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Insurance Renewal

C

Colin Barron

pfm Member
Last year i paid £104 for my car insurance with nationwide. My renewal this year was £142 so i rang to point out that inflation was about 2%. They said that last year was an introductory offer and that was the price.
I went back onto Money Supermarket.com and the best price was £97. No prizes for guessing that Nationwide was the £97.
You could not make it up!
 
sean99 said:
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-27167164

and I'm forced to conclude that Brits are a bunch of whiners ;)
Click to expand...

It's our major strength, our default option, our choice of weapons, it's how we roll.

It's a POV admirably summed up by Noel Coward:

They're out of sorts in Sunderland
And terribly cross in Kent,
They're dull in Hull
And the Isle of Mull
Is seething with discontent,
They're nervous in Northumberland
And Devon is down the drain,
They're filled with wrath
On the firth of Forth
And sullen on Salisbury Plain,
In Dublin they're depressed, lads,
Maybe because they're Celts
For Drake is going West, lads,
And so is everyone else.
Hurray-hurray-hurray!
Misery's here to stay.

Refrain 1

There are bad times just around the corner,
There are dark clouds hurtling through the sky
And it's no good whining
About a silver lining
For we know from experience that they won't roll by,
With a scowl and a frown
We'll keep our peckers down
And prepare for depression and doom and dread,
We're going to unpack our troubles from our old kit bag
And wait until we drop down dead.

Verse 2

From Portland Bill to Scarborough
They're querulous and subdued
And Shropshire lads
Have behaved like cads
From Berwick-on-Tweed to Bude,
They're mad at Market Harborough
And livid at Leigh-on-Sea,
In Tunbridge Wells
You can hear the yells
Of woe-begone bourgeoisie.
We all get bitched about, lads,
Whoever our vote elects,
We know we're up the spout, lads.
And that's what England expects.
Hurray-hurray-hurray!
Trouble is on the way.

Refrain 2

There are bad times just around the corner,
The horizon's gloomy as can be,
There are black birds over
The grayish cliffs of Dover
And the rats are preparing to leave the B.B.C.
We're an unhappy breed
And very bored indeed
When reminded of something that Nelson said.
While the press and the politicians nag nag nag
We'll wait until we drop down dead.

Verse 3

From Colwyn Bay to Kettering
They're sobbing themselves to sleep,
The shrieks and wails
In the Yorkshire dales
Have even depressed the sheep.
In rather vulgar lettering
A very disgruntled group
Have posted bills
On the Cotswold Hills
To prove that we're in the soup.
While begging Kipling's pardon
There's one thing we know for sure
If England is a garden
We ought to have more manure.
Hurray-hurray-hurray!
Suffering and dismay.

Refrain 3

There are bad times just around the corner
And the outlook's absolutely vile,
There are Home Fires smoking
From Windermere to Woking
And we're not going to tighten our belts and smile, smile, smile,
At the sound of a shot
We'd just as soon as not
Take a hot water bottle and go to bed,
We're going to untense our muscles till they sag sag sag
And wait until we drop down dead.

Refrain 4

There are bad times just around the corner,
We can all look forward to despair,
It's as clear as crystal
From Bridlington to Bristol
That we can't save democracy and we don't much care
If the Reds and the Pinks
Believe that England stinks
And that world revolution is bound to spread,
We'd better all learn the lyrics of the old 'Red Flag'
And wait until we drop down dead.
A likely story
Land of Hope and Glory,
Wait until we drop down dead.
 
sean99 said:
I read all these threads complaining about UK car insurance and then I see this thread and then this BBC article

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-27167164

and I'm forced to conclude that Brits are a bunch of whiners ;)

Try insuring a car in the US.
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You would be correct too, whining is a national pastime.

Motor insurance premiums are unsustainably low at the moment (for the insurer - brokers are always fine). As usual cause and effect is being lost in the rush to claim credit for reduced fraud. While there is some levelling off of what were ever increasing amounts of fraud, the real reason car insurance is cheaper at the moment is new players being prepared to take a hit to gain market share.

This cycle has never changed. They will get burnt and up premiums will go .......round we go again. :D
 
Colin Barron said:
Last year i paid £104 for my car insurance with nationwide. My renewal this year was £142 so i rang to point out that inflation was about 2%. They said that last year was an introductory offer and that was the price.
I went back onto Money Supermarket.com and the best price was £97. No prizes for guessing that Nationwide was the £97.
You could not make it up!
Click to expand...

You don't need to make it up. It is what these insurance companies try.
The thing to do is to say to them "You can insure me for the price quoted online, or I can take my business elsewhere". These companies need to learn that this behaviour isn't acceptable, the problem is most people just renew at the higher price, so they get away with it.
Also register on www.topcashback.co.uk, where you will get a bit back if you go through the site to take your policy out.
 
