to remind you loyalty does not pay

[endlesstidying]

Insurance is due for renewal and I got the letter this mornning. I've been with the same company for years and its always gone up quite a bit. This year it his £60 a month so finally I decided to ring up and ask for a discount.

After keeping me on the phone for ages they came back and offered £10. I asked if they mean monthly and they said no for the whole year. I lost my temper at this point and told them if this is what 5 years of loyal custom meant (not to add 20 years as a customer of their bank) I was taking my custom elsewhere. I was not polite.

I went to more than and was quoted nearly £350 less for exactly the same policy. Its a huge saving wish I'd switched years ago.

Feeling evangelical now so here to remind you loyalty does not pay when it comes to insurance. Switch your policy

sorry for typos wriggly 18 month old trying to teach his teddy to type

Yanbu- I switch every year for this exact reason

It always amazes me how little loyalty pays. For a few years my car insurance company would match the lowest like for like quote I got, but in recent years none of my insurers even seem interested in keeping their customers, or make some token gesture like £10 off the annual premium. They can forget it. I now have no loyalty to insurers, utility providers or anything and shop around for them all every year - yes it's a pain, but I'd rather have the extra money in my pocket.

Yep. I switch every year too.

Last year my renewal was ridiculous, and got quotes ranging from £200 - £350 cheaper for the same cover.

Even when my existing company matched the cheapest quote I still switched. If they can price match, then they can offer my renewal at that price in the first place

I switch every year and my insurance gets cheaper every year and my NCB builds.

I emailed one insurance company a few years ago that I had liked using due to the ease of their online system (and I also happened to have home insurance with them at the time too) to ask why they were renewing at a higher price when I had no accidents, no points, and had another years NCB and their competitors and THEMSELVES were charging me about half the quoted renewal price if I went through price comparison websites.

They replied very honestly and in so many words said that they quote low through comparison websites to suck people in and hope that a percentage of those people will automatically renew a year later at a higher cost. They can't afford for everyone to auto renew at the 'enticement price'

I cancelled my auto-renewal with them and went through a price comparison site and took out exactly the same insurance cover with exactly the same company but about £250 cheaper.

You should always switch every year. It's the only way to keep the prices down.

Nicely done OP!

I switch every year. House insurance due soon so will be on the comparison sites later

Yeah I always switch insurance companies to whoever is cheaper. If they can't be bothered to reward loyalty then why be loyal in the first place.
Enjoy your extra cash op! :-)

Are your supposed to switch life insurance providers as well? Dh seems to think we should stick but I thought they were like all other insurances and it was better to shop around each year.

I switch for the better deal, but only after asking my current company if they'll price match. In 2012 Admiral wouldn't price match so I switched to Sainsbury's. In 2013 Admiral ofefred me a better deal (through price comparison sites) and included a few things that Sainbury's offered as 'optional extras' so I called Sainsbury's and they made it a fiver cheaper than admiral, removed the extras I didn't want (or need!) and gave me extras that Admiral's policy had. It is worth checking with them first though!

Life insurance slightly different Dip as I wouldn't expect your premium to go up every year? Mine stays the same (or iirc, is guaranteed not to go up for 10 years) so I'll leave it where it is.

Absolutely agree re: everything else.

The Martin Lewis website has a good energy savers club, where basically you put in what you're paying and it not only tells you if you can get a better deal now, it stores your details and emails you if you can get a better deal in the future.

Do make sure you're comparing like for like with home insurance though. Our last policy had a cheap premium but the excess was £350 which meant it wasn't worthwhile claiming on two small(ish) things that went wrong with the house...

I threaten to cancel things all the time. I 'saved' £40 on my AA membership with a five minute phone call the other say.

HERE is MSEs guide to haggling

I stay with the same car insurance company but do an online application as a new client then phone them. They then match their own price . Its mad!

I do that too. I've been with the same car insurance company for 8 years. I stay with them because if you claim they are good and don't quibble and are quick to organise everything for you.

When my renewal comes in I check it on the price comparison websites, like for like including their own prices then phone them.

They have always given me the lower renewal price plus an extra 5% so I'm happy.

There is no loyalty to customers you just have to accept that and find the best deal for you.
The cheapest is not always the best if the won't pay out when you need it.

I was suprised at the difference in car insurance since the changes regarding female drivers.

Normally I am insured as policy holder and dh as named driver.
I got a few quotes last week as we are looking to get another car, put all the details in, then checked to see how much cheaper it would be without dh (as I will probably be the only one driving this car) and his 6 penalty points.

It went up by around £40 when I took dh off.

I have never had an accident or claim, this makes no sense to me.

If you go to Easyfundraising you can raise money for charity by just getting quotes. They will give £1.15 to a charity of your choice just for getting a quote from confused.com and 75p for getting one from gocompare.com. If you buy insurance from any of the insurers registered on there then there is usually quite a big donation. I got £30 for my buildings and content insurance last year, it really makes a difference.

I never ask for a discount, I just ring up and tell them I won't be renewing due to the cost.

It's amazing how fast they come back with a much better price.

If you have your children on car insurance as named drivers and you effectively take a new policy every year, rather than renew, their NCD only applies for the duration of the new policy ie. a year. Even if if they've been named for 5/6 years with the same company.

My letting agent made out I had to use a certain firm for contents insurance. After 8 months of paying £36pcm, I now pay £9pcm!! Made sure I had tenants liability after being reminded on here but it's the exact same policy

YABU to have been rude on the phone though - I used to work in insurance and some customers were absolutely vile about their premiums. I was called a fucking bitch on more than one occasion.

And whilst it is frustrating, it isn't the person on the phone who

Oops - pressed send too quickly

It isn't the person on the phone who decides the premium.

YANBU to switch though.

We go through a price comparison website every year. Every year, our current insurer comes out the cheapest, but usually around £200-250 cheaper than the auto-renew price. This years was a cracker, auto-renew would have been £860 - we got it down to £520 (for 2 cars). But we've been with the same insurer for about 6 years, they just price match the comparison site every year.

Don't worry Abbey I didn't go to that extent. I did make it clear though they should convey my views back to their managers or put one on the line to me as it wasn't fair that they should have to put up wiht people being upset by their derisory offers.

You are right though I should have been nicer