Well, well, here we are again, doesn't time fly.
John Lewis got the boot last year (2020) for the usual massive second year premium hike and I ended-up with Halifax and the cover is good. Second year renewal though is a 27% increase! Just called them up and they've offered to discount such that it's almost 8% less than last year, so for cover last year at a cost of £376, the renewal was £478, but a 2 minute phone call has reduced that to £349.
The insurance industry is a shambles.
The problem is that unless you change insurer practically every year (at least every three) for each policy (car, breakdown, home, other), they believe that any 'threats' to leave are just the proverbial boy crying 'wolf!'
I'm in a similar circumstance with my home contents insurer (I don't pay buildings insurance directly as I live in a flat and it's paid via the annual service charge), whom I've been with for about 5-6 years now. Not the end of the world in monetary terms (£25) but is in percentage terms. I managed to get them to take £10 off this time around. This probably means I'll have to go elsewhere next year.
I found the same (getting harder to get any over-the-phone discount after the premium goes up despite no policy change and no claims) for my car insurance up until just over a year ago, and last year they jacked the price up by another 10%.
I used a screenscraper and changed to a well-known insurer and saved myself around £100 for the same cover. I've stuck with them at last month's renewal as they reduced the premium by 10%+ compared to last year and were in the top three quote prices (only beaten by a few £).
Insurers will only change their ways if people vote with their wallents en-masse, just like any other business - including car manufacturers. Amazing how many people complain about certain brands, and yet they have queues of people, both existing and new, just waiting to buy a new shiny model and a premium price just because it's fashionable to do so.
More fool them.
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