Rcook said:
You don't need to make it up. It is what these insurance companies try.
The thing to do is to say to them "You can insure me for the price quoted online, or I can take my business elsewhere". These companies need to learn that this behaviour isn't acceptable, the problem is most people just renew at the higher price, so they get away with it.
Also register on www.topcashback.co.uk, where you will get a bit back if you go through the site to take your policy out.
Click to expand...

I've often wondered if there are any negatives to using these 'cash back' sites??
 
Caliente said:
I've often wondered if there are any negatives to using these 'cash back' sites??
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Not that I have encountered. They are price comparison sites, but you get a bit back if you take out the product. I have got about £200 back over the last year, so well worth it.

In fact, if anyone signs up via this link, I get a small incentive http://www.topcashback.co.uk/ref/rdpcook, as will you be able to once you sign up and tell people about the link ;-)
 
The only drawbacks I have found with the cashback sites are the cashback payment can take a long time, or in the worst case never be paid. They're funded by referral fees paid to sites providing a click through link to the vendor, which the cashback site then passes on to you. If something goes awry with the tracking then the vendor can end up with no record of the referral, or can pay the fee to the wrong company (e.g. if you clicked through with a different link before going to the cashback site and making the transaction) - in which case you get no payment, and it's tough - you have no recourse.

That said - (speaking for Quidco and rewardgateway which are the 2 I use) - it usually works fine and I have had a fair chunk of money back over the past couple of years.
 
It's always worth shopping around for insurance, utilities, etc.
I renewed my car insurance last month.
Current insurer qouted £243 (last year was £188), but best price I could find from the competition was £178.

Similarly a recent check for electricity (fixed price contract finishing soon) I found my current provider projected next years' usage to cost £2020.
I found a rate that equals £1478 for same usage on MSE, so I'm switching.
 
Rcook said:
You don't need to make it up. It is what these insurance companies try.
The thing to do is to say to them "You can insure me for the price quoted online, or I can take my business elsewhere". These companies need to learn that this behaviour isn't acceptable, the problem is most people just renew at the higher price, so they get away with it.
Also register on www.topcashback.co.uk, where you will get a bit back if you go through the site to take your policy out.
Click to expand...

I tried that they now say "this is the best offer".
 
Dr_Evil said:
The only drawbacks I have found with the cashback sites are the cashback payment can take a long time, or in the worst case never be paid. They're funded by referral fees paid to sites providing a click through link to the vendor, which the cashback site then passes on to you. If something goes awry with the tracking then the vendor can end up with no record of the referral, or can pay the fee to the wrong company (e.g. if you clicked through with a different link before going to the cashback site and making the transaction) - in which case you get no payment, and it's tough - you have no recourse.

That said - (speaking for Quidco and rewardgateway which are the 2 I use) - it usually works fine and I have had a fair chunk of money back over the past couple of years.
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In this case the money supermarket passes you onto the sellers site, you deal direct and you pay a premium as you would normally. The paperwork came within three days.

Actually this insurance was for house and contents, my motor insurance was renewed recently at £152 with nationwide.
 
As an aside, and thanks to my sharp eyed SWMBO but I've been a bit miffed with 2 very recent car insurance renewals we've done , both through different firms I must add.

On checking the policy details where it says "tracker fitted" both said "yes".

Don't know whether it's an innocent mistake or something more sinister.........as other years policies state "no tracker" as I declared from the outset.

Coincidence for 2 companies to do this:rolleyes:
 
Colin Barron said:
Last year i paid £104 for my car insurance with nationwide. My renewal this year was £142 so i rang to point out that inflation was about 2%. They said that last year was an introductory offer and that was the price.
I went back onto Money Supermarket.com and the best price was £97. No prizes for guessing that Nationwide was the £97.
You could not make it up!
Click to expand...

As has been said, standard behaviour really. Every time I receive my car insurance renewal it has gone up a bit, (only exception being when my points came off my licence). So every year I do an online quote on the companies own website using all the correct details, (barring real name of course), and then ring the renewals line up and get them to match it as it's always lower than the renewal quote. Insurance companies are just trying to take advantage of people being lazy. Personally I believe it's a form of fraud and should be legislated against.

I feel the same way about companies, (such as broadband or mobile providers etc), not passing on lowering costs to existing customers. I see this as a form of Fraud also. If a company is offering a (non discounted/introductory) price to new customers that is lower than what their existing customers are paying they should be forced to automatically lower the prices for their existing customers to the same level.
 
Colin Barron said:
I tried that they now say "this is the best offer".
Click to expand...

Then go somewhere else if you can get a better price for the same cover. It's the only way insurance companies can be forced to offer better prices. If they can't survive in the market offering a competitive price they don't deserve to be in business is my view.
 
GTM said:
Then go somewhere else if you can get a better price for the same cover. It's the only way insurance companies can be forced to offer better prices. If they can't survive in the market offering a competitive price they don't deserve to be in business is my view.
Click to expand...

This.
 
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