"Insurance" Companies take us for a ride!

[TUFFTEE]

I thought i would start this discussion! to see what everyone's feelings are about the amount of their Premiums.

[muddyweb]

It always pains me to pay car insurance because (thankfully) I've never had to make a claim.

The thing is, in this ever-increasingly litigent society we have created for ourselves, if anything did happen, you need some sort of safety net.

I think the way that some insurance companies deal with people is appalling...  I have heard them refuse payouts over the most ridiculous things...  the job of the assessor seems to have become 'payment avoidance' these days.

[TimM]

With all the risks out there, I have taken fully comprehensive insurance for many years now, and I'm glad off all the benefits of having insurance.

I just hate having to pay so much for it  

When I was younger I heard that insurance became cheaper when you hit 25, I eagerly awaited my birthday, but (what a suprise) no noticable differance.

I'm put off buying expensive cars/4x4's as the premiums will rocket.

BUT as much as I moan about it, we NEED insurance and MUST have it, I do not condone in any way the little ####'s who drive around without any!

[TUFFTEE]

I myself always insure fully comprehensive and i have done for years and years! got maximum NCD's that you can get Protected! About 5 years ago my car was hit in a carpark Whilst unnattended! they managed to push in the nearside quarter panel Nice job! However when i spoke to my insurer they were very good! all it cost me at the time was my £100 thingey and they took my car and got it fixed! Nice job again! However when it came time to insure again i find that i have lost my NCD protection? and my premium was a lot higher? All this for a supposedly Ncd protected policy! So i reckon they make their own rules as they go.

[TimM]

Sorry to here that Nev,

I too have protected NCD, and I managed to hit some old granny a couple of years ago when she stopped in the middle of a roundabout - because she was confused! This was deemed to be my fault  

My insurers fixed my car (she was lucky I was only in my car!) for the £100 excess and have continued to insure me for 'normal rates' which is the whole point of having it.

BUT, if I try to change to another insurer, bang goes the protection, I can transfer my full no claims, but the initial premium would be loaded as I'm 'a risk'  

[thermidorthelobster]

Thieving scumbags, the lot of them.  I have so much grief when I come to renew insurance it's not true.  This despite me being 29 and not having made a claim since I was 17 - they *always* find some totally ridiculous reason for ripping me off.  And it's not just one insurer - every time I go through the motions of getting competitive quotes, and I end up flabbergasted.

As an example, the 101 costs me about £500 per year to insure, even though it's used occasionally, and is hardly a target for joy-riders.  So when I moved it back to Surrey after keeping it in Devon, they upped my premium by £90, even though it's kept in a secure compound with two security gates and monitored access!

When I came to insure the 101 originally, I could only find 2 insurers (Adrian Flux and Co-op) who would take it on AT ALL - even though I tried all the usual LR magazine advertisers & national companies.

If I ever found myself marooned on a desert island with a group of insurers, you'd find me 6 months later sitting on a big pile of bones!

[TUFFTEE]

Precisely Accidents and Mishaps do happen! Thats the Business they are in? I guess they are like a betting shop! they take bets on wether anything happens to you or your car during your term of the policy! If nothing happens then they win1 If something happens then you lose?

[JD LWB]

With all this talk of bad insurers, can anyone reccomend one who DOESN'T rip you off? (I'm 20 so I need all the help I can get)!

[TUFFTEE]

Send Barry scott a PM  he's on the Mud-Club Discounts as wel i think!!

[muddyweb]

Precisely Accidents and Mishaps do happen! Thats the Business they are in? I guess they are like a betting shop! they take bets on wether anything happens to you or your car during your term of the policy! If nothing happens then they win1 If something happens then you lose?

No no no no no no....


When was the last time your heard of a big insurance company making a loss ?   Doesn't happen often.

We all pay our premiums for many years for the protection... then when something happens... our premiums go up...   why ?  Because the insurance company have had to pay out and need to get their money back.

Ask anyone who lives somewhere near a river what they think of insurance....

[Barry Scott]

I answered maybe, there are some very good insurers out there.  For house insurance I would always go with Zurich myself, just heard so many good things about them.

For car it varies on the type and your details to, but I will not deny there are good and bad.

jamessunhill, we can only do drivers 23 and over on our 4x4 policies at the moment, 21 and over coming soon.

Speek to V8_redline7500, he is 20 and just got a good price, cannot remember who he said it was through.

