Insurance companies

[hifi_dave]

Just received a quote for our house and contents insurance and it's doubled - that's right, it has doubled.

The house is a 15th Century farmhouse, so not of standard construction and not all companies cover this type of property. We have used our present insurance company for two years but this year they have hiked the premium. My Wife had a chat with the company today and was told that the hike is just for existing customers and that new customers would pay similar to our last premium. So we are being penalised for being good customers !!!

What is the reason behind this ? Surely they will lose all existing customers and will then have to build up clientele to keep in business ?

I don't get it.

[struth]

Thats the way they work for some reason. The idea is only to get new business as thats where they get there bonus from. Old customers going seems not to count against. Car insurance is the same mostly

[Firebottle]

Bad business model in my book, yours too I'm sure Dave.

Try Adrian Flux brokers, they can come up with some good deals.

Alan

[pgarrish]

Every business seems to work this way - insurance, phone, TV, anything renewed annually. Try it on with existing customers, rely on a good proportion just renewing automatically at a premium, and accept a few will clear off to be replaced with new ones. My house insurance mob have tried it for the last 3 years. I get the price back to close to last year by calling them, which I do because they have paid out reliably in the past and cheap insurance is only cheap if it doesn't let you down when you need it.

[hifi_dave]

My Wife spent all afternoon on Go Compare and the phone to get our home insurance under control. This she did and the premium with another company is cheaper than we paid last year and less than half the cost the old company now want.

My Wife did talk with the main man at the old company and he apologised but it was the 'under writer's policy' to increase the premium and he couldn't reduce it.

So, job done but why do these companies do it ? The old company has lost our business and also the majority of existing companies with this policy. To my mind, it's not a good business model as you should retain all your existing customers and also look for new. Is this some kind of legislation ?

[walpurgis]

It's just a standard insurance company dodge Dave. Many folk are resistant to changing companies, so maybe they bank on them staying and then rake in the extra in premiums.

I have the same struggle with my car insurer. They send me an elevated quote every year. Normally I can wangle a deal after some haggling though. I twisted their arm enough to get £800 off the original quote for my three cars last time.

[hifi_dave]

Perhaps it's my age but it never used to be that way. You would stay with the same company for years as the prices only ever crept up by a % or so and occasionally went down for loyal customers. Now it's all rip off and obfuscation.

[Ian7633]

Here's an interesting thing, the renewal for the cat's insurance with More than came the other day, £138. Then I had an email from More than offering to complete the renewal online, which I would have done anyway, so I followed the link, filled in the form and lo and behold £50 cheaper. I know that when you take out any insurance for the first time it's cheaper to do it online as you are not taking a person who has to be paid's time up but why is there such a large hike in the price when it's just a renewal no doubt processed by computers anyway.
Another example of insurance company bollocks is recently my brother and his wife had a holiday booked for 6 weeks in South Africa but due to unforeseen circumstances they needed to delay it for a month. The holiday company they booked with were very good and said it would cost £200 to change the booking. The insurance company refused to pay the £200 but instead gave a full refund for the trip of £6000. WTF.

[Ninanina]

I've just seen my renewal price for the Prius and it's about £850 via Hastings Direct

That's just a crazy renewal price as last year I paid about £400 and I now have 2 years No Claims bonus

It was always going to be a problem as I insured my old Merc as 'classic' insurance which does not include any NCB

So I am building up my NCB again but £850 seems completely crazy as I only paid £400 last year so I will be searching for a better quote this year for my car insurance..

[struth]

Ive got many years ncb and it still went up. I will change this year. was ill when it came up last term and had a quote for a lot less but wasnt up to changing it. They are just thieves the lot of them.
Ive never claimed ever in 40 odd years

[walpurgis]

Try Aviva. I usually get a good deal from them. They've beat any other quotes I've had. If you push them a bit they find ways to drop premiums.

[struth]

think thats who i am with at moment, but not sure

[Ninanina]

Try Aviva. I usually get a good deal from them. They've beat any other quotes I've had. If you push them a bit they find ways to drop premiums.

Will defo try Aviva this year, thanks Geoff...

[walpurgis]

Will defo try Aviva this year, thanks Geoff...

Don't forget to ask for the 'new business discount'!

[Ninanina]

Don't forget to ask for the 'new business discount'!

Will do Geoff ... thanks ...

[hifi_dave]

Just to update this - we had a phone call from the original company who were wanting to charge over £1500 this year, that they can now do it for slightly less than last year. Too f'ing late because we have signed up with another company for about the same price, at just under £700.

So, the original company has lost a customer, though we might have to go back to them next year depending on the prices.

Doesn't make any sense to me. As a business man, I bend over backwards to keep my customers and try to attract new. Surely, they all should be doing this ?

[Macca]

Dave, you are correct that in the past you got benefits for being a loyal customer because this made logical sense. Then someone actually sat down and crunched the numbers and worked out that system was not optimal in terms of generating profit. So now we are in this same situation with any contracted service, where, to get the best deal, you need to quit and start new again to get the best price.

Yes it does occasionally cost them a customer, as in your situation, but they take those occasional hits because, overall, rewarding new customers instead of established customers makes them more money long term. Short of legislation or a sea-change in consumer behaviour, things will stay that way.

[hifi_dave]

Yes, I'm certain you are correct or else they wouldn't do it. To my mind, though, I would prefer to hang on to my regulars and draw in new customers. Seems like I'm a Dinosaur.

[Macca]

Your business is completely different, though. The same metrics won't apply.

[Ninanina]

I tried Aviva, Direct Line, Churchill and all the compare sites but I managed to get the best deal through Hastings, who I was already with

I pushed them very hard and managed to get a 'reasonable' deal from them

It's just a shame that I insured the Merc as a 'classic' that does not accrue NCB otherwise I'd have 15+ years of No Claims. So I've had to start again with NCB.... nightmare...

[Stryder5]

I find the whole insurance thing strange.

I have a Westfield that we built, 2 litre, on the rolling road puts out 180 bhp at the wheels, it's insured for me, my wife and my 35 year old son.

Limited to 3000 miles per year, but we rarely achieve this.

Fully comprehensive, agreed value. £86 per year.

We have 2 other cars declared.

I'm not complaining, just seems....strange.