Bloody Car Insurance!

[anotherplace]

Advice needed ASAP. I've had to make amendment to my car insurance. Basically in my line of work I will sometimes be carrying passengers . Will be doing approx. 2000 miles per year business use, I expected to pay an admin charge but the beggers have quote me nearly £100 extra for the remaining 4 months!
My car is teeny and I only pay £300 for the whole year fully comp with breakdown cover etc.
I don't have the money to get a new policy so I'm a bit stuck really.
Has anyone ever worked in insurance, are these figures plucked out of thin air?

I might add that I've only ever had to pay a small admin fee before when adding light business use.

Different insurance companies use different factors to determine the premiums, so the figures are not plucked out of thin air as such. Most companies charge a minimum admin fee for mid term amendments which is usually around £20 (cancellations are around £50), regardless of the full premium amount.
Business use changes risk factors and some insurance companies charge at different levels for these risk factors. I would imagine that they have calculated the times of day you are likely to be driving for business purposes, plus the possible distractions from the passengers, plus the additional 2000 mile related risk, plus the amendment admin charge = an additional premium of £100.

If you use your car for business purposes, including carrying passengers in connection with that business, then the risk increases greatly in the eyes of an ins co hence the huge additional premium. Why are you having to provide the ins for the business element of your car use? Does your employer not cover this? Your use goes beyond 'traveling to and from a place of business'.

It's change of use.

Social domestic and pleasure
SD&P including commuting to and from fixed placed of work
Business
Commercial
Hire and reward.

The premiums increase according to the insurance cover needed, plus administration fee for mid term policy amendments.

Id be asking your employer to meet the increase if your employment terms or role has changed.

I've never had to pay extra before, only an admin charge. I wont be doing any more miles than I'm currently insured to drive. My policy is for 10,000 but I only do about 6,000 and business use will not exceed 2,000 per anum.

The point is that the passengers, the business use, all increases risk for the insurer - that equates to more money they would potentially pay out in the event of an accident. The more frequently you do this (and 2000 miles business use is pretty frequent) the higher the risk. If this is an essential part of your job then really it's up to your employer to cover it, or meet the cost of the increased premium. Is this something you've always done as part of your job? Or did it gradually creep into the job? Has your employer specifically addressed this issue i.e. is it already part of the T&Cs of your employment contract? I might be wrong but it doesn't sound like it's been well thought through in terms of the actual cost to you by your employer. It seems odd that what would likely require hiring a taxi or hire car for these passenger (if such journeys are a regular and essential part of your job) has just been allocated to you to sort out insurance for. Maybe there's more to it but it just doesn't sit right IMO.

Well I've not long started my job. I knew from the outset I had to change my insurance. Up 'till now I've been doing home visits and training, but a lot of the clients need to be transported to various venues. The employer just pays for mileage, not insurance.

If the job was advertised that you need your own car and they pay mileage then it's likely covered already in your contract. Worth checking it though, just in case. It sounds like your employer knows exactly what it's doing i.e. dumping that cost/liability on you at the outset. They'll know all about how much that would cost so it would have been best if they'd addressed that with you already.

All the other employees just had to pay a small admin charge. I've done this in the past and my premium didn't go up a single penny.

Maybe ask them who they are insured with then? If they have policies that accept this as part of the risk then it might just be a case of shopping around. I think sometimes the hike in premium is to encourage you to go elsewhere as it is maybe something they don't like covering, whereas others more tailored to your sort of job will give a lower quote.

I got a quote for £245 all in, for a year! with business use, but I have just over 4 months left on my policy and I'm totally broke. I'm fed up with insurance companies, had so many bad experiences in the past.

Can you not swap to the company that has quoted £245 and spread the cost over monthly instalments? You might have to pay a cancellation fee for your existing policy though.

I am in the process of doing so, however when I proceed to pay they as: do I want legal protection?, what is insurance for in the first place, IYKWIM, windscreen cover, no it counts as a claim, breakdown cover lost keys etc. It came out at £308, not bad though. Gong to have to borrow of good old Daddy.

What's the cancellation fee on your policy? Would probably be cheaper to pay it and get a new policy with a new company.

Are you working in home car? It's such a exploitative industry for workers.

home care

Well the company I'm with will refund me £45. I have had so many problems with car insurance, I used to be a professional driver and was told that "upped" my premium???? What, for having a PSV and HGV? I think I'm being a tad exploited, I'm having to fork out for getting a job, oh how the times are a changin'.

Windscreen repairs or replacement don't usually count as a claim and don't affect your no claim bonus, they are usually included as standard on policies though. Legal protection is always an added extra. It is advisable to taken legal protection as it is very useful if you are in an accident and have a dispute over who is at fault, but not everybody wants it or needs it (because they want to save money or because they work in legal services themselves or they have a separate legal protection policy that covers all of their needs). £308 is still very cheap. Can you spread the cost over monthly instalments?

Thank you for all your advice. I always take out legal protection as the one time I didn't my car was written off by someone jumping the lights ,and the claim took forever to be resolved.