[TUFFTEE]

We all pay our premiums for many years for the protection... then when something happens... our premiums go up...   why ?  Because the insurance company have had to pay out and need to get their money back.

Thats why they give us No Claims Bonuses! and if you are Claim free for a long time then they will offer protection for it! (To me protection means Protection) Ie Not get penilized for a one off! Now if you make a habit of iClaiming then of course you should get penilized!

[Reaper]

With all this talk of bad insurers, can anyone reccomend one who DOESN'T rip you off? (I'm 20 so I need all the help I can get)!

I have been with Adrian Flux for the last 10 years, every year I ring around and sometimes I get a quote a few pounds cheaper, I then go back to Flux and they match or beat it!  So I would reccomend you give them a try !  plus they don't try and class my S3 SWB hard top as an estate ! like some do  :?

[littlepow]

the only true way to find out how good an insurance company is to make a claim.

Mine seems alright, cheapish and easy to sort out cover. But then I'm paying them. Not had to try and get them pay me yet. So no idea how good they are on that side.
That and I don't want to find out. :oops:

[Henry Webster]

[rant]I would just like someone to assess my risks and make a proper judgement on it rather than just pigeon hole me!

I have never made a claim or had a claim made against me.  I have been driving for 15 years.  Most of those have been very high mileage years.  I currently do over 50,000 miles p/a.

How big a risk am I? :?

I've taken some of those risks back on myself now.  My regular road car is just insured TPF&T.  (If TP only was cheaper - I might even go for that).  I do not protect my NCB on any of my cars, just don't think its worth it!

And why can't I get one insurance policy for all my cars - I can only drive one at any given time, after all! :(

The other thing that irritates me is that renewal premiums are rarely competitive, yet when you test the market (which I always do) and return to your insurer they will often match any new quote.  That's taking the p!

Just don't start me...

Sorry Barry I haven't yet tried you, but I will next time around - especially if you can offer small fleet insurance - 3+ cars


H
[/rant]

[Barry Scott]

Henry

Sorry to hear that.  One thing you may find is when an insurer see's the 50,000 plus miles, that might be a bit of a shock.  To them your vehicle is doing over 4 times the average mileage and therefore in their view is over 4 times the risk.

However if you have been claim free for so long then that should be taken into account too.

I am not really sure where multi vehicle policies went, there may be the odd one about still.  You will find some insurers give a discount if you have more than one policy with them though.

[laser_jock99]

With all this talk of bad insurers, can anyone reccomend one who DOESN'T rip you off? (I'm 20 so I need all the help I can get)!

I have been with Adrian Flux for the last 10 years, every year I ring around and sometimes I get a quote a few pounds cheaper, I then go back to Flux and they match or beat it!  So I would reccomend you give them a try !  plus they don't try and class my S3 SWB hard top as an estate ! like some do  :?

My Adrian Flux re-newal was £413 this year. I fished around and £297 from the AA website, presented the evidence to Adrian Flux and they beat the AA by a tenner!! Can't complain at that. Now all I have to do is remind them later of all the modifications there are on the car.......

[Henry Webster]

Henry
Sorry to hear that.  One thing you may find is when an insurer see's the 50,000 plus miles, that might be a bit of a shock.  To them your vehicle is doing over 4 times the average mileage and therefore in their view is over 4 times the risk.

Thanks Barry, the 50K is spread across 3+ vehicles and is probably nearer 40 come to think of it.  The racer is on a 1K limited policy, my tow Discovery does about 10K, and the commuting car, a diesel Fiesta does 30K.

I think that that is my point though, is it really four times the risk if I have never made a claim, yet have always driven high mileages?  I would like to think that a broker was in a position to make a judgement on the risk I actually present, but I guess it doesn't work that way.

I have never found that the second car discount amounts to much.

H

[Barry Scott]

It depends on the broker/insurer.  Some will just input the data into a system and tell you what comes out, other will asses your risk, refer to underwriters and try to explain your specific needs and requirements.

Unfortunately it may be pot luck as to which of the above services you receive.

[Wanderer]

I'll tell you all the biggest rip off of the lot.

You insure your vehicle.

Someone wants to borrow it. He's insured to drive another vehicle not belonging to himself with third party cover.

You say Ok.

He has a bump and guess what?

The robbing gits take away your no claims.

It didn't happen to me but to a mate.

Ed

[Barry Scott]

Wanderer

It is hard to say without the full details but from what you say, that is not possible.  The claim for the damage to the other vehicle should have been made from the person driving the car, through his driving other cars benefit.

