NEVER just let your car insurance renew.

[neiljames77]

My insurance is due for renewal so the company I'm with sent me all the details, told me I didn't have to do anything as they would just carry on with the monthly payments. After being told by the motoring organisations that the price is coming down, I was surprised to see mine had gone up.
I went on the price comparison sites and found that the company I'm with was offering me fully comp for the year for £282. The renewal quote they sent me was £426. I rang them and asked them why they'd added over £140 for no apparent reason. His answer was, "I don't know".
Do they think that we're all that stupid that we're not going to check up on the net?

Do they think that we're all that stupid that we're not going to check up on the net?

Yes

clearly enough people do just renew to make it worth their while annoying everyone else. they all do it. loyalty is a mug's game in insurance.

I never do the auto renew thing, Admiral had me at £400 odd last year but wanted £1100 off me this year and I've never had an accident (unless you count reversing into the hay bales which didn't go through insurance). Went to elephant and they took £400 odd again.

Same with house insurance. My insurer usually sends me a renewal quote at least 50% higher than current amount - then I ring them up and they reduce it. Farcical.

So is it just theft? I was offered no explanation at all. He went quiet and got a bit flustered.

it's not theft, I think it is called 'inertia marketing'. They rely on you forgetting about the date and not having the energy to shop around. But he probably isn't going to say that!

We had it with house insurance, car insurance and the AA.

Changed them all, they all immediately offered lower when we rang up but still got cheaper shopping around.

It's not theft. New policies are heavily discounted to try and get your business. There is a lot of inertia in the insurance market, so a company thinks once it has you, it's got you for a few years.

After the first year, prices increase, sometimes by quite a lot

I think once we get to a point where the majority of customers re-broke their policies every year, we'll stop seeing these initial discounts and the pricing will he more realistic and fairer for everyone.

I don't know how long it's going to take to get to that point though.

This was a nightmare when I took over my elderly mother's affairs. The bank needed to register my POA before they could talk to me. Rather than send it off I took it into a branch, but they had failed to tell me that I would need a sheaf of other documents. Came back and their computer would not let the branch register the POA. It apparently took the branch manager some effort to pursuade his insurance colleagues that in these circumstances they should not auto-renew. Despite the fact she no longer lived in the property which was insured.

Grim. Really worth checking approach to renewals before buying insurance in the first place.

It is exactly the same with the AA and RAC. Always, always shop around. Quidco and top cashback are usually quite generous with insurance policies.

Dd who has had her own car for just over a year was sent an auto renewal of £750 which was more than her first years insurance. Considering that she had had her 21st birthday and policies should get cheaper she was annoyed. Look up price on their website and it would be £300 less so she rang up and they then took into account her named driver discount as well and got the whole policy including legal and breakdown cover for £423. Result.

i shop around every year. this year my insurer renewal price was not too bad, BUT they were going to autoatically renew unless i contacted them!

In the past, over say ten yrs ish, every insurer i have gone with (different one each yr) has never said they will automatically renew it with the card details given at the onset.
Anyway, glad i read their renewal quote, i rang them and they matched a best online price i was given.

pays to ring them up.

I saved more than £400 in January 2014 by getting my car and home insurance via TopCashback. Both are now with Aviva - £198 per year for fully comp on a 2012 Seat Ibiza! plus I got £63 cashback too (so, in total it cost me £135). Also saved over £100 on home insurance and got £63 cashback.

Note: Always check that the new cover is sufficient for your needs.

I use my existing insurer, and copy all of the numbers from my renewal notice into the online "new customer" form
saved over £100 on my House insurance.
THe Co op admitted hat they always offer new web customers better prices than existing renewals.
tHe chap was very helpful and admitted it was not ethical, but its the way the WHOLE industry operates.