advice to use the data to your own advantage (while still picking a reasonable and fair description of one's occupation), how are insurance companies able to use what are obviously statistical quirks, presumably based on tiny numbers of historical claims in very niche occupations, to charge such wildly different sums for the same jobs?  It is impossible to believe that this represents a true difference in risk either between the same jobs or similar jobs.  Is this not a regulatory issue of unfairness to the consumer?

flaneurs_lobster

Not addressing your main point but for the Sheriff's Clerk (assists Sheriff (judge) in Scottish Courts) and Sheriff's Officer (basically a Scottish bailiff) example, think it's pretty obvious why the premiums might be different and in no way the same job in this reasonable person's eyes.

Think you are mistaken when talking about "statistical quirks", "niche occupations" and "tiny numbers" - underwriters have access to very large datasets and have been assessing automobile risk for a century.

Put whatever occupation you like in the quote request without actually committing fraud - just be prepared to justify it when you make a claim and the loss adjuster gets stuck in.

Aretnap

If you're getting your numbers from the MSE job picker, it claims to be based on averaging quotes for that occupation obtained on the money supermarket site, so the numbers for the more niche occupations are going to have a huge margin of error for the more niche occupations, because MSE has much less data for them. 

Eg if only three sherrif's officers have got quotes through money supermarket, and one of them drives a Ferrari, lives in a high crime are of Dundee and has a drink drinking conviction, that's going to massively skew the average for that profession, to an extent that a "teacher" with similar circumstances won't. 

The tool contains a prominent disclaimer that says it's just a bit of fun. That part is not put there for decoration!

user1977

Surely the correct job is solicitor? I can't see the risk changes when you qualify.