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AIBU?

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Original poster

I thought car insurance was supposed to go down!?

28 replies

Sidking · 02/08/2023 19:46

As you gained experience? Yet it has shot up again this year after slowly going down over the last 7 years I've been driving (full no claims, no convictions etc)

I just replaced my car, previous car was an 09 plate 308sw with a 1.6l engine, now I have a 13 plate scenic with a 1.5l engine. Today I went to buy the insurance after getting quotes when considering the car (didn't purchase at the time because I didn't know if I'd get it) and while going through the bits on the insurer's site the price jumped from £53pm to £80+, nothing had changed in the 2 days since I got the quote 🤔

Finally found one that didn't jump up after being redirected but I had to insure it from tomorrow as it they wanted an extra £5 a month (so £60) to insure me for the extra 12 hours! I only wanted to go shopping! 🙈

All this was after phoning my current insurer to change the car, for them to say it would be £77 a month up from £55 I was paying on my old car (which has already jumped up from £43 when renewed in June).

I've only been driving 7 years, so I thought my price would keep dropping for a bit yet, my parents pay half what I do but now mines going up not down! I get it's a newer car and it's slightly bigger generally (though smaller engine), but I perhaps wrongly assumed that they would consider a 10 year old car with half the amount of miles on it would be a tad safer to drive than one 5 years old, I'm sure when I changed from an 04 plate 207 to the 308 it went down! And what has changed since 31st July when I checked it would be similar to what i was paying, to getting quotes £30 more!?

I did a quick Google search and a couple of sources said it's happening a lot this year, so has anyone else been taken by surprise at their renewal quotes? Is this a temporary issue or will car insurance be something that stays high do you think?

OP posts:
Lkahsvtv · 02/08/2023 19:48

Did the value of your car go up when you got a new one? If it did that would be why your insurance went up as they’d have to pay to replace a more expensive car.

FijiSea · 02/08/2023 19:50

Yes , our quotes are all increased.
Ive been driving for 24 years , never claimed ever , drive a little 1 litre and mine still went up by £120 a year to £290.
DP just done his renewal quote and his has doubled !
Hes also zero claims and driving 20 plus years.
It used to be the case that you got your renewal quote from current provider , then I’d go on comparison sites and get it for MUCH cheaper , this is no longer the case .
Ive read it’s to do with longer times to repair cars / delays with parts meaning insurers having to pay more and longer lengths of courtesy car hire .

Spanglybangles · 02/08/2023 19:51

It is happening everywhere this year. I have 20 years NCD and my renewal quote was nearly double this year. Absolutely shocking. I was with AA and always phone to haggle the price down….they wouldn’t budge an inch this year, so I had to go elsewhere. Was still higher, but not quite as high as the AA.

Mindymomo · 02/08/2023 19:55

I understand your frustration, DH and I are in our sixties, our yearly insurance has been under £200 per year for several years, we now only use car maybe 3 or 4 days a week and not very far, our insurance has gone up to £300 per year, so a third more. I have contacted them and have got them to reduce it, but it’s still £250.

Original poster
Sidking · 02/08/2023 19:56

Lkahsvtv · 02/08/2023 19:48

Did the value of your car go up when you got a new one? If it did that would be why your insurance went up as they’d have to pay to replace a more expensive car.

Ah of course, that will be why my original insurer wanted an extra £25 a month, but the price didn't change from the quotes so that's not why those ones jumped 🤔

AA are who I was originally insured with, the woman didn't seem surprised I wanted to leave TBF, now with Hastings for £20 cheaper and only £2pm more than the AA insurance on the old car :)

OP posts:
Nw22 · 02/08/2023 19:57

Yes ours went up 250

ComtesseDeSpair · 02/08/2023 20:02

The costs of labour and parts have increased, rising premiums are reflecting that the average cost per claim is significantly higher than it was a couple of years ago.

HoneyIShrunkThePizza · 02/08/2023 20:07

Higher value and inflation. And if you leave it late to insure it goes up to - I think there is a specific number like 27 days in advance (moneysavingexoert will have it) which is cheapest.

ColonelBrandonsPiano · 02/08/2023 20:07

Basically Claims inflation ; insurers have been subject to the same inflationary pressures as the rest of the market and more so in respect of inflation for the costs of motor repair; parts and labour.

HoneyIShrunkThePizza · 02/08/2023 20:08

too and money saving expert. Argh!

Original poster
Sidking · 02/08/2023 20:14

HoneyIShrunkThePizza · 02/08/2023 20:07

Higher value and inflation. And if you leave it late to insure it goes up to - I think there is a specific number like 27 days in advance (moneysavingexoert will have it) which is cheapest.

That doesn't make sense to me, I dont understand how buying the policy and having it start immediately is any cheaper than having it start in x amount of days?

Like with my new policy, I had to take it out for tomorrow because they wanted £60 to insure me for literally 12 hours? How have they come up with that figure? Perhaps they don't want to insure you in the first 24hrs of owning a car in case you go out to show it off and start driving like a prick

OP posts:
amusedbush · 02/08/2023 20:15

I renewed in March and my quote was a LOT more than I expected. As always, I phoned to haggle and got it down a bit but it was still a decent amount more than last year (I pay annually).

