Insurance - comparison sites are conning everyone
Discussion
I've just been through the annual rigmarole of trying to get a cheaper quotation and found that, even more so than in previous years, comparison sites are doing nothing for me. Insuring the Z4 was going to cost 4 figures going through any of them, despite being 25, having my own home with a garage, OK post code, 4 ncb, etc.
Finally accepted the offer of £820 through a well known broker, which is a slight discount on last year. However, unless I'd seen the name of said broker passed around on PH before, I'd never have come across it. I would, like the majority of the public, just assume that the comparison sites are as far as everything goes, and year on year they seem to become ever more inflated in their estimations, no matter your circumstance.
Two things:
1) Does £820 sound reasonable considering my circumstances?
2) How much money could the rest of the country save if they did a bit of legwork through brokers instead of assuming everything will arrive courtesy of a singing cartoon, Mr Creosote or the f
king meerkats or Mongolia, or wherever?
Finally accepted the offer of £820 through a well known broker, which is a slight discount on last year. However, unless I'd seen the name of said broker passed around on PH before, I'd never have come across it. I would, like the majority of the public, just assume that the comparison sites are as far as everything goes, and year on year they seem to become ever more inflated in their estimations, no matter your circumstance.
Two things:
1) Does £820 sound reasonable considering my circumstances?
2) How much money could the rest of the country save if they did a bit of legwork through brokers instead of assuming everything will arrive courtesy of a singing cartoon, Mr Creosote or the f
king meerkats or Mongolia, or wherever?
Raize said:
LOL, QFP. Scammers got to make money somehow. Muggers got to make money somehow. Burglars got to make money somehow. It's all OK.
How is 'charging more than the competition' equivalent to a con?Anyone who would blindly assume that the comparison websites are automatically going to be cheaper would have to be a bit simple IMO. It's always worth checking around other sources. The last few times I've renewed I've used a local broker who has managed to slightly beat the best offers I could find online and was a lot handier to deal with.
Raize said:
Really? Tell me more about this "phoning up actual brokers" you have discovered. Maybe this could catch on!
Although in my case what the comparison sites spit out as over £3000, brokers deem "uninsurable"
Go and ask 100 people in the street how they decide who insures their car. Of those who drive, the vast majority will be a combination of comparison sites/accepting the renewal of their existing provider. Sarcasm aside, it's just not the 'done thing' for a lot of people and I'm curious to know why. Although, I accept that the benefits will be greater to a PH crowd than to a Yaris owner who can probably be serviced just as well through a comparison site. But they're not everyoneAlthough in my case what the comparison sites spit out as over £3000, brokers deem "uninsurable"
If only Motor Insurers DID make money on the premium income they receive. On average, for every £1 they get in, they pay out £1.20 for Damages & Costs. Oh & top of that theres the small issue of paying for staff, rent on Offices, advertising & all the other sundries that arise for any Company.
Were it not for the other types of business they underwrite & the income they receive from the investments they invest the premiums in, then todays Insurance renewals would be considerably higher. Whilst I dont anticipate most people will have much if any sympathy for them, a little balance on this subject ( & all the other threads on "extortionate Insurance Companies") might be in order.
Were it not for the other types of business they underwrite & the income they receive from the investments they invest the premiums in, then todays Insurance renewals would be considerably higher. Whilst I dont anticipate most people will have much if any sympathy for them, a little balance on this subject ( & all the other threads on "extortionate Insurance Companies") might be in order.
Robbo101 said:
If only Motor Insurers DID make money on the premium income they receive. On average, for every £1 they get in, they pay out £1.20 for Damages & Costs. Oh & top of that theres the small issue of paying for staff, rent on Offices, advertising & all the other sundries that arise for any Company.
Were it not for the other types of business they underwrite & the income they receive from the investments they invest the premiums in, then todays Insurance renewals would be considerably higher. Whilst I dont anticipate most people will have much if any sympathy for them, a little balance on this subject ( & all the other threads on "extortionate Insurance Companies") might be in order.
Its a wonderful marketing job they've done when they have people believe this....its like the oil companies telling us they don't make money from selling petrolWere it not for the other types of business they underwrite & the income they receive from the investments they invest the premiums in, then todays Insurance renewals would be considerably higher. Whilst I dont anticipate most people will have much if any sympathy for them, a little balance on this subject ( & all the other threads on "extortionate Insurance Companies") might be in order.
Robbo101 said:
If only Motor Insurers DID make money on the premium income they receive. On average, for every £1 they get in, they pay out £1.20 for Damages & Costs. Oh & top of that theres the small issue of paying for staff, rent on Offices, advertising & all the other sundries that arise for any Company.
Were it not for the other types of business they underwrite & the income they receive from the investments they invest the premiums in, then todays Insurance renewals would be considerably higher. Whilst I dont anticipate most people will have much if any sympathy for them, a little balance on this subject ( & all the other threads on "extortionate Insurance Companies") might be in order.
It's not them making money I have issue with at all - my issue is the difference between 'mainstream' insurers (which dominate comparison sites) and those which are accessed by brokers. Were it not for the other types of business they underwrite & the income they receive from the investments they invest the premiums in, then todays Insurance renewals would be considerably higher. Whilst I dont anticipate most people will have much if any sympathy for them, a little balance on this subject ( & all the other threads on "extortionate Insurance Companies") might be in order.
Robbo101 said:
If only Motor Insurers DID make money on the premium income they receive. On average, for every £1 they get in, they pay out £1.20 for Damages & Costs. Oh & top of that theres the small issue of paying for staff, rent on Offices, advertising & all the other sundries that arise for any Company.
Were it not for the other types of business they underwrite & the income they receive from the investments they invest the premiums in, then todays Insurance renewals would be considerably higher. Whilst I dont anticipate most people will have much if any sympathy for them, a little balance on this subject ( & all the other threads on "extortionate Insurance Companies") might be in order.
well perhaps if they dedicated a little more of their time to NOT paying rediculous claims and actually investing time into fraudulent claims then they would be making more money. I have seen first hand how easily they pay out and do little to recoup their losses so I dont feel sorry for them at all. Infact I feel sorry for the general public who end up paying more and more for insurance companies to keep paying out.Were it not for the other types of business they underwrite & the income they receive from the investments they invest the premiums in, then todays Insurance renewals would be considerably higher. Whilst I dont anticipate most people will have much if any sympathy for them, a little balance on this subject ( & all the other threads on "extortionate Insurance Companies") might be in order.
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