Insurers are really taking the piss this year

[pointythings]

Got my renewal quote. 30% up on last year. I've had no claims and no changes. Shopped around, got a quote that's 5% more but includes more mileage and business use, which I now need. Existing insurers made zero effort to match! Do they not want the business? So I am all sorted, but it seems such a daft business model. Anyone else experienced the same this year?

Yes, huge hike in premiums this year, for my car and family members’ cars too. Not for anything we’ve done, but because of current inflation rates, increase in business costs etc. Rival quotes were also just as high. Another example of the overall cost of living going up unfortunately.

I reckon I was lucky to find a better quote at all then!

It's claims inflation. Everything costing more and taking longer to source materials. It is a major issue for all types of insurance.

This is also happened two years ago which isn't helping:

UK insurers to be banned from offering cheaper deals to new customers | Insurance | The Guardian

All the articles I have read suggest 16 to 20% would be reasonable. Not 30%. I don't trust insurance companies not to profiteer. They have form.

Thanks for the heads up - ours is due in November. So will make sure we are ready for the silliness. We have good form for negotiating them back to a reasonable small increase as we find they try it on annually - but if it’s good to know they are going for it this year.

@WannabeMathematician that doesn't explain why I got a considerably better quote with more cover elsewhere though. And it doesn't take much effort to find examples of 50%+ price hikes with no change in circumstances. It still feels as if renewing guarantees a worse deal. Or do different companies use different methods of assessing risk?

Relying on the inertia of existing customers is actually a pretty good business model - keep milking the existing customers with year-on-year rises (until they finally realise what you are doing and quit), replace them with new customers you've lured in with cut price rates.

I've actually been pleasantly surprised by the lack of hikes this year.

Car insurance - about 5%. (this is a new insurer - the previous one doubled their quote for no reason)

Pet insurance - basically nothing, even though I put in a big claim last year. House insurance - 10%, and it's the first rise in six years.

I pay yearly for my car insurance.

Last year, it was £600. High but understandable as it was the first car in my name in about a decade.
This year, the renewal quote came through as £800!!
I called to ask why, they said "change in the way insurance is calculated" or something like that.

I used a comparison website and got equivalent cover for £340.

Inflation and shortage of staff/parts in the bodyshops.

Cars are off the road longer, so insurers are having to pay for longer periods of hire cars. (Some have reduced the thresholds for write offs as it can be cheaper to write off than pay for a few weeks more car hire PLUS higher bodyshop bills).

Same with household insurance - tradesmen prices are rocketing, their supplies are also more expensive and materials shortages, if the residents need putting up in hotels whilst their house is being repaired, they're more expensive too.

Inflation and labour shortages are hitting everything.

Depends on how long you've been with your old provider.

Cover decisions and policy renewal quotes are made by computer, they are only passed to an actual human if you query something, but a computer still make the decision.

The algorithm shows that 9 years is the max time before a claim is likely. So anyone who has been a customer for 7 or 8 years WILL see a substantial increase in their policy, year 9 will be an astronomical quote, this is designed into the system so you will go to another company.

Just business OP.

Or do different companies use different methods of assessing risk?

Of course they do. They all have different risk appetites, hence why prices vary when you shop around. Risk appetites vary with time as well so the insurer that was cheapest for you last year might not be this year, even if none of your circumstances have changed.

@thecatsthecats mine has also ended up 5% more, which I am happy with as it is well below inflation. I also pay annually. What I'm hearing here is that insurers are still not to be trusted.

My car insurance has gone up £100 pounds! Never claimed, been with them 10 years!

Yes, had the same issue with house insurance renewal. Switched companies as my original insurer would not match the price. Then they sent me an email asking why I hadn’t renewed with them…

Bizarrely my renewal quote was £1 cheaper this year! I think that's the first time it's happened. Didn't bother to shop around.

I'm with Aviva.

This was covered in the MoneySavingExpert email yesterday.

A great number of people don't bother to shop around each year, they just accept the renewal. Insurance companies know this, so they'll do their best to keep prices down for new customers but hike up prices when you come to renewal.

Funny you should say that - I was with my provider (Coop) 9 years. Last year premium was down; this year it had doubled!!!

Didn't bother to negotiate, just went on a price comparison site and renewed elsewhere at the same price as Coop charged me last year 🤷

I would love for a new disruptor to insurance like Starling, Monzo etc have done to banks - the insurance industry does not deserve to continue as it is.

They've put up everything for us too. The absolute cherry was that we had building works and told house insurance as we thought we ought to. Building work now complete, but they whack on an extra £100 because we made a 'notification'. Like, the people who never have building work done are probably more of a risk factor, you absolute bellends!

Had the same years ago when my bag was nicked with car keys in and I called car insurers to say would insurance be invalidated if I didn't change the locks. They said it was up to me. Come renewal time, £100 extra for a notification.

Lesson learned, never tell them anything!

That's interesting about the 9 years and then you get a joke quote. I had been with mine for 2 years, this would have been year 3. First year: price drop at renewal. Last year: bargained them down to previous price. This year, up 30% and no budging, so I walked. I have 19 years claim free.

I worked for one of the BIG ones, our algorithms showed that 9 years was the point where the chances of a claim was highest. Not necessarily from the fault of the insured party, could be someone crashed into them, but once a claim is made the algorithm shows that another incident will soon follow.

Another fun fact, we could see everything you typed into the information fields on our website before getting a quote. So, if any of you are thinking of being less than truthful, or bending the said truth, to "front" a policy for example, just be aware

THEY CAN SEE EVERYTHING YOU TYPE INTO THE BOXES.

Swapping names, job titles, parked on or off road, annual mileage, we could see everything people had done. It was a very quick way of getting a denied claim.

"No MR Reynold's, we don't think your fiesta was parked on your non existent driveway when it was stolen, you just didn't like the quote when you said it was parked on the road overnight, so you lied to us" !

"How do we know you don't have a driveway?"

"BECAUSE WE HAVE GOOGLE FLIPPIN EARTH AND HALF A BRAIN!"

Errrr, what do underwriters do then?

Take the hit for successful claims.