I phoned back twice and they wouldn’t budge, so I looked on comparison sites but nobody would offer me a much better price.

SlightlygrumpyBettyswaitress · 02/08/2023 20:17

All premiums are going up.
Reasons
Value of used cars have gone up (policies have been priced on cars depreciating)
Many cars are not feasible to repair due to issues in supply of parts and labour
Theft of cars and parts have increased
As cost of living Bites there will be more fraud.

mrsbyers · 02/08/2023 20:19

Was on sorting my mums out today , hers with sainsburys bank had increased by 50% ! Ended up going with AA which was a 20% increase but nothing had changed , no claims , same car just a year older

WeAreTheHeroes · 02/08/2023 20:22

Mine's gone up 20%.

Senorfrijoles · 02/08/2023 20:33

Sidking · 02/08/2023 20:14

That doesn't make sense to me, I dont understand how buying the policy and having it start immediately is any cheaper than having it start in x amount of days?

Like with my new policy, I had to take it out for tomorrow because they wanted £60 to insure me for literally 12 hours? How have they come up with that figure? Perhaps they don't want to insure you in the first 24hrs of owning a car in case you go out to show it off and start driving like a prick

Show quote history

It's based on risk profiles. Data show that people who renew their insurance at the last minute are slightly more likely to have an accident than people who renew earlier (presumably due to being more conscientious?) Marin Lewis explained this on his podcast. With insurance, costs are based on risk calculations from accident data.

Gerrataere · 02/08/2023 20:35

It’s bad op but I’ve yet to see one as bad as mine went up. From under £600 per year to over £1700 was my renewal offer (still a fairly new driver but no claims or speeding incidents). And that was with the dreaded black box. Other companies didn’t fare hugely better so I compromised. Now paying nearly 3x per month more than I was but at least that lying bastard box which suggested I never accelerate is not longer a problem…

sadaboutmycat · 02/08/2023 20:41

My eldest son explained it like this.

The basis of your premium is probability

If you haven't had an accident yet, it's becoming more likely that you will have one in the future. So they don't want you any more and bump the premium up.

Go to a new insurer and it resets, as it were.

I quite liked the theory!

barbieseyebrows · 02/08/2023 20:42

Not all premiums are going up

Last year my insurance was £470 for 3L Volvo S60

This year my insurance was £425 for the same car

However I did have to change provider, as my original insurer wanted £740 😂

Noodledoodledoo · 02/08/2023 20:44

My insurance no changes except car older, me older etc went up by 48% this year. Apparently inflation based

Utini · 02/08/2023 20:45

sadaboutmycat · 02/08/2023 20:41

My eldest son explained it like this.

The basis of your premium is probability

If you haven't had an accident yet, it's becoming more likely that you will have one in the future. So they don't want you any more and bump the premium up.

Go to a new insurer and it resets, as it were.

I quite liked the theory!

That's not how probability works though! In fact people who haven't had an accident in years are less likely to have one over the next year than someone who has had an accident.

SmirnoffIceIsNice · 02/08/2023 20:46

My DD (24) had her renewal through from Direct Line and it had shot up to over £900! I called them to ask if it was a mistake. She drives a Citroen C1, no accidents or claims over the past 12 months. They managed to knock £30 off and I told them to take it off auto renewal as I was going to shop around. The guy blamed inflation etc. I went on Compare the Market and got a new policy with Aviva which was £200 cheaper.

TeresaCrowd · 02/08/2023 20:46

It always jumps a little bit when you change car, unfamiliar etc, but if the car is reasonably like for like it does usually settle down the next year. However, currently everything costs a fortune so stuff in the event of a claim eg parts, Labour, new cars, hire cars and that’s on top of the cost of doing business for the insurers the current jumps are a lot more than just changing your car. Much like everything else it’s another CoL bite 👎

AndIKnewYouMeantIt · 02/08/2023 20:47

The thing about being close to renewal/close to buying a new car is true.

"In the case of people who are insuring a car and want the cover to start immediately, for example if they’re buying a new car in the next couple of days and need insurance to drive it home, costs can likewise increase the closer to the date they want their cover to start. The reason for this is that insurers will view them as being desperate for cover, perhaps for an emergency situation."

https://www.abbeyautoline.co.uk/knowledge-hub/driving/why-does-my-car-insurance-quote-keep-changing/

Why does my car insurance quote keep changing? | AbbeyAutoline

Have you ever got a car insurance quote that changes a few days later? Find out more about why your car insurance quote might change.

https://www.abbeyautoline.co.uk/knowledge-hub/driving/why-does-my-car-insurance-quote-keep-changing

Naviwhat · 02/08/2023 20:55

Lkahsvtv · 02/08/2023 19:48

Did the value of your car go up when you got a new one? If it did that would be why your insurance went up as they’d have to pay to replace a more expensive car.

It’s not due to the value of the car - it’s the insurers themselves. Prices all going up now.