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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think my car insurance premium almost tripling is unfair?

27 replies

AvocadosBeforeMortgages · 14/02/2020 00:09

Long story short, I'm looking at moving my car from parents house in suburbia to my driveway at my new flat - city centre, gated and locked.

I've never really needed a car before now, but long story short I now need to make more use of the ancient hatchback so I can do more work and earn more money; the opportunities aren't practical on a bike or public transport.

The only detail changing is the address it's kept at, and the premium will go from £350 to £1050!!! The car itself is only worth about £750.

Apparently it's because of higher crime / claim rates in my new postcode. I'm quite certain there is higher crime here - but it's not me committing the crime (I've never had so much as a parking ticket FFS let alone a court appearance). It's not my fault the police seem unable to keep a lid on crime in my postcode either. Yet I'm being billed for it.

I understand that the insurance companies have to make money and cover the cost of claims, but at a moral / philosophical level it seems deeply unfair that I'm being told to pay an extra £750 per year to cover the cost of other people's criminal activities. I don't live in this area for the sake of it - I can't afford a nicer area. As the saying goes, it costs more to be poor.

The upshot of this is that I can't afford to front the extra costs of car insurance, so I won't be able to take on more work (the exact quantity of which is unknown), so I won't be able to earn more. I'm fed up Sad

OP posts:
SpoonBlender · 14/02/2020 00:11

Does your insurance co know it's gated and locked?

HeddaGarbled · 14/02/2020 00:11

Uber?

BigChocFrenzy · 14/02/2020 00:13

As your car is only worth 750, you really need only 3rd party
How much is that ? surely not the 1050 ?

Original poster
AvocadosBeforeMortgages · 14/02/2020 00:14

Does your insurance co know it's gated and locked?

Yes

Uber?

Unfortunately that wouldn't be cost effective due to the distances involved, the potential earnings and the amount of (messy) kit I have to move in order to do the work.

OP posts:
Original poster
AvocadosBeforeMortgages · 14/02/2020 00:15

As your car is only worth 750, you really need only 3rd party
How much is that ? surely not the 1050 ?

I looked at that, but it only shaves about £100 per year off the price.

OP posts:
NoSquirrels · 14/02/2020 00:19

Well, obviously insurance fraud is illegal but this is why people lie about where their car is “usually” kept...

Holidaycountdown · 14/02/2020 00:19

Is that with your current insurance provider or all of them?

Shylo · 14/02/2020 00:20

Have you tried looking at other insurers? You might find that moving the policy elsewhere sees a better premium

Original poster
AvocadosBeforeMortgages · 14/02/2020 00:21

This is having spoken to current insurer and having done the usual price comparison websites.

OP posts:
LuluJakey1 · 14/02/2020 00:21

And you've had a number of quotes to compare?
Mine went up by £400 for no reason and I found a quote that was £600 lower than that for the same coverage so ended up saving £200. It is worth really looking around.

LuluJakey1 · 14/02/2020 00:21

Sorry x post.

notangelinajolie · 14/02/2020 00:27

Try putting in a higher car value in your quotes. Insurers don't like cars that are worth less the 1k.

Sobeyondthehills · 14/02/2020 00:48

Martin Lewis did a thing on this, if you look between 20 and 28 days before your renewal it is much cheaper than before or after that time frame, so it might be worth looking then

araiwa · 14/02/2020 01:59

Youve moved from the lowest risk part of your city to the highest risk area

BarbaraofSeville · 14/02/2020 04:22

It's not just higher crime that's put your premium up but if you live in a city centre the roads are busier and might have more chance of crashing and hence claiming.

Well, obviously insurance fraud is illegal but this is why people lie about where their car is usually kept.

I wouldn't even think about trying this. If you had to claim, your insurance company has ways of detecting untruths like this. For example, your mobile phone keeps a detailed record of all your movements. So unless you want to actually keep your car at your parents house and go pick it up each time you want to use it, you need to tell them where you actually keep it.

peanutbutterandfluff · 14/02/2020 04:40

It’s annoying but not unexpected. I had the same thing except where I moved to was so bad that my insurer declined to insure me at all in my new postcode.

I ended up getting black box insurance to save money.

Maybe try to find an actual human broker rather than just looking online? They may be able to find something more reasonable.

Willowashen · 14/02/2020 06:16

Moving the location of your car should make no, or at least very little, difference to the third party risk your insurer will be covering. It makes no sense whatsoever that your premium for third party only is £950 when it was £350 full comp before.

Are you sure you’re looking at “third party” not “third party, fire and theft”?

TalaxuArmiuna · 14/02/2020 06:24

tbh I would rethink this plan anyway. insurance companies are not thick and have access to vast amounts of data. their knowledge has allowed them to calculate that the probabilities of you having an incident which costs them more than writing off your car within a year is pretty much certain.

if they are right then this is a bad plan - but they may be nagging their risk calculations on factors that you can change.

experiment with the websites to see what factors might bring the cost down. try putting in different car details - if you upgrade to a car worth £1750 the premiums could go down because they assume the drivers of cheap old bangers are careless? do you live with anyone? adding a second named driver to a policy can reduce it significantly.

adaline · 14/02/2020 06:31

Look around at new insurance companies. If a company doesn't want to insure you for some reason, they hike the prices massively so you'll be put off.

When I bought my current car I tried to renew my insurance with my existing provider - they wanted to charge me over £1000 per year. I looked on other sites and got exactly the same cover with a different provider for just £390. Details on both policies were exactly the same.

Rose789 · 14/02/2020 06:32

All you can do is shop around for quotes. There tends to very little difference between comprehensive and third party fire and theft, very few insurers offer third party only cover now.
Because of the value it may be worth while increasing your excess. Although that means if you were to claim you would need to pay a higher amount.
Insurance is based on so many factors and risk post code is a big part of that.
Look into spreading the cost monthly, there will be an APR but it could allow you to do more work which would help pay the increased premiums.

SimonJT · 14/02/2020 06:37

My car is parked in an area that has a bit of a problem with car theft and vandalism, as a result my premium reflects this. Before xmas my car was stolen, this cost my insurance company just shy of £30k.

If you think the new premium is too high use a comparison site, your insurance company may match a quote, if not cancel and go elsewhere.

AJPTaylor · 14/02/2020 06:43

I am sure that when you were living in nice suburb you were happy with premium and would havr objected to subsidising areas with a higher risk.

eyemask · 14/02/2020 06:45

Shop around and go direct, just renewed mine and compare sites didn't get the cheapest. Mine still did go up by about £300 due to area (they don't seem to like you living rurally either).

YicketyYackMamasBack · 14/02/2020 06:48

Would you consider buying a newer car? Not new but newer.

Your insurance will lower, sometimes considerably for a newer car due to the safety features they are less of a risk.

Find a newer car on auto trader and use the number plate to do a search quote to give yourself an idea of prices.

Also, never quote your insurance from a middle month day or a few days ahead. Always do it from the 1st day of the month or last if it’s close to a new month. They stick money on it if you need it soon.

Toomboom · 14/02/2020 06:56

I changed address last year. Still live in the same street, just a different house number, My insurance went up £200 due to me now being a higher risk?? It makes no sense as I am still literally on the same street, so not sure how they worked out it was now risker.

I looked through comparison sites and ended up paying less than I was paying by the insurer that wanted to up the insurance. Really worth checking out other insurers.

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