Admiral 34% surcharge to pay monthly

[Hackney]

Just been on the phone with Admiral and discovered the £707 quote becomes £934 if I pay monthly.

By paying monthly I "lose the discounted price" and incur an 8.5% for credit.

I can understand paying 5-10% extra but 34% is a joke.

Are they all doing this now?

[WanThyme]

No. They've been doing it forever. It's why you'll rarely see the D/D option attached to online comparison sites. Luckily, they've either haven't covered the car I wanted to insure, or been too expensive for me anyway.

Edited by WanThyme on Tuesday 13th November 17:24

[valiant]

Get an interest free credit card and be strict in paying it back as you would a direct debit.

Job jobbed.

[Hammerhead]

They're odd. Have just received the renewal quote on my Jaaag and they quoted £597 & something pence. Go to confused.com and they come out cheapest at £349 for the same cover. Why not just give me the lower quote to start with, muppets.

[Hackney]

Just been doing some sums.
Even on an 18% interest credit card if I paid off £65 per month (£10 less than the insurance co. monthly payment) I'd only pay £777 saving £150

I will never pay monthly for insurance again!

[LeeMad]

Hammerhead said:

They're odd. Have just received the renewal quote on my Jaaag and they quoted £597 & something pence. Go to confused.com and they come out cheapest at £349 for the same cover. Why not just give me the lower quote to start with, muppets.

auto renewals. if people are too lazy to check if they can get it cheaper then why not take advantage of that?

[Robb F]

Hammerhead said:

They're odd. Have just received the renewal quote on my Jaaag and they quoted £597 & something pence. Go to confused.com and they come out cheapest at £349 for the same cover. Why not just give me the lower quote to start with, muppets.

Well, listen to yourself, why would they give you the cheaper offer first?

[kambites]

Pay yearly then...

[98elise]

Hammerhead said:

They're odd. Have just received the renewal quote on my Jaaag and they quoted £597 & something pence. Go to confused.com and they come out cheapest at £349 for the same cover. Why not just give me the lower quote to start with, muppets.

They loss lead on new business, because enough people will stick with them for a few years to make it worth their while. Smart people will check each year and pick up the best deal.

[Hammerhead]

Robb F said:

Well, listen to yourself, why would they give you the cheaper offer first?

Client retention? We don't give out stupid quotes for work hoping someone will take a bite!

[sparkyhx]

Hammerhead said:

They're odd. Have just received the renewal quote on my Jaaag and they quoted £597 & something pence. Go to confused.com and they come out cheapest at £349 for the same cover. Why not just give me the lower quote to start with, muppets.

Cos thats the New Business price and not the Renewal price
on the grounds that 'these were the cheapest last year so not worth looking round cos they will still be the cheapest'. Its like mortgages - New Business introductory offers were always less than 'end of inrtop period' offers.

Many industries offer pricing based on customer inertia

[kambites]

Hammerhead said:

Client retention? We don't give out stupid quotes for work hoping someone will take a bite!

But you problem also don't have clients on automatic renewal schemes.

[MK Ultra]

With same company £1400 quote became £2100 if paid monthly.

(but they did give me 14days to pay it so that's what I did)

[vit4]

Same company last year, £15xx turned into nearly £3k

My gf has just renewed with Diamond (same group) and the figures are almost the same to the pound as in the OP.

[V6Alfisti]

LeeMad said:

auto renewals. if people are too lazy to check if they can get it cheaper then why not take advantage of that?

Not quite right, they don't actually allow current clients to buy online.

E.g you do a search a month before after receiving renewal, you find on comparison site they charge x much less. Delighted you click the link, you are presented with a warning message to contact customer services as you are an existing customer.

More often than not you can give the reference and they will price match but they may bump up any amendments the comparison site got wrong. Otherwise just get a quote from Elephant/Bell/Diamond (all owned by admiral) and they will match any quote without flinching an eye. Don't play with it too much or for too long though, the price WILL go up.

Talking from experience

[Takeflight]

One of the (many) reasons monthly is more expensive is apparently its used as a risk factor in the algorithms. I guess the thinking is if you're sensible enough to have enough cash to pay for things up front you're likely to be more careful with your driving. Sounds tenuous at best to me, but there we go.*

• Allegedly, according to my mate in the pub.

[ZOLLAR]

Takeflight said:

One of the (many) reasons monthly is more expensive is apparently its used as a risk factor in the algorithms. I guess the thinking is if you're sensible enough to have enough cash to pay for things up front you're likely to be more careful with your driving. Sounds tenuous at best to me, but there we go.*

• Allegedly, according to my mate in the pub.

There is certain truth in that, although not for the reason you've mentioned.

[David87]

kambites said:

Pay yearly then...

The very definition of a true PHer response.

[Wacky Racer]

David87 said:

kambites said:

Pay yearly then...

The very definition of a true PHer response.

Why not? We are all (powerfully built) company directors after all...

[STW2010]

I wouldn't insure my car with that bunch of useless s even if it was free. You only find out how good an insurance company is when you claim- and I am 100% certain that the third party (who was entirely at fault- claim settled last year now) had much less hassle than I did.