[Finance] Car insurance advice

[Me and my Monkey]

Dear collective

I have just received my annual bill from Admiral for my car insurance and was SHOCKED to see the price had gone up by a whole 10%. I am a careful driver of many years, and have never claimed in the past. I’m not one to normally go onto price comparison websites, but my shock was such that I did, and was even more SHOCKED to discover I could get the same cover for less than half what I pay now. Have I been taken for a mug all these years, or is it too good to be true? Any (sensible) advice would be gratefully received.

 

[Springal]

Dear collective

I have just received my annual bill from Admiral for my car insurance and was SHOCKED to see the price had gone up by a whole 10%. I am a careful driver of many years, and have never claimed in the past. I’m not one to normally go onto price comparison websites, but my shock was such that I did, and was even more SHOCKED to discover I could get the same cover for less than half what I pay now. Have I been taken for a mug all these years, or is it too good to be true? Any (sensible) advice would be gratefully received.

I'm afraid you've probably been missing out on at LEAST 15 years worth of savings. I've been driving for 15 years and have always used price comparison websites !

 

[dazzer6666]

Dear collective

I have just received my annual bill from Admiral for my car insurance and was SHOCKED to see the price had gone up by a whole 10%. I am a careful driver of many years, and have never claimed in the past. I’m not one to normally go onto price comparison websites, but my shock was such that I did, and was even more SHOCKED to discover I could get the same cover for less than half what I pay now. Have I been taken for a mug all these years, or is it too good to be true? Any (sensible) advice would be gratefully received.

A bit, yes. Same happened to me with house insurance years ago, ended up with a premium 75% less. Now always get a new quote every year. Your existing insurers will often try to take the piss in the hope you can't be bothered to look around (really feel for those that don't, particularly the elderly not using PCs etc, must be millions being ripped off). It takes just minutes on comparison sites, well worth doing - just make sure you're comparing like with like in terms of the numbers etc.

 

[Weststander]

Dear collective

I have just received my annual bill from Admiral for my car insurance and was SHOCKED to see the price had gone up by a whole 10%. I am a careful driver of many years, and have never claimed in the past. I’m not one to normally go onto price comparison websites, but my shock was such that I did, and was even more SHOCKED to discover I could get the same cover for less than half what I pay now. Have I been taken for a mug all these years, or is it too good to be true? Any (sensible) advice would be gratefully received.

Move. Yes they have exploited your inertia.

Just double check that you’re ticking the same things that you want and have at present e.g. protected ncd, excess level (compulsory and voluntary’s combined figure), legal expenses cover and courtesy car.

You will still save fortunes.

 

[juliant]

What really gets on my wick with this as having just had my renewal quote with my current provider and it going up at least 10% I did a comparison site search and my current insurer was cheapest at last years prices !!

Rang them and they said oh yes we can match that no problem. So why quote me the extra 10% to start with !!

Robbing barstewards the lot of them. Always shop around

 

[spence]

Use a comparison site. I have just done mine. It shot up by £100. Was with Avia. Esure,Coop and Sheila Wheels are very competitive.

Also check out a cashback site

 

[Smeagull]

Sorry, the short answer is yes. Every year my insurance renewal will always be more than it currently is. Then I have to go to a price comparison site, get a cheaper quote and then phone up my insurance company (which incidentally is Admiral) who then always offer an even cheaper price and less than my last years insurance. Takes all of 20 minutes generally but is still annoying. But if your insurance isn't cheaper every year, than you're doing it wrong (except when changing your car).

 

[banjo]

Dear collective

I have just received my annual bill from Admiral for my car insurance and was SHOCKED to see the price had gone up by a whole 10%. I am a careful driver of many years, and have never claimed in the past. I’m not one to normally go onto price comparison websites, but my shock was such that I did, and was even more SHOCKED to discover I could get the same cover for less than half what I pay now. Have I been taken for a mug all these years, or is it too good to be true? Any (sensible) advice would be gratefully received.[/QUOTE

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/

 

[happypig]

What really gets on my wick with this as having just had my renewal quote with my current provider and it going up at least 10% I did a comparison site search and my current insurer was cheapest at last years prices !!

Rang them and they said oh yes we can match that no problem. So why quote me the extra 10% to start with !!

Robbing barstewards the lot of them. Always shop around

Mine did that too. I rang them to cancel and said that I was going to go with the next cheapest (about a fiver more) as I felt they had been disingenuous and I didn't want to do business with charlatans (I may have laid it on a bit too thick if I'm honest). They offered to go a bit lower than the online quote so I took that, being a shallow, unprincipled individual.

