| Insurance renewal Be Careful. 10:08 - Mar 25 with 3057 views | 2Thomas2Bowles |
Just got a renewal notice that added £150 from the company on to my policy.
Went online (compare) to see if I could get cheaper, same company same policy and details £100 less than my last policy
Called them with WTF they matched it but still out of order.
DO NOT AUTO RENEW |  |
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| Insurance renewal Be Careful. on 10:40 - Mar 25 with 3002 views | Juzzie |
I used to auto renew for the convinience (what they want) but half a dozen or more years ago i actually used one of those comparison sites and couldn't believe the difference.
Have used them every year since.
This year i called to say I wont be renewing due to finding cheaper elsewhere and they said "if you called sooner we could probably have matched/bettered that quote"
"So why didn't you offer me a competitive renewal quote in the first place."
Awkward silence.
[Post edited 25 Mar 2018 10:42]
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| Insurance renewal Be Careful. on 11:00 - Mar 25 with 2961 views | Juzzie |
Bloke i spoke to was fine about it as i was just asking rather than being forceful. I just said that next time i'll call first with what i've found to see if they'd improve before committing to that other quote.
[Post edited 25 Mar 2018 11:05]
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| Insurance renewal Be Careful. on 14:01 - Mar 25 with 2838 views | LazyFan |
I worked in IT for a top Insurance firm. We noticed this and called up the Business guys and said this cannot be right. We were worried we had messed up the system somehow and were all going to get fired. Panic stations.
They told us its fine and was done on purpose. They had don the stats and most people auto-renew at the higher rate. The ones that leave are compensated by the higher rate covering their repeat Business loss.
When we pointed out this was not really rewarding loyal customers. They told us that was okay too and this practice is called "Cannibalising the Customer base".
In short, it is done on purpose because they don't care.
Welcome to this so, called efficient capitalism that's for the consumer and not for big business...honest guv.
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz |  |
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| Insurance renewal Be Careful. on 14:15 - Mar 25 with 2807 views | DavieQPR |
Change companies every year. Always low first time to suck you in. |  | | |
| Insurance renewal Be Careful. on 14:23 - Mar 25 with 2790 views | Northernr |
Yeh annoying and inconvenient as it is you basically have to switch every year, there's no reward for loyalty.
I had home insurance with Endsleigh who were absolutely fantastic when we had a break in 18 months ago, couldn't do enough for us, replaced all the stuff they could as new and wrote us a cheque immediately for the rest of it. Great on the phone, really quick, no quibbles. Very impressed.
So obviously I wanted to stay with them for home and contents this year, only to be quoted in the region of £600, which was about triple what it was before. Expected a bit of a raise because of the claim but that was a pistake. Went somewhere else and got it for £200. |  | | |
| Insurance renewal Be Careful. on 14:33 - Mar 25 with 2773 views | kensalriser |
The insurance business is all about actuarial science, ie number crunching and risk management modelling, so it's hardly a surprise they apply the same logic to every aspect of the business.
No point in getting morally outraged, all you have to do is understand how it works and if you can be arsed, benefit from it. Same applies to energy. |  |
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| Insurance renewal Be Careful. on 17:25 - Mar 25 with 2645 views | PinnerPaul |
AA whack up my insurance every year - every year I ring to complain, every year they put it back down again.
When I asked, if it wouldn't just be easier all round if they just put in a reasonable increase every year in the first place, the answer was that 'the computer' automatically calculates renewal price on previous year QUOTED price as opposed to the ACTUAL price I paid.
