Insurance renewal question

FlorayG

Aviva just quoted me £398 for my renewal.

Out of curiosity I went to their website as a new enquiry and the quote was £205

How do they justify such differences and how do they expect customer loyalty with that?

El_Torro

They justify it by believing (probably correctly) that many customers will just go with the renewal quote and not check if it's competitive.

Why strive hard for customer loyalty? What's in it for them? Especially if many customers stay with them regardless of price anyway.

giraffe69

My renewal recently was quoted at around £120 more than last year with no change in circumstance so I moved. I don't expect any favours when it comes to Year 2 of any policy so just use the Meerkat or equivalent. I also decline autorenew!

kaMelo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6678577/insurance-renewal-question

If the cover offered was identical they're not allowed to do that, it was banned in January 2022 by the FCA. Your renewal quote should be the same as what would be offered as a new customer.

https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/fca-confirms-measures-protect-customers-loyalty-penalty-home-motor-insurance-markets

MyRealNameToo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82090529#Comment_82090529

they are allowed to differentiate by channel so if the OP bought last year over the phone then the renewal premium cannot be any more than what a new business quote would be over the telephone. We know that this year they have gotten a quote from the website so it may well be a lower quote because of the change of channel.

Secondly, it will also depend on if the "product" is the same… I've not worked on consumer insurance since the changes have happened but in principle they may be offering the renewal on grandfathered terms but the new business quote is on new terms and so again there would be different rules applied for a legacy product. The one thing I dont know is how different the terms need to be to be considered different product but you'd be fairly sure its one the FCA would be monitoring to ensure its not being abused.

kaMelo

Yes, I am aware that a different channel can charge a different price however I would expect any increase to fairly reflect the extra costs involved using this channel. I think the FCA would take a dim view of someone being charged nearly double because the renewal was over the phone.

I did also mention "If the cover was identical" as in the details given by the policy holder and the cover offered by the insurance provider.

The bottom line, as always with insurance, is to shop around each and every year,

FlorayG

The insurance is identical

I cancelled the automatic renewal and took the new policy. No problem doing that. Just seems weird that they can even do it

HillStreetBlues

I've always been offered a cheaper price than the renewal price when telling them I didn't want to renew.

Arunmor

I wouldn't canel autorenew, sometimes like can get in the way for any number of reasons. Have it there as a fall back and keep a note in your diary for about 3 weeks before renewal due, then you will have the renewal quote from your current insurer and plenty of time to cancel if you renew elsewhere.

Marvel1

I always change insurer annually and get cashback too.

FlorayG

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82090546#Comment_82090546

The renewal wasn't even over the phone, it was automatic.

When I cancelled it they offered me £30 off which was just a cheek 😆