To think car insurance providers are really cheeky?

[Pyjamaramadrama]

Perhaps I'm missing something, perhaps someone who works in insurance will correct me.

I recently had my car insurance renewal through, it had gone up by around £300. I did an online price compare with the exact same details and got prices from companies, including from current provider £300-£400 cheaper than my renewal.

Rang them spent 30 minutes on the phone for them to match the price in the end anyway.

Why not just give me the best quote in the first place rather than me go through a load of rigmarole?

Because they're making money on the people who renew without checking.

Because they want to make money.

A surprisingly high number of people will just accept the higher quote to save phoning around and setting up new direct debits.

Generally people for whom £300 is small change I suppose.

It's bonkers it was more than double what I should have been paying.

My renewal was 200 more than new insurance elsewhere but they didnt offer to match. Even if they did I wouldn't have stayed out of principle.

I know it is ridiculous, I always shop around and the the new insurance from somewhere else then phone to say I am not renewing. They usually then say oh, we can match the other quote you got, I just say well if you had offered me a reasonable quote in the first place I wouldn't have gone anywhere else.

If the company I am with offered a renewal which was just a bit over the other lowest quote then I'd probably renew but not when, like the OP, it has been several hundred more

Because they hope you just renew without checking... It's ignoring but that's life...

I must be the only one who doesn't have this. I shop around every single year, with my current details to make sure I get all my excesses and other bits of cover (courtesy car and so on) exactly the same. And for the past 3 years, my current insurer has come out on top.

This year's renewal has been £70 less than last year's.

I have had some joke quotes through the post though, most notoriously from the AA.

Pointy whats your secret? (Suspects pointy is linked to a insurance cult). I love spending hours comparing the meerkat (I love my baby meerkat) and then phoning around. Means less time to mn. (Learnt last night there's more to mn than Aibu as time is precious now). One benefit of the comparing though.....

londonrach I have no idea what my secret is! I'm thinking it's a magical combination of demographics and location. I'm 46, have a clean license and 8 years claim free. I live in a nice neighbourhood with very little crime. My annual mileage is a little on the high side (between 16 and 17k). I'm married and employed. I also changed cars last year to a better one which is a lower insurance group, but even with my previous car the premium trend has been slowly downwards. This year's reduction was a bit of a shock, to be honest - in a good way.

I had a call from mine the other day. It went something like

'Hi Sunflower49, we are calling just out of courtesy about your insurance policy'
'What about it?'

'It is due for renewal in November'
'When?!'
'November.'

'You do realise It's JULY?!'
... They do make money out of people who let the renewal roll automatically. It sucks and I always shop around.

You might be right. Df and dm insurance is 150 per year and doesn't seem to change as they lived where they have for x number of years in safe town, full claim etc. df checks every year but no difference. I live in London, full claims, in late 30s etc and the difference can be as much as £300! I think it's the london bit....

The first year is offered cheaply to get you there, like a loss leader.

It's the same principles as the supermarkets use to tempt you in with offers.

In the first year you get an introductory discount which you are not entitled to in the second year.
Rather than loose your custom they will simply match the internet price.
Also most renewals are generated automatically without any human intervention. Retention department usually have discount they are able to offer depending on criteria etc. The amount of discount and criteria changes month to month hence not included on the original renewal price.
Annoying yes but that is the way of the world

Same story here. Renewal £324, new quote £186.

Called them up and they said 'Ooh we will match that for you.'

Thanks but no thanks. You shouldn't have tried to take the piss in the first place. Don't mind a bit of an increase but that's crazy.

My inlaws must be an insurance company's dream. Very loyal, wouldn't think about using anyone else no matter how much they scam them for. I manage to wrestle the latest renewal off them and the AA wanted £430 and I got them a policy with all the same benefits for £145