Why is insurance so expensive?
Discussion
eldar said:
Odd, Isn't it. Now I'm not young insurance is dirt cheap, less than half the VED....
Exactly. Live in a rural area and my Merc with £0 excess and class 1 business use is £250/yr. Wife's Honda Jazz with both "kids" (in their 20's) insured is £180/yr.In other countries insurance doesn't seem so expensive for young drivers, but a similar age to me colleague in Germany is paying €1000/yr for his 5 Series and says that's pretty standard there.
Miocene said:
This years levy call by MIB is £247m. It's actually reduced in recent years but is likely to go up next year.
As to why insurance is so expensive... It takes an awful lot of £500s to cover the cost of a claim where all 4 members of a family need care for the rest of their lives, which can be 8 figures.
Like I said I haven't worked in motor insurance for some time, so it is good to hear that the MIB levy has reduced - maybe the insurance database has helped.As to why insurance is so expensive... It takes an awful lot of £500s to cover the cost of a claim where all 4 members of a family need care for the rest of their lives, which can be 8 figures.
Shame it is likely to increase next year though.
Mr Daytona said:
Their really are some people out their who have no concept of simple business practices.
I know. Astounding. I think people are often disgruntled just because they hadn't bothered reading their policy wording and then they tar the entire industry with the same brush, just because they couldn't even achieve reading/comprehension Key Stage 1...The insurance industry is ultra competitive because it's a commodity. Saying it's a price fixed cartel has to be one of the most ridiculous things I have read, even by PH's standards. It's so tightly regulated, I reckon Compliance would sack you for even having a piss in the same toilet as your competitor.
As for fighting claims, the entire industry is still based on "utmost good faith". Nothing you can actually do.
We pay loads of claim that we KNOW are seriously dubious because we have to. Sometimes it's cheaper/easier to just settle small claims rather than pay the £500 Ombudsman's fee. Insurance fraud IS the key problem IMO.
The ambulance chasing culture has got out of hand. My daughter was hit in the rear at traffic lights. No injuries apart from sore neck. So I sent her to the doctor for check up and x-ray. Within a week or so she was fine. In the meantime our insurer was hassling us to accept compensation in return for not using a 3rd party claims company for the neck injury. Turns out the other driver was with the same insurer so you can see that the insurance company wanted to minimise their risk by dissuading my daughter from making an independent claim. Whilst I thought it was immoral to take money in return for not making a claim that we had no intention of making in the first place, she took the opening offer of £1500. Obviously we could have negotiated more but I would have had real difficulty with her exploiting the system this way. However I felt we were being forced into accepting the money. She was a student at the time so it would have been difficult to persuade her to settle for nothing once she knew £1500 was on the table.
How much do you think she could have negotiated the neck injury up to? £1500 seems like a generous offer as long as it was only a short term injury and not something causing ongoing pain and requiring treatment. Unless there's more to it it sounds more like the company sensibly minimising their costs while still compensating your daughter at the going rate.
Personally I think compensation should only be offered where there is quantifiable loss suffered, although medical bills should be covered. Sadly I don't think there's any chance of that particular genie going back in the bottle.
Personally I think compensation should only be offered where there is quantifiable loss suffered, although medical bills should be covered. Sadly I don't think there's any chance of that particular genie going back in the bottle.
Forced you into accepting £1500 - where their any threats of violence used at all ?
Seriously though, let's not kid ourselves, you/your daughter settled at £1500 because it was a good deal. I'm not blaming you for accepting such a figure - £1500 is a tidy sum in anyone's book - but if you/your daughter wanted to, you could have said no.
For the record, if after explaining the minimal nature of the symptoms they offered me £1500, I'd gladly accept it.
Seriously though, let's not kid ourselves, you/your daughter settled at £1500 because it was a good deal. I'm not blaming you for accepting such a figure - £1500 is a tidy sum in anyone's book - but if you/your daughter wanted to, you could have said no.
For the record, if after explaining the minimal nature of the symptoms they offered me £1500, I'd gladly accept it.
I am also having issues with getting a reasonable quote. I have recently relocated to UK from Australia. I have had a full driver's licence for over 10 years but here I would be considered a new driver after exchanging for a full UK licence. The quotes are just extraordinary expensive...
KFC said:
ChasW said:
However I felt we were being forced into accepting the money.
f
k off 
You scammed the insurance company out of £1500. Lets not call it anything other than what it is. It was your choice.
My daughter's choice. I persuaded her not to negotiate further with our insurer who made, after all, made the first move. We had no intention of claiming for the injury and didn't. From memory they were calling every other day to close the deal. Hardly us scamming as they were protecting themselves by ensuring we would never make an injury claim. This is my point. They are so scared of people using accident lawyers they will incentivise you not to pursue this route.
Mr Daytona said:
Forced you into accepting £1500 - where their any threats of violence used at all ?
Seriously though, let's not kid ourselves, you/your daughter settled at £1500 because it was a good deal. I'm not blaming you for accepting such a figure - £1500 is a tidy sum in anyone's book - but if you/your daughter wanted to, you could have said no.
For the record, if after explaining the minimal nature of the symptoms they offered me £1500, I'd gladly accept it.
Interesting point and they were fully aware of the nature and severity of the injury. I held them off for two weeks to ensure that the predicted recovery did happen. I imagine their worst fear was that I was stalling in order to consult with accident lawyers. If it had been me driving the car and not my daughter I would have reached an agreement with the insurer for nothing and also given them a hard time for offering me money in the first place. However my 21 year old daughter was the injured party, not me, so it was her decision. If I am honest in her shoes, at her age and with 3 years student debt and an uncertain future I probably would have pushed for more in the absence of a parent trying to show some moral guidance. Seriously though, let's not kid ourselves, you/your daughter settled at £1500 because it was a good deal. I'm not blaming you for accepting such a figure - £1500 is a tidy sum in anyone's book - but if you/your daughter wanted to, you could have said no.
For the record, if after explaining the minimal nature of the symptoms they offered me £1500, I'd gladly accept it.
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