 

[The Andy Naylor Fan Club]

What really gets on my wick with this as having just had my renewal quote with my current provider and it going up at least 10% I did a comparison site search and my current insurer was cheapest at last years prices !!

Rang them and they said oh yes we can match that no problem. So why quote me the extra 10% to start with !!

Robbing barstewards the lot of them. Always shop around

Exactly. Out of principle if my current insurer suddenly finds that they can price match a better quote,I tell them that they should have given me a more competitive renewal quote in the first place and then I take my business elsewhere. As for charging a higher rate it's the same all over the place, gas/electricity, telephone, mobiles, other insurances etc. They ALL take advatage of our unwillingless to change our current suppliers or our laziness when contracts expire or are due for renewal.

 

[studio150]

Exactly. Out of principle if my current insurer suddenly finds that they can price match a better quote,I tell them that they should have given me a more competitive renewal quote in the first place and then I take my business elsewhere. As for charging a higher rate it's the same all over the place, gas/electricity, telephone, mobiles, other insurances etc. They ALL take advatage of our unwillingless to change our current suppliers or our laziness when contracts expire or are due for renewal.

I don't even tell them to give them a chance to lower their price, I sometimes just throw the renewal papers straight in the bin if they have gone up too much. It seems to me that Insurers are more focused on new business rather than retention and loyalty, although I would have thought that there are higher costs involved in setting up a new policy than just rolling over an existing one.

 

[surrey jim]

As an aside if you find a suitable provider on price comparison site also check if you can get a better deal direct.

I found Aviva was the cheapest provider via Money Supermarket and then went to purchase direct with them which saved another £20.

 

[Me and my Monkey]

Thank you, everyone. I shall get off my lardy backside and sort it out this afternoon.

 

[beorhthelm]

yes, i have the merry insurance dance again. like the OP its usually ~10%, i phone to say can you do better, they can and reduce it. this year has gone up about 25% and im about fed with it, others on compare the meerkat are ~20% cheaper.

though you do have to be careful on some of the cheaper quotes, make sure they are the same excess and inclue legal proctection, courtesy car, protected NCB etc. those can be a big deal when it comes to a claim.

 

[vegster]

It pays to shop around but don't go to the ultra cheap company though,their margins will be very tight and in the event of a claim they may well drag their feet or look to refuse to pay out on a technicality. The bigger companies can take the hit without blinking and claims from those are usually easy.

 

[Magic Sponge]

Dear collective

I have just received my annual bill from Admiral for my car insurance and was SHOCKED to see the price had gone up by a whole 10%. I am a careful driver of many years, and have never claimed in the past. I’m not one to normally go onto price comparison websites, but my shock was such that I did, and was even more SHOCKED to discover I could get the same cover for less than half what I pay now. Have I been taken for a mug all these years, or is it too good to be true? Any (sensible) advice would be gratefully received.

Try getting a quote with Elephant, this is a sister company of Admiral and they should price match the Elephant quote.

 

[Mannakin]

Bizarrely this year our insurance renewal quote came in for less than last year. I normally get quotes ever year, but this year haven't bothered.

Shiela's Wheels is the company, used them for a few years and they seem to be better than most others I've used.

 

[Gary Hart's Stalker]

Unfortunately yes. They rely on your complacency to push up prices. Always shop around.

And even if you can't get it cheaper elsewhere, ring them up and tell them you can. They should manage to find a 'goodwill gesture' discount somewhere!

 

[Oscar]

Another little tip is to use ComparetheMarket.com and when they send you one of those stupid frickin meerkat toys, stick it on eBay. I've had a nice £20-£30 kickback on those things for the past few years courtesy of the weirdos who collect them and parents who's kids demand them. The 2-for-1 cinemA tickets are a nice bonus too.

 

[Guy Fawkes]

Dear collective

I have just received my annual bill from Admiral for my car insurance and was SHOCKED to see the price had gone up by a whole 10%. I am a careful driver of many years, and have never claimed in the past. I’m not one to normally go onto price comparison websites, but my shock was such that I did, and was even more SHOCKED to discover I could get the same cover for less than half what I pay now. Have I been taken for a mug all these years, or is it too good to be true? Any (sensible) advice would be gratefully received.

You should always check every time you get close to renewal time. Always worth checking even if you end up staying put and nowadays it doesn't take much time or effort to look

Also regularly worth checking your utilities and so on regularly too as there are often savings to be had by shopping around

Most companies make their main profits from people who fail to check and get alternative quotes elsewhere, which tends to be the majority (especially for things like broadband and other utilities)