Insurance (uk)

[Saltire]

I have it as part of the same Group Insurance policy which covers my breakdowns, gadget repair, home emergency, travel, life cover, illness cover and many other 'bits and pieces' which I hope to never need.

That sounds worthwhile, Dave; is it part of your home or contents policy then?
[Apologies for straying slightly ]

No, it was a scheme through the Police Federation which I could continue after retirement... life cover reduces at that point, and again when (if?) I reach 69... but other benefits remain the same. It costs about the same as a good annual travel policy, so I 'save' the cost of RAC membership, get 'free' life cover, and then the other stuff as well..... and it only costs an extra £3 a month to cover Angie as well (she was free when I was working, as were the kids until they left home - or reached 21 years of age).

Coo . . . I wish the Magistrates Association offered something similar.

[lotusles]

Nothing personal. I'm sure some individuals have been around long enough to remember the "Union" and the mutual foundation and principles of the British insurance industry, but from a customer perspective it's all about profit and global brand. The few large companies that remain have almost no interest in their customers, and have been treating them as fools for a couple of decades. Our government are complicit; progressively introducing and increasing ipt there is no incentive for any change. It takes regulation to get back to what everyone considers sensible and normal.

Profit, I wish. Cant remember the last time we had a bonus.
Try searching Insurer COR's that will tell you how profitable we are (or not).
COR stands for Claims Operating Ratio, so most insurers are high 90's which means for every £1 premium they take they pay out 98 or even 100+ %, hence no bonuses.
I will say that you have no idea how good your insurer is until you make a claim, that sorts out the cheap ones. I would say if you are private individuals to insure via high street broker, that way if you need assistance go and sit in their office.

There still are mutual insurers, i'm not convinced they are any cheaper though. There are probably close to 200 insurers in the uk, even after all the mergers etc, so plenty to chose from. That said my company wont insure the Elan though but my works policy says I can drive anything I don't own or I drive on their behalf.
Mind you they wont insure my house either because of the flood in 2007

[Simon_P]

I'll guess that the Profits go via a service company or to a tax haven - No showing a profit is advantageous. That said 2% of a very big number is still a lot of money.
Reading a report by EY the dent in profits is due to regulatory changes in Whiplash and Dual Pricing as you mentioned. It would be interesting to know the ratio of expenses. Surely renewals are less costly than new business so profitability should go up as insurers look after their customers.

Anyway this has got me thinking about my renewal I have been with RH for about the last ten years and they used to be exceptional, but they got bought by ERS a few years ago and their customer focus has drifted down as the premium has drifted up.

[lotusles]

I'll guess that the Profits go via a service company or to a tax haven - No showing a profit is advantageous. That said 2% of a very big number is still a lot of money.
Reading a report by EY the dent in profits is due to regulatory changes in Whiplash and Dual Pricing as you mentioned. It would be interesting to know the ratio of expenses. Surely renewals are less costly than new business so profitability should go up as insurers look after their customers.

Anyway this has got me thinking about my renewal I have been with RH for about the last ten years and they used to be exceptional, but they got bought by ERS a few years ago and their customer focus has drifted down as the premium has drifted up.

Simon you are spot on about 2% profit in the current situation, but trust me that in previous years is the norm.
One of the largest insurers regularly report 103%

Renewals, yes thats what you would expect, but there are some customers you dont want to renew. Dont forget that current injury claims are excessive and we still have issues with whiplash.

Clearly I cant publish who's good or bad, and only this week my brother has found out cheap to insure is really good until you make a claim. I have no exact figures of accident/claim ratio in the uk, but if its your turn it happens.

[Simon_P]

I just ran a quote for my daily driver V50.

The second from top quote seemed quite good £250 so I clicked on the link. Confusingly the breakdown cover, rather than being the £29.99 advertised was £50. I checked my details and saw that the NCD was only 9 years so I selected 20+ thinking that may improve things a little ... the premium went up to £500, so I went back and put the NCD to 9 years and it went up again to £700 I'm not confused, that's Robbery.com!

