To think that car insurance has gotten to be a scam

[MaloneMeadow]

Tell me in what world is it reasonable that I’ve just paid £4500 for my (very sensible) DD’s first year of insurance, whilst DM’s 80 year old best friend is still tootling around with severe eyesight issues and dementia, having a near miss on a daily basis yet paying next to nothing insurance wise! Absolutely scandalous that the government are sitting back and allowing the horrendous price gouging currently going on with car insurance in the UK.

https://www.uswitch.com/car-insurance/car-insurance-statistics/

@user1477391263 not sure we have that option here
black boxes apparently monitor speed , driving style, etc different policies have different ways if how they score them as such. I assumed ds would be able to share his stats to get new quotes but it doesn’t seem to work like that

😂

I have just renewed my car insurance. I paid £235 annually last year. Renewal quote I received a few weeks ago was £586. I paid £249 yesterday after going on a cost comparison site and that wasn't the cheapest. They keep saying costs of repairs etc have gone up which is probably accurate as everything else has but why such disparity between companies for same car and driver?

@MaloneMeadow

"ImRen"
"It's statistics"
"The 80 might have poorer eyesight and reaction times but might be statistically less likely to have an accident. She might only drive in day light, only drive short distance, only drive in areas she knows well and she might well be aware that she needs to drive cautiously. She may well be a very experienced driver.A younger driver won't have that profile. They are likely to drive faster and more recklessly and won't be experienced."

Considering that whilst driving DM to lunch the other day she physically could not even see a car coming towards her in the street due to having such a blind spot in her vision I really don’t think that this is the case!

Hmm, I'm not sure you understand how insurance works. It's based on masses and masses of data from thousands and thousands of drivers. It's not based off what someone's Mum did.

I hope you report your Mother. How would you feel if you did nothing and she caused an accident.

Have you actually read any of that? I’m not the one commenting on statistics, I was simply commenting on DM’s friend not being well aware that she needs to be cautious driving with her bad eyesight, like you suggested she was. As for you hoping I report my mother - she doesn’t even drive so that’ll be a difficult one!

What are you talking about?

It has always been the case that insurance is higher for under-25s, and especially in their first year after qualifying. I remember paying more per month for the insurance than I paid monthly for my brand-new diesel car that first year. Car was around £235 a month. Insurance was £255 a month.

That was over 20 years ago, so £4500 sounds quite "normal" for that age group and type of car in 2024. Especially because insurance is rising in general because of there being more electric vehicles on the road. Last year my insurance was £250. This year it is £470. I have had zero accidents or claims.

Just looking it up according to the independent last month:

It states the UK average annual premium cost for car insurance in July 2023 as £1,038. It says that drivers aged between 17 and 18 should expect to pay 77 per cent more than the national average, with an average annual premium of £1,840. Drivers aged 19 to 21 can expect to pay 39 per cent more, with average premiums of £1,440, while those aged 22 to 25 typically pay £1,140.

www.independent.co.uk/advisor/car-insurance/new-driver-insurance

Yup disgusting. 800 for 15 years ncb . has been around £300-400 mark

gavinf said that we got a pay out for an insurance write off last year and we got about 5x what I was expecting. The price of cars, repairs etc has shot up.

this is one of many many things that has gone up that the government has sat back and watched.

Surely they mean save up and pay in full rather than saving and paying if you have an accident 😂

The type of car doesn't help, I noticed that had been left out of the OP

Just got my renewal through-£263 on a Fiat 500. Full protected NC 9yrs +. An increase of £60 pa. Quite happy with that but will still check comparison websites.

It’s an 8 year old 1.2l, hardly extravagant or fast!

What car do you drive?

I had a big Skoda Superb estate when I passed, and was driving a LWB van the week after!

An electric Audi e-tron, no hope of getting a 19 year old covered on that!

You can see why so many people chance not having insurance . Not good for anyone having such ridiculous premiums

It's a higher insurance group than several other cars but they would look less fashionable. You were saying insurance is a scam in your OP without giving the main detail of the type of car, which is a higher insurance one.

@MaloneMeadow you also said that the 80 year olds was 'next to nothing' when it was in fact £700 which is hardly next to nothing.

It’s a hell of a lot less than £4.5k! My DD is far less risk than somebody who can barely even see where they’re going and I will die on that hill. If it makes you feel a bit better about her awfully ‘fashionable’ car, the quote we got for a polo (a very traditional first car) wasn’t much better as they’re now seen as ‘high risk’ for insurance due to the amount of 17 year olds driving them

Are you joking? I've posted at least 3 more times prior to your post with graphics, charts and articles with reams of info on motor insurance risk, pricing logic, and profitability.

If you're going to say I'm "sticking 2 fingers up and walking off", at least make some effort to check that.

Edit: see posts at 21:30, 21:36 and 22:56

Yeah my premium has just doubled with no warning. (Marshmallow). I’ll be changing asap

This. Insurance companies are not charities. They have to recover their costs.

OP try a few other insurers and play about with named drivers. DH would have put hers up as he has an sp 30 but I brought it down by several hundred. Also recommend the black box. It means she’s driving sensibly as she gets a score on her app so it’s peace of mind for me too.

@MaloneMeadow

My DD is far less risk than somebody who can barely even see where they’re going...

You should start an insurance company if you can calculate risk as easily and decisively as that. You'd have a real competitive advantage over the big insurers who do silly things like employ expensive actuaries and analysts to calculate risk for them.

Given that those big insurers are actually loss-making when it comes to motor insurance, you'd positively clean up.