Nonsensical to me. |  | | |
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| Insurance renewal Be Careful. on 20:01 - Mar 25 with 2523 views | Boston |
So when it comes to insurance, don't auto renew your auto insurance. Got it. | |
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| Insurance renewal Be Careful. on 21:17 - Mar 25 with 2464 views | thame_hoops |
Wow captain obvious  |  | | |
| Insurance renewal Be Careful. on 09:54 - Mar 26 with 2274 views | Toast_R |
It's old people they take the absolute p*ss with. My in-laws who are 100% not Computer savvy were paying an extortionate amount for their home insurance policy which was written in 1978 or something and had been rolling over every year since and was literally hundreds of pounds over what it could be. When they eventually asked me to have a look at their bills, I immediately got them to cancel it. The girl on the line couldn't believe the policy she was cancelling was 10 years older then she was. You can see why the renewal's increase because there are plenty of unsuspecting vulnerable people who won't query it. Disgusting that this practice is allowed to happen in today's world. |  | | |
| Insurance renewal Be Careful. on 10:17 - Mar 26 with 2248 views | CroydonCaptJack |
| Insurance renewal Be Careful. on 14:33 - Mar 25 by kensalriser |
The insurance business is all about actuarial science, ie number crunching and risk management modelling, so it's hardly a surprise they apply the same logic to every aspect of the business.
No point in getting morally outraged, all you have to do is understand how it works and if you can be arsed, benefit from it. Same applies to energy. |
Although that is probably correct overall I would ask how this would apply to the following scenario I have just heard about from a work colleague.
His mother unfortunately recently passed away and he has just received a house renewal from Direct Line. His mother just renewed every year since about 2006 and the premium was over £800 quoted. Comparison websites for like for like cover are showing just over £200. No special reasons for any increase either just inertia. I don't necessarily expect loyalty but I do expect the premium to reflect the risk and history at least. |  | | |
| Insurance renewal Be Careful. on 10:35 - Mar 26 with 2225 views | 2Thomas2Bowles |
Very good points by Toast and Croydon
Not everyone would or could look online. no matter how obvious it may seem to some. | |
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| Insurance renewal Be Careful. on 12:20 - Mar 26 with 2167 views | smegma |
All insurance companies are con merchants. | | | |
| Insurance renewal Be Careful. on 13:04 - Mar 26 with 2118 views | robith |
All part of a growing short termism in marketing and sales driven by digital.
Everyone undercuts each other to steal market share. Then realise they need to charge more to make money, putting people straight into the arms of their competitors, who will just have the same issue in a year's time.
Meanwhile they'll all be there bidding on each other's brand names on google, driving up the price and lining google's pockets |  | | |
| Insurance renewal Be Careful. on 13:07 - Mar 26 with 2116 views | whiffer |
I have been an insurance broker for over 30 years and have seen lots of changes over the years, with fewer and fewer independent brokers as regulation gets tighter, which only benefits the large companies. Some good points on here, but I always remind customers that insurance companies aren't charities and are only interested in looking after their shareholders. Plus a lot of what you are talking about on here may be aggregators (comparison sites) or even large Brokers, but again they are only interested in looking after their profit margins. I would always suggest speaking to at least one local, independent broker (if you can find one). It may not be the cheapest, but can be, and you should get sound advice from a human being! |  | | |
| Insurance renewal Be Careful. on 13:34 - Mar 26 with 2067 views | Phildo |
Last year got sent a bill by Admiral for £1000 for last three years due to my Mrs having had a prang - on her own policy with another insurer- 4 years before. Rang them and said I did not agree the 1k which I would dispute and asked them to remove my credit card details from the database.Made it clear they could not deduct the extra money under any circumstances and recorded the call. Within a day they had taken the money. My bank recalled it immediately and I raised a complaint. They then said they had listened to recording of my call when arranging the insurance 3 years ago and I had disclosed the accident so they were dropping the claim. unbelievable stuff though, |  | | |
| Insurance renewal Be Careful. on 15:21 - Mar 26 with 1977 views | kensalriser |
| Insurance renewal Be Careful. on 10:17 - Mar 26 by CroydonCaptJack |
Although that is probably correct overall I would ask how this would apply to the following scenario I have just heard about from a work colleague.
His mother unfortunately recently passed away and he has just received a house renewal from Direct Line. His mother just renewed every year since about 2006 and the premium was over £800 quoted. Comparison websites for like for like cover are showing just over £200. No special reasons for any increase either just inertia. I don't necessarily expect loyalty but I do expect the premium to reflect the risk and history at least. |
This sounds like a classic example of how inertia loading works. If you never question the renewal it keeps on increasing.