[dapinky]

Just to finalise my tale of woe...... I went through GoCompare and their Bank of Scotland policy was 59p more then the Meerkats...... but at least it gave me good cover and allowed me to actually pay for it, so now all done for another year. £139 well spent!

[Simon_P]

I'm determined to get my car insurance premiums down to a sensible level (don't ask)and I have to thin out the "Fleet". Where is good for Elans both on the road and sorn?
Minimum mileage, I'm reasonably low risk, garaged in a low risk area. Preferably with low cancellation/change fees.

[woody]

Simon,
Try AIB. Policy with Markerstudy. Cheap as chips with everything included.
Not sure how good they are in the event of a claim though.
Cheers,
Woody

[dapinky]

Simon,

Whilst I can't help you to get all vehicles onto one policy (which is something I don't want for myself, as I'm sure that if I loose the NCB somewhere along the line it will all cost me more in the future..... but maybe I'm paranoid),

I can tell you that I use ClassicLine for my 'Laid-up' policy.

Now, usual caveats apply, in so much as I have never made a claim so can't comment on that side of things - but I do like the fact that they see my car as "Factory Original, unmodified".......

..... which is actually true if you think about it - when it left Abingdon it had already had its modifications done at the "factory" and was then used for 18 months as a works rally car. Now, if I'd built a different car up to that spec, I'm pretty sure that it would cost me far more to insure, but as it is, it doesn't!

[Simon_P]

Thanks Gents,

I have them all on one policy at the moment but as I want to shuffle the pack a little I'm going to sell some and move others from SORN to on the road. Cancellation and amendment fees could be quite important, so I want to keep the keepers on one policy and the rest self contained on another.

[Saltire]

Now here’s a thing: I recently bought a new (5-year old) daily driver. As it happened, the car came with a personal plate already on it, which the previous owner hadn’t removed. I wanted to put my own personal plate on the car, and needed to tell the insurance company (DVLA already notified).

Direct Line’s self-service portal didn’t work, so I did it through online chat.

Having done the change, the call centre chappie told me I was entitled to a £12 refund on the premium.



Just changing the VRM reduces my premium?

Is it me?

[lotusles]

Now here’s a thing: I recently bought a new (5-year old) daily driver. As it happened, the car came with a personal plate already on it, which the previous owner hadn’t removed. I wanted to put my own personal plate on the car, and needed to tell the insurance company (DVLA already notified).

Direct Line’s self-service portal didn’t work, so I did it through online chat.

Having done the change, the call centre chappie told me I was entitled to a £12 refund on the premium.



Just changing the VRM reduces my premium?

Is it me?

Jon, insurance and quotes & premiums are based on database history from CUE & MIAFTR so yes a change of reg number will and can change a quote. If the reg number was on a car that was in a accident, or stolen or in a (poor) postcode then that stays with the number. That's why we have these databases,its all about risk and trying to give me a bonus (very elusive sadly)
It works the same for everybody and hence my previous post about using a high street broker, they tend to not use that type of info, and have the instant access to insurers who need to sell policies within the next hour because they have some £££ reserves.
Complicated or what

[Saltire]

Jon, insurance and quotes & premiums are based on database history from CUE & MIAFTR so yes a change of reg number will and can change a quote. If the reg number was on a car that was in a accident, or stolen or in a (poor) postcode then that stays with the number. That's why we have these databases,its all about risk and trying to give me a bonus (very elusive sadly)
It works the same for everybody and hence my previous post about using a high street broker, they tend to not use that type of info, and have the instant access to insurers who need to sell policies within the next hour because they have some £££ reserves.
Complicated or what

Thanks, Les, that’s really helpful and kind of makes sense. I’d very much like to use a high street broker, if only we had one reasonably close. As it is, I’ll accept my £12 saving and put it on the Lotus Parts Fund

