To think that insurance companies are scam artists

[whatdoidonowffs]

How can they possibly raise my car insurance from £560 last year to £2868 this year when nothing’s changed 😡😡
I know I’ve already done comparison sites and got it cheaper but ye gods why such a massive raise

It's probably the claims history of cars like yours in your area.

What car is it? If it's an Audi or a Range Rover be grateful you've had a quote. I live in a nondescript Midlands city and my local Facebook groups are full of people with those cars who can't get quotes even because so many are being stolen and stripped for parts. It's happening week in week out.

When my new quote came through last year,it was horrendous. I telephoned my insurance company and the guy said it was to do with the high crime rates, I pointed out I live in a very low crime area, he told me they don't just look at local rates anymore, it's national.

Insurance companies have jumped on the band wagon of rip off charges for UK consumers and want higher profit margins, they know we have to have car insurance, so, can charge what they like.

That's a crazy price. Glad you
Got it cheaper.

Insurance companies aren’t making huge profits though, I think a lot are struggling.

A quick google search would appear you’re wrong.

Insurance companies seems to be making huge profits.

Always shop around.

Every time they have a chance to make a profit they will. They were told off for charging young men more than women so all they did was increase women’s premiums. Any excuse to raise premiums they use it.

If it was an Audi or a Range Rover I could understand it but it’s a 57 plate mondeo fgs

There is not nearly enough regulation in this market. Not quite the same but we are having trouble getting buildings insured at work. There have been too many liabilities (globally not us) apparently and they are not making enough money! They can simply decline to insure us leaving us to close, sell or demolish buildings!

I wonder how realistic it is really to rely on the private sector for essential services.

Premium to pay out ration has returned to long term averages, but companies want more.

Same with forecourt fuel prices, profit margins around 2x what they used to be.
Local independent garages around me often cheaper than the Supermarkets, that was never the case..... firms now just hike prices.

Could be that your risk algorithm has come up poorly for them this year, so they’ve priced to not retain your business. All kinds of pricing factors will influence including surprisingly length of tenure - after 4/5 years, customers are more likely to make a claim.
Always use Price Comparison, take into account tips like how far in advance to get a quote etc, and finally always call your existing provider if in the ball park of the right price for a ‘save the business’ quote.

I was quoted over £900 for buildings and contents insurance. I declined.
Car insurance went from £350 to £1020. No claim and protected NCD.

She car renewal was stupid came in at over a 70% increase no change. No new car or claimed. In fact his got his no claims since he passed his test.

It used to the be the older you got the cheaper the insurance became now it’s just up and up and up every year.

We did shop around and found a cheaper price but still you’d think these companies would want to say keep a reliable non accident kinda customer on their books. As it stands dhs pays out loads a year to never need a penny back but they clearly didn’t want to keep him.

The excuse my insurance company used was 'you had a no fault claim and we have to recoup the money from somewhere'. What about the previous 15 years of no claims?!! You didn't give me that money back!

What pisses me off even more - I was with LV who doubled my premium (£900 to £1850) so shopped around and found Allianz (£700) - who are owned by/own LV! Same bloody company. They aren't as flexible as LV as I found when I tried to add a driver for just a month and they will only do it for the duration of the policy but for that saving its worth it.

Most are underwritten by something like the same 3-5 companies so most of the time your just changing the name on the letter head but it’s still the same insurance company at the far end.

... because the industry made massive losses last year, and urgently needed to restructure the costs

They might be making money in other sectors but had record losses in car insurance in 2023. The net combined ratio across the motor insurance sector last year was 112%, that means for every £100 premium that comes in, costs and claims amount to £112, so tell us more about these rip off premiums? Maybe you’re the one who needs to use Google?

Maybe they should just focus on putting those costs on to those claiming rather then bending over everyone else 🤷🏻‍♀️ there’s adding a few £ then there is adding £100’s to each persons premium.

That’s the whole point of insurance though, those of us not claiming are paying for those that are. Also, whilst you may not be an increased risk at renewal, the average repair cost is increasing, so if you make a claim, it’s going to cost the insurer more hence an uplift in premium.

Agree. If it's a legal requirement to have insurance, then the state should work with insurance companies to provide a cheap, no frills third party policy.

(Possibly undertaking in return to recruit more police officers so they can actually investigate vehicle crime properly 🙄)

Yeah so a small uplift not doubling in prices that some have had when they haven’t had accidents. My house insurance doesn’t try and double like cars try and take in.

My house would cost a bloody lot more than my car to replace even half the contents.

They made substantial profits in 2020/21/22 as we all drove less and hence less claims, remind me again if premiums dropped???

The figures i ve seen are 106% with 2023/24 returning to more historical profit levels of 94 to 96% but even if we take your 112% figure, how exactly does that justify a doubling/trebling of premiums?

This also has wider societal impacts, not least social care, where carers have to use their own cars, with business use car insurance.

No, as i said, its profiteering.

I work for a very well known insurance company. I've worked there over 12 years.

The rise in insurance prices in the past couple years is absolutely NOT something companies want to be doing. There's lots of different factors that cause premiums to change, including, your area, claims in your area, crimes in your area, your own personal risk, have you made a Claim, what's the value of your claim, the cost and impact of fraudulent claims, how the business is doing, are you in a Flood risk area, has there been adverse weather in your area, has your property have subsidence, have you added any items of a particular value (do these items still need specifying) amongst maaannnyy other factors.

I'm also a customer of insurance, I get it. The best thing you can do ahead of a renewal is shop around before accepting any quote. A lot of companies will meet your new quote.

If you're finding a premium which is significantly below yours, there's normally a reason. Check your policy, check the exclusions and endorsements, check the limits, check your excess and make sure it doesn't change depending on the cause of damage. I would also HIGHLY recommend checking customer feedback for the company if it's an unknown company. Trust me, if you're claiming for something that involves your home you will want the best service.

Don't just take out insurance because it's cheaper, make sure it's offering you what you want and need.

Hope that helps.

None of that is remotely true. You clearly don't have the first clue about insurance pricing.

Really! 😱
Licence to print money by the sounds of it.

I’ll admit I don’t have the first clue about how premiums are actually calculated. But I still feel 100% sure that insurance companies are doing ok. They’re slippery bastards at the best of times and they’re definitely not going to lose out whatever the financial climate is!