I'm curious to know how people think this practice could be stopped. Should we return to price controls, where the state is able to dictate price ceilings? And while it might be possible to do that with commodities and goods for which there is a normal market price, how do you do it with a bespoke individually priced service like insurance? | |
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| Insurance renewal Be Careful. on 15:41 - Mar 26 with 1956 views | Toast_R |
| Insurance renewal Be Careful. on 15:21 - Mar 26 by kensalriser |
This sounds like a classic example of how inertia loading works. If you never question the renewal it keeps on increasing.
I'm curious to know how people think this practice could be stopped. Should we return to price controls, where the state is able to dictate price ceilings? And while it might be possible to do that with commodities and goods for which there is a normal market price, how do you do it with a bespoke individually priced service like insurance? |
There should be a warning on the renewal letter stating clearly that you might be able to get your insurance premium lower if you re-applied.
Personally I always do a quick comparison and then check Quidco for those companies doing cashback deals. Usually bag myself £50 or more every time. | | | |
| Insurance renewal Be Careful. on 15:58 - Mar 26 with 1942 views | CroydonCaptJack |
| Insurance renewal Be Careful. on 15:21 - Mar 26 by kensalriser |
This sounds like a classic example of how inertia loading works. If you never question the renewal it keeps on increasing.
I'm curious to know how people think this practice could be stopped. Should we return to price controls, where the state is able to dictate price ceilings? And while it might be possible to do that with commodities and goods for which there is a normal market price, how do you do it with a bespoke individually priced service like insurance? |
Well with our fleet insurance here at work if we get less accidents/claims the premium goes down and vice versa if it goes up.
We fully expect the Insurance companies to make a profit so we understand how our claims history will affect the premium.
We do use an independent broker though. | | | |
| Insurance renewal Be Careful. on 17:02 - Mar 26 with 1916 views | A40Bosh |
Because I sit in front of a screen 8 hours a day it is easy for me to find time to do this with all utilities and insurances - except Broadband and TV provider, I find that too stressful an end to end process the last few times I have moved to get a better price.
Couple of weeks back the RAC car insurance renewal came in £80+ higher than last year and so I headed straight over to chat to Alexander and Sergei and RAC came out cheapest again. So I rang them and they were upfront and happy to go with the comparethemarket quote as I could provide them a quote reference. When he then went through the quote and we refined it a bit further it worked out even cheaper again then the online quote. So I ended up saving £100. So everyone is happy.
However, fine for me as I have the time and access to the online market, but the insurance brokers rely on the majority just stumping up and that often means as others had said it is pensioners - many of which are not rolling around in money - who often dont have the confidence or inclination to get online and save themselves money.
I mean my own parents walk down to the bank every quarter to pay their gas bill by cheque - just wont trust anything online. |  |
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| Insurance renewal Be Careful. on 18:40 - Mar 26 with 1858 views | Boston |
| Insurance renewal Be Careful. on 13:07 - Mar 26 by whiffer |
I have been an insurance broker for over 30 years and have seen lots of changes over the years, with fewer and fewer independent brokers as regulation gets tighter, which only benefits the large companies. Some good points on here, but I always remind customers that insurance companies aren't charities and are only interested in looking after their shareholders. Plus a lot of what you are talking about on here may be aggregators (comparison sites) or even large Brokers, but again they are only interested in looking after their profit margins. I would always suggest speaking to at least one local, independent broker (if you can find one). It may not be the cheapest, but can be, and you should get sound advice from a human being! |
I have used a broker for thirty years. I’m pleased to report I have always been happy with the service. | |
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| Insurance renewal Be Careful. on 18:48 - Mar 26 with 1853 views | MancR |
For what it's worth. We started changing every year after a too long period of doing nothing.
Now our home insurance is £88 plus a £30 cash back into our quidco account.
Accepting a renewal quote is simply flushing money down the drain. A colleague was paying over £600 but last year changed and is paying £180- she cried when totted up how much she been mugged for. Robbing bar stewards | | | |
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