[MPx]

I've probably posted elsewhere about my dire experiences with insurance companies. In the distant past I paid significant premiums with well regarded companies like Hiscox and Norwich Union (Aviva) and others. I've had about half a dozen claims (car and house) in nearly 50 years and have always had a bad experience resulting in non-payment, underpayment, contested payment and in all cases a fight where I was all but accused of being a baddie. So a decade ago I started to always buy the cheapest I could find, as I never got "peace of mind" the other way and having very low expectations is mentally much easier and certainly cheaper. Have only had one claim since when the Jimny was hit by a parcel force van. They said they couldn't contest his version of the events - which changed once he left the scene as we had no admissable evidence (hence dashcams now installed) - but the good news was they did at least pay to repair the car and I just lost a couple of years no claims. The easiest claim I've ever had to deal with and off a dirt cheap policy from someone we'd never heard of. Have just renewed three of our cars £103 (M100); £117 (TE); and £214 (i3). I doubt I'll enjoy any necessary claims experience with any of them should it be needed, but at least they don't owe me much.

[Rambo]

I think if you asked most folks, and they were honest, they'd say that they look forward to car insurance renewal time just as much as the twice yearly/annual trip to the dentist

[lotusles]

I've probably posted elsewhere about my dire experiences with insurance companies. In the distant past I paid significant premiums with well regarded companies like Hiscox and Norwich Union (Aviva) and others. I've had about half a dozen claims (car and house) in nearly 50 years and have always had a bad experience resulting in non-payment, underpayment, contested payment and in all cases a fight where I was all but accused of being a baddie. So a decade ago I started to always buy the cheapest I could find, as I never got "peace of mind" the other way and having very low expectations is mentally much easier and certainly cheaper. Have only had one claim since when the Jimny was hit by a parcel force van. They said they couldn't contest his version of the events - which changed once he left the scene as we had no admissable evidence (hence dashcams now installed) - but the good news was they did at least pay to repair the car and I just lost a couple of years no claims. The easiest claim I've ever had to deal with and off a dirt cheap policy from someone we'd never heard of. Have just renewed three of our cars £103 (M100); £117 (TE); and £214 (i3). I doubt I'll enjoy any necessary claims experience with any of them should it be needed, but at least they don't owe me much.

That's why my advice of using a high street broker is the solution, any claims issues you go and sit in their office and make them do the donkey work, trust me insurers respect brokers, after all its how many of them actually get business.
I tend to insure with companies that I might deal with and show excellent claims results, and that does not always mean the insurer I work for. Dont forget you only know how good the insurer is when you are at your lowest point and have to make a claim. Broker broker broker

[Heavilyass]

We should also remember that all disputes with the insurance company are civil, and therefore can be resolved through a civil court. It must be said that in the vast majority of cases, the court takes the insured's side. Statistically, less than 5% of court decisions are in favor of insurance companies. In addition, according to the law on consumer protection, an insurance company that loses in court pays the disputed sum and a 50% fine of this sum. So suing the insurer can be quite profitable. sometimes disputes between insurers and policyholders arise because policyholders did not read the contract well, so you should familiarize yourself with joywallet.com

[lotusles]

We should also remember that all disputes with the insurance company are civil, and therefore can be resolved through a civil court.

Why go to that extent when all Insurers are FCA regulated, you just go to the ombudsman

[clemo]

FOOTMAN JAMES , no longer require an agreed value from club lotus. (on a case by case valuation / within reason)
Just put mine at an agreed value £17,000 was £15,000.

[Rambo]

FOOTMAN JAMES , no longer require an agreed value from club lotus. (on a case by case valuation / within reason)
Just put mine at an agreed value £17,000 was £15,000.

FJ have never required an agreed value from Club Lotus for mine. I just sent off about 6-10 quality photos and suggested values (£12k and £14k from memory)

Same for the Ebola