My van insurance renewal is down unexpectedly. What's going on?

Appliance_engineer

My business van insurance has gone up every renewal over the years and I've always ditched & switched as a result, and always gone for anybody cheaper, even if only marginally, on a point of principle.  (I'd expect my current insurer to at least make the effort to incentivise and/or reward me for being a loyal customer by not taking the P).

I just got a renewal notice from my current insurer and the renewal is about £45 lower, which is unheard of in my experience.  I cannot recall ever having a renewal lower than current.

They're quoting £715 (comp) for the year, and it was £760 (approx) last year, without any extra benefits except for green flag cover.

I always go for the cheapest quote so £715 last year would have been the cheapest I could find with lots of comparison site searches and direct to website quotations.

So, just in case,  I just did the comparison site search over the last few days, and other searches, and I've now found a quote for £576, (comp) including legal assistance, personal accident, courtesy car and windscreen cover, which I've never had before on any policy.

Oh, and where my excess was previously £250 in the event of an accident, this quote is for £150 excess, with no voluntary. (I have 10 years + No claims bonus.)  I can't understand, with everything going up in price, how my insurance has actually come down, and by a decent amount if you add on all of the extra benefits which, had I added them on last year, would have made last years price at least £800.

I very nearly just auto-renewed with my current insurer since it hadn't gone up, but I'm glad that I went to the trouble of doing some comparisons.

It goes to show that making the effort makes a lot more sense than simply auto-renewing.

TadleyBaggie

The recent sharp rises in car insurance have levelled off and it's not unusual to see small reductions in premiums at the moment.

MarzipanCrumble

In Wales the 20 mph limit has meant fewer, less damage-resultant accidents and this has influenced car insurance prices too.

MyRealNameToo

Appliance_engineer said:

My business van insurance has gone up every renewal over the years and I've always ditched & switched as a result, and always gone for anybody cheaper, even if only marginally, on a point of principle.  (I'd expect my current insurer to at least make the effort to incentivise and/or reward me for being a loyal customer by not taking the P).

I just got a renewal notice from my current insurer and the renewal is about £45 lower, which is unheard of in my experience.  I cannot recall ever having a renewal lower than current.

They're quoting £715 (comp) for the year, and it was £760 (approx) last year, without any extra benefits except for green flag cover.

I always go for the cheapest quote so £715 last year would have been the cheapest I could find with lots of comparison site searches and direct to website quotations.

So, just in case,  I just did the comparison site search over the last few days, and other searches, and I've now found a quote for £576, (comp) including legal assistance, personal accident, courtesy car and windscreen cover, which I've never had before on any policy.

Oh, and where my excess was previously £250 in the event of an accident, this quote is for £150 excess, with no voluntary. (I have 10 years + No claims bonus.)  I can't understand, with everything going up in price, how my insurance has actually come down, and by a decent amount if you add on all of the extra benefits which, had I added them on last year, would have made last years price at least £800.

I very nearly just auto-renewed with my current insurer since it hadn't gone up, but I'm glad that I went to the trouble of doing some comparisons.

It goes to show that making the effort makes a lot more sense than simply auto-renewing.

Market is cyclical, there are periods of high prices and periods of low. With secondhand vehicle prices being stable for a while and inflation having tailed off prices have come down this year. 

BlueonBlue

It looks like you have been paying to much for a number of years rather than searching the whole market .
They will take you for whatever they can get.