Insurance Costs Up Again

[hawk20]

New figures show that the cost of insuring a car has reached record levels, with premiums more than doubling during the past 13 years.

Average car insurance premiums rose by 2.5% during the three months to the end of June, increasing the average cost of annual comprehensive cover to £822, according to the AA.
It said this was more than double the £408 cover cost when it first launched its insurance premium index in July 1994.
At the same time the average premium for third party, fire and theft insurance broke through the £1,000 barrier for the first time, to stand at an average of £1,006.
The group warned that there were likely to be further rises to come as the cost of claims continued to outstrip growth in premiums.
The latest leap in comprehensive car insurance means premiums have risen by nearly 8% during the past 12 months, with this quarter's rise more than wiping out the fall seen at the beginning of the year.

 

[jibcl500]

Am I bovvered, I havent had tax, mot or insurance for the last 3 years, dont see the point, its cheaper that way.

jib

 

[jberks]

it goes up , then it goes down ..
Personally I'm driving the fastest, most expensive car I've ever owned (not saying much I know but to be fair I did start with a Lada) and my insurance premiums are the lowest they#ve been for ages. Sure average prices may be up, but the range of prices is wider and access to the info is greater now than it's ever been thanks to the comparison sites.

 

[jibcl500]

Confused.com works well for me, I cancelled a policy recently with Admiral, I had 3 months left on the policy, they offered a refund for the remaining months but because there was a charge for ending the policy I had to pay another £7, so I told them to forget it I will let the policy run, they then told me I had informed them I wanted to cancel and if the docs didnt get returned in 10 days then there would be another charge for not returning the docs.


jib

 

[television]

it goes up , then it goes down ..
Personally I'm driving the fastest, most expensive car I've ever owned (not saying much I know but to be fair I did start with a Lada) and my insurance premiums are the lowest they#ve been for ages. Sure average prices may be up, but the range of prices is wider and access to the info is greater now than it's ever been thanks to the comparison sites.

The same goes for me, the insurance search engines that you posted some time back have halved mine.

 

[hawk20]

The same goes for me, the insurance search engines that you posted some time back have halved mine.

Yes but paradoxically as Direct Line point out they also put up the cost of insurance -compared with all searching ourselves- as they charge the firms they refer you to £50 a pop. But that's fine if people think it is worth that to have the searching done for you.

Maddeningly, they don't charge the customer directly the £50, so consumers do not see the charge. In an ideal world they would charge the consumer who would then see correctly that the search engine was costing £50 a go.

 

[Jensen]

Try Esure, I've been with them for 4 years and my premiums have gone down.
Researched market myself at renewal internet, brokers etc but could not be beaten

 

[hawk20]

I've found Liverpool Victoria -via What Car- excellent too. With max no claims it is £430 for my 2005 S320 cdi, me plus wife, no tracker required and unlimited mileage. And can go abroad often as you like, no extra charge.

 

[jberks]

I've found Liverpool Victoria -via What Car- excellent too. With max no claims it is £430 for my 2005 S320 cdi, me plus wife, no tracker required and unlimited mileage. And can go abroad often as you like, no extra charge.

Fully agree Hawk. Been with them myself, ever since I got my first Merc all those years ago and they've never been beaten. They were recommended to me by another Merc driver.
But what's good for one is bad for another so there's no substitute for shopping around and by their own admission, their premiums were a bit steep this year - so much so that they fiddled my premium to stay competitive. The invoice was actually higher than the price I'd paid.

 

[Hastatii]

Been with LV for years and years and they wanted £450+ for the SLK. Went to esure for £280 in the end. The new Discovery will go there shortly......

 

[Ade W124]

I've found I can always beat confused.com by ringing round a couple and playing one off against the other. Currently insured by Admiral who beat Elephant.com by a fair chunk which was interesting as I believe Admiral owns Elephant.... Might be just a London thing as I pay outrageous insurance anyway.

Ade

 

[BarryG]

Yes but paradoxically as Direct Line point out they also put up the cost of insurance -compared with all searching ourselves- as they charge the firms they refer you to £50 a pop. But that's fine if people think it is worth that to have the searching done for you.

Maddeningly, they don't charge the customer directly the £50, so consumers do not see the charge. In an ideal world they would charge the consumer who would then see correctly that the search engine was costing £50 a go.

If thats true Hawk and I'm not disputing it, I just don't know.
We could use the search engines to find the quote.
Then before committing ring the Insurance company explain about the quote price and tell them if they knock another £30 to £40 off they could save themselves having to shell out £50

 

[hawk20]

If thats true Hawk and I'm not disputing it, I just don't know.
We could use the search engines to find the quote.
Then before committing ring the Insurance company explain about the quote price and tell them if they knock another £30 to £40 off they could save themselves having to shell out £50

But if they did that, the search engines would stop recommending them. I don't know if you have seen the Direct Line ads or interviews with them, where they have said the reason the search engines never give a quote from them is because they refuse to pay the kick-back.