Shez Posted November 16, 2010 Share Posted November 16, 2010 My renewal has just arrived and it's nearly 60% higher than it was last year! The only thing that's changed over the past year is that I now have one more year of no claims bonus... A couple of my car driving friends have commented recently on their prices going up - is this a driving insurance industry-wide thing? Trying out a couple of price comparison sites turned up prices even higher than that which my current broker has offered so I'm not feeling optimistic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marktownend Posted November 16, 2010 Share Posted November 16, 2010 Similar to me - had my renewal through about 10 days ago and similar increase, not yet had a chance to investigate other options but suspect it's going to have to be paid at that rate! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Lewis Posted November 16, 2010 Share Posted November 16, 2010 Even Watchdog commented on this... the companies aren't making enough money elsewhere, so they're squeezing the motorist. About the only advice they could give was 'don't be loyal, shop around and don't assume that the cheaper packages (e.g. third party fire & theft) are actually cheaper"... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lightsource Posted November 17, 2010 Share Posted November 17, 2010 I use Quoteline Direct, and used them for many years, however I've never had a claim ( so can't say how good they are in that respect). And Also, my renewal is March, so maybe a few months off for this topic. Edit to add, the 2010 premium was about 5% higher that the 2009 premium.........Let's see what 2011 has to offer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junior8 Posted November 17, 2010 Share Posted November 17, 2010 An Insurance Broker acquaintance told me to get new quotes every year as the best premiums are always available to new business and no favours are done to loyal customers. I have seldom known this advice to be wrong. What does amaze me though is the varying level of premium quoted for identical risks. Looking into my home insurance recently they ranged from £252 - £657 for identical cover. The problem with motor cover he told me is that they keep premiums artificially low for several years and then all play catch-up at the same time. That being said a fancy new motor went past me the other day with all the funky light clusters and bits and pieces and it occurred to me that repairing a simple rear-end shunt would lead to an eye-watering parts bill. His choice but in shared risk we all pay... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donald463 Posted November 17, 2010 Share Posted November 17, 2010 Found Tesco Compare is £100 cheaper than best of other compare sites for same level of cover on my van insurance. Same as original poster my insurance has gone up with a bang for no change in circumstances. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulears Posted November 17, 2010 Share Posted November 17, 2010 One thing to watch is also that 'extras' are being removed without mentioning it. I swapped last year to save a few quid, and my current insurance no longer allows me to drive other vehicles - my old one covered me for a 'borrowed - as in not hired van'. That's gone. One weird thing. Putting my wife on as a named driver DROPPED my premium. Doing the same thing to all the family cars dropped theirs. No idea at all why this is - so she can drive all 4 of the vehicles here. I tried putting me on as the named driver on my son's policy and it put it up? My van insurance somehow made me a worse risk, not better? My 19yr old (18 then) was able to be added to my old policy, even though it was a silly price - my current policy will not consider him at 19! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grum Posted November 17, 2010 Share Posted November 17, 2010 That being said a fancy new motor went past me the other day with all the funky light clusters and bits and pieces and it occurred to me that repairing a simple rear-end shunt would lead to an eye-watering parts bill. His choice but in shared risk we all pay... Maybe not his choice, new regs on car design requires manufacturers to design car to be more friendly to pedestrians when you hit them. That coupled with the addition of crumple zones for high speed impacts means that your nice new car is a lot less likely to stay in such nice condition for as long as you might expect. Sadly in the UK car insurance is a captive market so insurance companies can charge what they like we're all going to buy it regardless (well there are a few that don't bother but that's a different story). Maybe a system where the 3rd party element of the insurance was included in the road tax would be better but I ca't see it happening any time soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMSaudiovisual Posted November 17, 2010 Share Posted November 17, 2010 We pay about £600 a year for replacement if the van breaks down plus a couple of named drivers so its not that bad by the looks of it, spent a lot of time looking at the different options and it looks to bit that its much of a muchness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Lewis Posted November 17, 2010 Share Posted November 17, 2010 One weird thing. Putting my wife on as a named driver DROPPED my premium. Again mentioned on Watchdog... The rationale? Your wife is a safer driver*, she will drive the car for some proportion of the time (so you won't) therefore the overall risk is lower! Simon *of course, I know nothing of the driving prowess of Mrs Ears, but that's what the insurers think! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billy jim Posted November 17, 2010 Share Posted November 17, 2010 Just be glad your insurance for a 1.25L Fiesta isn't £1400... It's crippling. That said, I recently changed insurance (moved up to Derby, so Churchill wanted to put my premium up by £30 a month), and the new company were the first people ever to ask any questions about how I drive. They didn't seem to like my response to "What do you do if your mobile phone rings while you're driving?"... I answer it, because I have a Bluetooth unit installed, so I don't have to go anywhere near the phone! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete McCrea Posted November 17, 2010 Share Posted November 17, 2010 We have a 06 Plate MWB crafter and were paying £800 or there for 5 named drivers, 1 under 25. Couple of Years no claims. Then took on a LWB Transporter Kombi, admittedly 180BHp. We were quoted over £1500 for that alone! Some of the insurers we rang couldn't cope with the fact it was a Van, and had 5 seats. So a call to Doodsons, and they sorted a Minifleet policy out for us. Crafter, Kombi and my Focus, any driver over 24, and any hire vehicles that we hire in. All for around £1800. Which was about the cost of twice our crafter policy and my car policy. Can't argue with that. Though what happens in year 2 goodness knows... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfmonk Posted November 18, 2010 Share Posted November 18, 2010 SHOP AROUND! Our old insurers gave me a quote for about £7.5K. Shopped around a bit and got one for £3K. Went back to the old insurers and they came in at £2.7K That's for two cars, a van and a 7.5 Tonne lorry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grum Posted November 18, 2010 Share Posted November 18, 2010 Again mentioned on Watchdog... The rationale? Your wife is a safer driver*, she will drive the car for some proportion of the time (so you won't) therefore the overall risk is lower! Simon *of course, I know nothing of the driving prowess of Mrs Ears, but that's what the insurers think! I do. She isn't, at least not in a great big van (or a hoover if Paul is to be believed) :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob_Beech Posted November 19, 2010 Share Posted November 19, 2010 I have a trade policy that allows me to use my vehicles for my primary business (this sound lark) too. The policy costs me £1000 a year but its for all my vehicles and allows me to drive anything else up to my license limit fully comp. There are certain criteria for driving but nothing too crippling. A colleague pays just under £700 for the year for a 06 plate LWB Crafter... ANY driver. Not over 25, or over 21, any driver at all. He does have several years (7 I believe) no claims on that policy, the van before, an old transit was only £300 or so for the same thing. Interesting that Simon comments on Paul's wife dropping the premium. By putting ME as a named driver on my girlfriends car it drops her premium by around £100. I believe putting her sister on there too drops it a further £30 or so. SO it's not ALWAYS the female drivers that lower the premiums. I can't quite get her onto my policy though, although with an S320, C36AMG and a V70R it's probably for the best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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