Stupid People Budget - Car Insurance

tinkerbell84

When did your renewal arrive?

Reading it, understanding it and then contacting them before renewal would have cost you nothing.

Every insurance policy I've had for the last 5ish years has had auto renewal - home insurance for 2 properties, 2 car insurance policies and a motorbike policy. How do I know? Because I read the documents they send me!

It's not difficult.

shelly

I'm with tinkerbell on this one.
How is the ins co's fault that you didn't read the renewal notice properly and see that you needed to phone them to not renew the policy?

Also why do you pay "an ever increasing premium"? Is this year the first year you have shopped around? I shop around every year for 2 cars and a bike and never pay more at renewal than I paid the previous year. In fact even with a claim last year we paid less at renewal after the claim than we did before the claim.

dunstonh

Car insurance isnt cheap, i have 10 years NCB and yet every year i pay what seems to be an ever increasing premium

Car insurance is cheap in real terms compared to historical pricing.

i didnt know they started a new policy using auto renewal untill 4 days after they started the policy, which is rather done deliberatley so you have no choice but to pay a cancellation fee. IT IS DAY LIGHT ROBBERY

No. Its your fault. Not theirs. You did not read the renewal notice.

I have a bottle of milk in the fridge that the good by date expires tommorow, but it doesnt mean the dairy are going to charge me for a new one when it runs out

You don't have a contract with the dairy. You do have a contract with the car insurers.

this also amazes me how have they charged my card for the policy as my old card expired during the year and i have a new card which has a new expiry date.

Regular payment instructions don't require a revised expiry date. Nothing wrong there either.

I'm afraid that it is you that is totally at fault here. Not the insurance company. Blaming them for your shortcomings is daft.

peterae

Yes i except it is my fault for not reading the policy and will be more carefull in the future.
As it transpires my old policy was with Budget who are a subsidery of BISL.
And my new policy was with Local Broker who are a subsidary of BISL LOL.

Having excepted it's my fault for not reading the renewal quote, i have just rang them and said because i now have 2 policys with BISL i would like to cancel one of them, after confirming both policy's exist they are going to cancel 1 of them at no charge.
I was amazed when i looked down the printout of comparethemarket.com
Out of the first 9 quotes i looked at BISL was behind 7 of them.
Budget - BISL
MMA - MMAIRD
AutoTrader - BISL
ibuyeco - BISL
Local Broker - BISL
Post Office - BISL
Dial Direct - BGL - BISL?
Yes Insurance - BISL

But then it doesnt surprise me as BISL are comparethemarket.com LOL

Peter

dunstonh

A lot of the insurance "names" are different brands of the same group. The esure group is another that has quite a few different brands on the go.

peterae

when i used moneysupermarket Bullseye quote came back at £167 which was amazing so i rang them to confirm the facts and make sure the quote was correct, anyhow it turned out for what i wanted it was £207 which was still an amazing quote.
10 mins later i had a phone call from Bullseye saying we see you have asked for an insurance quote and we would like to offer you a policy for £235, i thought this was a bit strange at the time so i did 1471 and rang the number and the bloke who answered said hello Swinton Insurance how can i help, i said i have just had someone from this phone number ring me from Bullseye, he replied yes thats right they are our sister company.LOL
Because of this strange behaviour i thought i wont go with them because it seemed a bit cloak and dagger.
Little did i know at that point they are all at it and seems to be the norm

purplestar133

What does it matter whose fault it is?

Peterae has learnt the lesson and knows for the next time round. It's just a shame he learned the hard way.

Albert_FTB

Let's get one thing straight - these companies do not employ this policy of automatic renewal to make sure you don't end being prosecuted for having no insurance. It is a cynical money-making exercise and nothing else, because they know that not everybody will pick up on it.

Why don't all insurers, when you first take out a policy over the phone for example, ask you if you want the policy automatically renewed there and then instead of burying it in the terms and conditions? Because they know that people will then have to pay to dial premium rate numbers and cancellation admin fees to cancel the policy... ker-ching!

Peterae has come on this forum for advice and support as he feels, and quite rightly in my opinion, that a big company has taken liberties with one of its customers.

I do not understand the need for people who obviously have nothing better to do than devour reams of terms and conditions (and feel very smug with themselves that they have actually done so) be so high and mighty about it.

Being condescending towards those who get taken advantage of by big business isn't really the point of this site is it people?

mattymoo

They do it because they know people do not read the documentation - correct, and possibly for some it is a money making exercise. However, it also stops people ringing up 3 months down the line (when they've noticed the DD is no longer being collected) and asking why the policy was cancelled. Customers then ask for the policy to be backdated to renewal but insurers are not permitted to do this in the case of motor policies.

As for reading reams of terms and conditions, as a first time buyer perhaps you ought to start doing this. All motor policies these days are written in plain english with clear explanations of charges, cancellation terms, what is covered and what is not. If you cannot be bothered to read a 20 page A5 policy booklet you really have no-one to blame but yourself really.

dunstonh

There is the point that statistically, most people renew their policy. So this reduces their costs as they dont need a load of people phoning up to pay. Lower costs leads to lower premiums and the consumer is happy.

Why don't all insurers, when you first take out a policy over the phone for example, ask you if you want the policy automatically renewed there and then instead of burying it in the terms and conditions? Because they know that people will then have to pay to dial premium rate numbers and cancellation admin fees to cancel the policy... ker-ching!

The minority cancelling have to pay the premium rate but thats better than the majority renewing not having to pay it.

Being condescending towards those who get taken advantage of by big business isn't really the point of this site is it people?

The point of the site isnt to be anti business. If people are too lazy to read letters sent to them on something important like their car insurance renewal then they only have themselves to blame.