If your friend did not claim for his car (which he should not have been able to as it was not insured for the other driver), then his no claims bonus should not be affected.

If this is the case, he should take this further.  PM me if you want details for the Financial Ombudsmen.

[Wanderer]

AIUI they used the "The vehicle owned by you was involved in an accident"
It happened earlier this year and to be frank most insurance companies can make and change rules concerning no claims bonus. I'd be interested in any pointers where this can be straightened out.

Ed

[Barry Scott]

Wanderer

He would need to check there was no claim made under his policy.  I presume he did not claim for his car, and there should have been no payment to the third party as it was covered by the drivers insurance.

The policy books I have to hand all say something that basically means if they have to pay any money out, your no claims bonus would be stepped back.
 
Tell him to call his insurer/broker and ask for the costs they paid for his claim.  If they paid none then he should ask why his bonus has been stepped back.  Tell him to look in his policy booklet index for No Claims Bonus and read the section about it, it may explain when and why no claims bonus may be stepped back.  

If they say they have paid out, ask to whom, how much and why.

If you need any more info, feel free to PM me.

[luffy]

With all this talk of bad insurers, can anyone reccomend one who DOESN'T rip you off? (I'm 20 so I need all the help I can get)!

I have been with Adrian Flux for the last 10 years, every year I ring around and sometimes I get a quote a few pounds cheaper, I then go back to Flux and they match or beat it!  So I would reccomend you give them a try !  plus they don't try and class my S3 SWB hard top as an estate ! like some do  :?

My Adrian Flux re-newal was £413 this year. I fished around and £297 from the AA website, presented the evidence to Adrian Flux and they beat the AA by a tenner!! Can't complain at that. Now all I have to do is remind them later of all the modifications there are on the car.......

I can't fault the service I've had from Adrian Flux over the last three years.

My renewal this year with them was about £100 more because of the V8 conversion.  After phoning around a few other companies, I got a renewal figure of about £100 less than Flux (i.e the same as what my current premium was)

When I phoned Flux back they beat the other quote by a fiver so I've actually renewed this year for less than I paid last year, even with a V8 conversion.

I sometimes wonder if there's any logic to the way insurance premiums are calculated.

[Priglet]

I've been fairly well treated by NFU.

1). I had a 90 stolen 18 months ago and cursed for a month as I had to share the wife's car. As soon as the month was up NFU phoned up and started talking about the value of my motor. I thought the price was a bit low so haggled and got a few hundred pounds added for various things and got to a price was happy with only to be told it was plus vat giving me an extra grand.

2). When I got a new vehicle they let me have the remainder of the policy on it even though they had paid out in full.

3). My next premium was cheaper even though I'd had a claim and my NCB wasn't reduced.

4). I upgraded to a 110 3 months into my policy this year and haven't had to pay any more money even though the vehicle is newer and more expensive than the 90 was.

Although I wouldn't complain if insurance was cheaper

[Xtremeteam]

as mentioned earlyer i got a good price for my 90 when i turned 20 on tuesday,im with hastings direct & paying £570 FC

it worked out as £577 TPFT myself & if i added my dad as a named driver it was only £518 FC but as im paying monthly thats how i get the £570

[Bush Tucker Man]

I think the Discovery renewal (with Adrian Flux) was £312.00*, including Legal Protection, last year.
However, as usual, it went up, by about £20.00 ( I seem to recall)
As I understand it a percentage of the policy goes into a central pot in order to pay out for the damage caused by the uninsured scrotes.

*
Full NCB, 22 & 1/2 years clean licence, SWMBO as a named driver

Barry
Question;
I know certain jobs constitute a higher insurance risk, due to distance/hours/passengers, etc...
But, given my possible change of career (from NHS) & takng my HGV tests. Will the premium go up, or down, due to the driving experience/training?
I ask simply out of curiosity.

[Barry Scott]

BTM, I just put it through the system (I have VPN access from home) and some went up and others went down.

It will depend on the insurers own statistics for that occupation, for the 4x4 policies we do it would have no effect.

[Bush Tucker Man]

Thanks Barry for the quick response

[paul_humphreys]

[rant]
And why can't I get one insurance policy for all my cars - I can only drive one at any given time, after all! :(
[/rant]

Try here,,  http://www.norton-ib.co.uk/ they use to do just what you want. I use to have a motor traders policy with them.