Hastings Car Insurance - **** Off

[pasty]

Mrs P has had her car insurance with Hastings for about the last 5 years and her renewal notice came through this week @ £460, which is more than she'd been paying for the last few years.

Stuff this we thought, so bit the bullet and used Go Compare (despite their god awful adverts). One of the cheaper results that came up was Hastings, quoting £230 !

So she got on the blower, told them all this, and they just refused point blank to requote. The person she spoke to kept saying "The renewal notice says £460 so thats all we can quote"

Well, dear Mr Hastings car insurance, if thats how you treat cutomers that have been with you for 5 years or so, you can bloody well do one.

Found a very good quote with the Co-Op on t'internet now saving us over £200, so Mr 10bloody66 Hastings can

 

[Icy Gull]

Along the same lines I had this with the AA last year, after 15 years with them they decided to try and charge me twice the price that I could join via the Internet as a new user. Loyalty to the customer and from the customer to firms has gone out of the window. Shame.

 

[Pantani]

It's crazy that the best way to get cheap deals with nearly all subscription services is to constantly change. If you have the time and inclination you can save yourself loads of money but who really can be bothered.

 

[dougdeep]

I've always used a broker, let them do all the work.

 

[nail-Z]

It's crazy that the best way to get cheap deals with nearly all subscription services is to constantly change. If you have the time and inclination you can save yourself loads of money but who really can be bothered.

That's exactly why they keep their renewal premiums climbing year on year. A large proportion of people would rather just renew than go through the hassle of switching to someone new. They offer 'new customer discounts' to draw people in - then do what they can to relieve people of as much money as they're willing to part with each year thereafter.

I always check the prices each year, but only ever switch if someone can offer a like for like at least £50 cheaper. Otherwise I'd just stay.

 

[phoenix]

it takes about 10 mins.I saved myself £197.Had the same problem with more than.They said they would give me 1 month free.All you do is tick boxes you require then press ok.Do the same with my mobile phone also.its so easy.Phone says how many mins,texts who do you want to go with.Then it finds the best deals for you.

 

[beorhthelm]

... used Go Compare (despite their god awful adverts).

you remembered them and used their site, so good adverts.

ive never understood why new customers are treated with preference to existing in this day and age when switching is so easy - its why the new user offer is there, to tempt a switch. i think id have been inclinded to speak to someone senior at Hastings and point out the stupidity of the system in the hope of getting a discount. but then why bother, just go to Coop for cheaper instead? only problem this way is the companies never find out why you left and dont change, the same will happen again with Coop i reckon.

 

[WATFORD zero]

I check every year before I renew. With the advent of comparison websites, it takes 10 mins at most. This year I managed to get fully comp on a group 17 car for £170, the cheapest I have had for the last few years.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

I wonder sometimes if the car insurance business is going the way of sub-prime mortgages.

Companies seem to believe that their growth has to be based on a chase for new customers ... at any price. Is this sustainable? Of course not.

 

[WATFORD zero]

I wonder sometimes if the car insurance business is going the way of sub-prime mortgages.

Companies seem to believe that their growth has to be based on a chase for new customers ... at any price. Is this sustainable? Of course not.

When I was involved (a good few years ago now) there was a cycle of undercutting one another until everyone was making losses and then the premiums were pumped up again. If I remember rightly, it was something like a 7 year cycle and was offset by writing other business lines on other cycles. Could never get anyone to stop writing business at the bottom of the cycle

 

[beorhthelm]

I wonder sometimes if the car insurance business is going the way of sub-prime mortgages.

Companies seem to believe that their growth has to be based on a chase for new customers ... at any price. Is this sustainable? Of course not.

unless the car insurance business has massive margins, with plenty of fat to trim.

really its the opposite of mortgageing anyway: they take a payment up front and hope not to payout, or find any clause to avoid if they do get into bother. contrast to mortgages where the payout is upfront and they hope to get the payments back.

 

[SussexHoop]

Last year, my wife was quoted £460 for her renewal with Direct Line. We got a quote from the RAC for £350 and went through quidco and got £70 cashback so a net £280. This year, we got a quote for £250 from Aviva and again via Quidco got another £70 cashback so it's down to a net £180.

Last year Direct Line quoted me £350 so I shopped around and got a best deal including cashback of £280. Called them up the day before the policy expired and they reduced my premium to £266. This year, they quoted over £400 and the best deal they would give me was £336. I've moved to Aviva with a premium of £295 less another £70 cashback via quidco.

Always worth spending a few hours shopping around and seeing if the best price you can get is also available via a cashback site.

 

[Templeton Peck]

There's a really good article on moneysavingexpert.com about which order to search the comparison sites, lets you play them off against each other. I've always found tesco compare to be pretty good, saved me £222.70 when I renewed in feb.

 

[dougdeep]

Always worth spending a few hours shopping around and seeing if the best price you can get is also available via a cashback site.

But why bother when a broker can do it for you?

 

[Stat Brother]

I've been jumping through similar hoops.
Our policy is running out, and they sent us the new one, all was fine except for a £50 deposit.
I called and pointed out I'd paid all of last year, and a renewal will just be a continuation of the d/d, so why the deposit?
As the parent company had changed the fella insisted I had to pay, so I pointed out that I didn't and found a cheaper quote, elsewhere.
A cracking bit of business there from Insure.

 

[cardboard]

Ive just joined Hastings direct!!! miles cheaper than most. £182 fully comp for my BMW chuffed

 

[wigman]

Ive just joined Hastings direct!!! miles cheaper than most. £182 fully comp for my BMW chuffed

Used them for a few years then had problems with them so i switched.
I found their customer care very poor tbh.

 

[SussexHoop]

But why bother when a broker can do it for you?

The broker will get the commission. Using the cashback sites means we effectively get it ... £140 for a few hours work.

We use cashback sites for a lot of our online shopping including iTunes, HMV, Jessops, M&S, Pet insurance and gambling. If you're disciplined enough, some of the gambling websites are just free gambling or in some cases free money. eg Paddy Power gives £25 cashback for signing up and placing a £10 bet.

Biggest saving we've made was just under £500 on a holiday booked through Expedia.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

AA breakdown renewal quote £220
Green Line breakdown quote £75 (slightly better options as well)

What really annoyed me was the AA website new customer quote at about £150.

Car insurance this year was similar for renewal and on comparison web sites for the same company so it needed be like this all the time for everyone.

 

[Garage_Doors]

But why bother when a broker can do it for you?

Because a broker will do the best deal for himself commission wise, rather that the best deal for you.
He is not going to offer you a company that is the cheapest but offers no commission for himself is he.