Car Insurers you are a DISGRACE

[N1985]

After looking at my online banking a few months ago I couldn’t believe how much I was paying so I went on a mission to reduce my direct debits and had some decent results, it doesn’t look like much but it all adds up during the course of a year.

Three Phone Contract was
£20 p/m now £16

Car Insurance was
£90.43 p/m now £51.29

Virgin Media was
£50 p/m now £39

Contact Lenses was
£31.50 p/m now £25

Water Bill was
£30 p/m now £25

Octopus Energy was
£190 p/m now £150 p/m and in credit

£190 month energy? Have you got a grow in your loft?

 

[Worzel Gummidge#9]

£190 month energy? Have you got a grow in your loft?

That’s what the DD was set at until I questioned it

 

[Tuearts right boot]

I`ve had a Car Insurance Quote from my existing Insurers Swinton to confirm my new Direct Debit for the forthcoming year.
I stupidly forgot last year to "shop around" but overnight I did and found that Santander were offering a good offer for me. Nothing had changed from last year and I`ve enjoyed 9 years No Claim Bonus and even includes my 40 year old daughter, who lives in Bulgaria but stays with us occasionally and uses my car.
So my new Insurance with them is a nice £465.40 for this nice FOC and his daughter and includes a small monthly fee for taking it out as a monthly Direct Debit.
I called to tell Swinton that I would NO longer be renewing with them for next year and the dear girl at the other end was lost for words when I asked could they match Santanders quote. ;)
The robbing bastards at Swinton wanted £978.40 for exactly the same insurance.
Talk about money grabbing gits so my fellow Blue Mooners who constantly stay with the same Insurance Company for years, spend an hour or so looking and shopping around when your new policy is ready for renewing.
I suspect most of you already do this.

My dad was an insurance broker for most of his life and even 40 yrs ago he would slag Swinton off as shysters.

 

[tregyblue61]

I had this last year, almost doubled. I'd search online, got a good qoute, rang Hastings. Explained I wouldn't be renewing. She said that she could see that I had been searching for qoutes. Eventually, they matched the qoute that I had found. They are just money making scammers now.

 

[oakiecokie]

“Nice” FOC you say? Who is this person that you speak of?

Moi. ;)

 

[oakiecokie]

Oh and btw if your daughter only drives occasionally when back in Blighty might be better just to insure her on short term insurance or add her to your policy when she here.

I tried that with Swinton and they said they no longer offered short term insurance so I had to bite the bullet and pay something like £58 more for the full year so it wasn`t too bad.

 

[colbee59]

They’re banking on people being lazy and auto renewing.

Mine was £290 last year, quoted £420 by the same company.

Shopped around, found £285, rang my existing company to cancel and they asked what I’d found and they matched the £285 quote with no questions asked.

Gonna try 50p next year.

I always switch when my insurance company offers to match a lower rate, telling them 'why didn't you offer me that price in the first place '

 

[Alan Harper's Tash]

I always switch when my insurance company offers to match a lower rate, telling them 'why didn't you offer me that price in the first place '

The only reason I didn’t was that I’d taken off legal insurance and courtesy car off the new quotes and I kept them with Churchill.

 

[coolcity]

I`ve had a Car Insurance Quote from my existing Insurers Swinton to confirm my new Direct Debit for the forthcoming year.
I stupidly forgot last year to "shop around" but overnight I did and found that Santander were offering a good offer for me. Nothing had changed from last year and I`ve enjoyed 9 years No Claim Bonus and even includes my 40 year old daughter, who lives in Bulgaria but stays with us occasionally and uses my car.
So my new Insurance with them is a nice £465.40 for this nice FOC and his daughter and includes a small monthly fee for taking it out as a monthly Direct Debit.
I called to tell Swinton that I would NO longer be renewing with them for next year and the dear girl at the other end was lost for words when I asked could they match Santanders quote. ;)
The robbing bastards at Swinton wanted £978.40 for exactly the same insurance.
Talk about money grabbing gits so my fellow Blue Mooners who constantly stay with the same Insurance Company for years, spend an hour or so looking and shopping around when your new policy is ready for renewing.
I suspect most of you already do this.

I've always maintained that car insurance is the biggest scam of all. Like the way you're supposed to declare any convictions from the past 5 years even though they drop off your licence after 3 years. They do that for one reason - to give them an excuse to put up your premium.

Other scams include different prices based on your job, EVEN if you're only insuring the car for your personal use only, and the no-claims scam - even if you have a no fault accident your premium is likely to increase next year on the basis that everybody has an accident sooner or later, so you're closer to having one that is your fault next time (was actually told this by an insurance company). There are plenty more - park your car on a driveway and it's likely to be cheaper even though statistically, just as many cars are stolen off driveways apparently.

I always shop around now. Mine is due next month, my last one was actually cheaper than my previous one. But you know it's a scam when you get the results of a multi-quote and pries range from £400 to over £2000. How can one be charging 5x the other?

And if you're paying for legal cover, STOP NOW. They're getting a commission from the lawyers they put you in touch with and charge you for the privilege as well. Use this instead: https://www.freemotorlegal.co.uk


One other point, if you need to make a change and the bastards charge you for it, object to the charge (or just don't pay it), they usually back down. I was livid when I made a minor change online last year - so basically I'd done all the work, it's not like they had to pull out a file and manually update it with pen and ink - and they charged me £30 for the privilege of doing the work for them. Yet another scam and millions probably pay up. I told them I wasn't paying it, never heard another word.

And always cancel your direct debit if you're switching.

 

[coolcity]

They’re banking on people being lazy and auto renewing.

Mine was £290 last year, quoted £420 by the same company.

Shopped around, found £285, rang my existing company to cancel and they asked what I’d found and they matched the £285 quote with no questions asked.

Gonna try 50p next year.

I did that a few years ago. I actually couldn't find a better price at the time, but I told the insurance company I'd found one £60 cheaper and they matched it lol.