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Wed 27 Oct 2010 19:32

Any - Insurance Premiums - RaineMan

Having just got my two renewal notices I started to wonder how they calculate the premium before NCB. When I first took to the road over thirty years ago (two years on two wheels first) I used to go to the local broker. He had a number of "books" from the various insurance companies. After checking out the insurance group for the car he got the base premium from a matrix of group vs. age. There were a few exceptions such as no drivers under 25, or refer to company for some of the highest groups or if the person had points on their licence. However there seems to be nothing like that these days that you can refer to. If they feel they may lose the business some are willing to reduce the premium followed sometimes by a large jump the following year. This has all come to mind as the main car went up around around 30% as expected as it is five groups higher. However the second car virtually doubled and it is only group 3.

So what are the starting premiums?

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Wed 27 Oct 2010 19:37

Any - Insurance Premiums - Armitage Shanks {p}

How long is a piece of string? At the low risk end of the market, old codger in a small car and max no claims,I got a renewal the other day for £245, reinsured for £167 so there is plenty of leeway in the market place. Some other quotes for the same risk were over £450! How do these people get any trade at all I wonder?

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Thu 28 Oct 2010 12:18

Any - Insurance Premiums - Andy P

I don't think they have them anymore - they take all the various factors into account (probably feed them into a computer) and out pops the premium. You only have to try one of the price comparison websites to see how premiums vary between companies. Nowadays, I suspect a lot of emphasis is put on driver age, sex and location.

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Thu 28 Oct 2010 12:29

Any - Insurance Premiums - LucyBC

Everyone wants the better business. The high risk stuff is a specialist market.

I am currently getting 2 months free and 20% off for clients buying motor policies online but that is on experienced drivers with a good claims record.

tinyurl.com/3ytdxmy

Anything an insurer regards as "sub-prime" such as (variously) young people, squaddies, showmen and sportsmen etc will not do well on a comparison site and need to be done under a special quote.

Edited by LucyBC on 28/10/2010 at 12:32

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Tue 2 Nov 2010 13:21

Any - Insurance Premiums - jeffrb

I still think price comparison websites is the best way to go, check a few to see the differences in the quotes.

If you have a sports car or are a young driver / female, it's probably worth approaching some companies directly because some specialise in those types (Adrian Flux/Sheilas Wheels).

I went through one of the comparison websites the other week (compare the market i think). Got a quote much much cheaper than my renewal with an insurance company called Budget Insurance. So it is worth shopping around.

I also guess that quotes vary on a day to day basis.

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Tue 2 Nov 2010 14:08

Any - Insurance Premiums - BigJohnD

I've never found a cheaper quote using a comparison website. I've used several brokers for the last 20 years and each has found me a better deal with companies than don't appear on comparison sites.

Try Chris Knott - http://www.ckinsurance.co.uk/car_insurance.html

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Wed 3 Nov 2010 03:07

Any - Insurance Premiums - LucyBC

I agree with BigJohnD. I have never had a price comparison beat a tailored quote.

For example Aviva (not on price comparison sites) quoted us an Audi A4 Cabrio yesterday, 2003 model, 2 drivers over 25 with full no claims but both with penalty points and it came to £168. They also got two months free so 14 months for 12.

90% have checked the comparison sites before they come to us and I would suspect 100% before they buy.

tinyurl.com/3x4t2vw

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Wed 3 Nov 2010 16:07

Any - Insurance Premiums - martint123

A slight disparity on your web site...

Complete the form below to get a quote on your car or motorcycle insurance from Aviva and get 2 months free and 20% off if you buy online.

Make of Vehicle: * Model of Vehicle: * Year of Car: * Where do you keep your car?:

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Sun 7 Nov 2010 08:59

Any - Insurance Premiums - LucyBC

Thanks for pointing out the error - which I will correct.

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Sat 6 Nov 2010 11:18

Any - Insurance Premiums - Armstrong Sid

Interesting twist to this subject which I've just encountered.

I've had my Focus insured for the past year with eco insurance (The Co-op, basically). The price was good, I got it online, and everything was ok.

I've just notified them of a change of address. Slight increase in the premium which was no problem......but they charged me £25 as an "admin charge" for changing my address; which was a three minute telephone call. I've never been charged for changing my address before. OK, it was probably in the small print, but.........

So their initial low premium is now looking a bit less competitive. And I probably won't renew with them on a point of principle.

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Sat 6 Nov 2010 14:42

Any - Insurance Premiums - martint123

I've just notified them of a change of address. Slight increase in the premium which was no problem......but they charged me £25 as an "admin charge" for changing my address; which was a three minute telephone call. I've never been charged for changing my address before. OK, it was probably in the small print, but.........

This is the problem with comparison sites. To get up in the tables, they have to make the quote be cheap so consequently everything becomes an extra on top of the basic policy.

BTW it is more then just a 3 minute phone call - sending out a new certificate, updaing the MID spring to mind.... Mine was £15 for changing the vehicle (just the admin portion).

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Sun 7 Nov 2010 09:22

Any - Insurance Premiums - LucyBC

The other trick is that they all want you to buy their legal cover - adding roughly £25 to the quoted cost of the policy.

The policy they are selling you is wholesaled to them at less than 10p and is borderline worthless.

It will not work in almost any circumstances where you actually need it such as for fault claims, split liability claims, damage only claims, disputes over liability, disputes with insurers, motor prosecution defence, problems over a repair or car purchase.

All it will deal with is a non-fault claim (and they prefer them with a personal injury) when they can auction off your repair to their panel, put you in a credit hire car with the potential full risk to you if the other insurer disputes it and auction your injury claim to the highest bidding solicitor.

Furthermore they put the cover on each car so if you are in a multiple car household (which most are nowadays) they charge you for every vehicle.

What is particularly annoying is that proper legal cover for motorists is a very good idea but unfortunately as with warranties before Warranty Direct and Warranty Wise came along the sector is completely dominated by useless policies and buoyed up by kickbacks which inevitably result in higher motor policy premiums.

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Wed 10 Nov 2010 19:31

Any - Insurance Premiums - RaineMan

I have now renewed the main car with the original company as price comparisons all came out higher! The second car was over 50% cheaper with another broker (all done over the phone). With price comparison I got quotes both higher and lower than the original - makes no sense at all!

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