Car insurance gone up considerably. Any tips?

[tomsugden]

Put a parent or partner on the policy too. Play around with the excess to reduce the premium.

[jonwm]

Weirdly enough mine went down this year, £445 to £375 on a T6 Transporter used as a family car, in the end I went with a specialist insurer as plan on making modification to the looks (wheels / Suspension and a Sportline kit) and they came in at £390.

Comparison sites were all £700+

Also to add I went onto an 86 year old relatives insurance and that reduced by nearly half £1200 to £700

[anonymous-user]

I read somewhere that if you max out your excess (then get insurance to cover the excess!) it can save a fair bit

[Ninja59]

Most are seeing increases and there is very few ways to reduce it, most renewals a number of people are finding competitive albeit ones like Admiral. If you are bothered phone up and challenge it.

But like every insurance thread recently on here, your situation may not have changed, but the world has.

Inflation
Cost of repairs increasing (including the potential for any hire vehicles)
Time for repair increasing due to lack of parts

All of these things have to be covered somehow.

[x5tuu]

I got my renewal through via email last week and was shocked to see it had gone from £298 to £525

Thought that wouldn’t be a problem at all and just bang it into a comparison website … I was wrong, that’s still the cheapest (by only £5) and the next cheapest had a black box and there’s no way I’m having one them fitted when I’ve got 10+yrs no claims etc.

Seems like I’m just going to have to suck it up and pay.

[lost in espace]

James6112 said:

I read somewhere that if you max out your excess (then get insurance to cover the excess!) it can save a fair bit

My sons just passed his test, Stirling Insurance wanted a grand excess but for a small fee for their premium product we got excess insurance from them too Go figure!

[Alex Z]

Renewal on my Mini came in at £360 instead of £260 last year, and QuoteMeHappy had always provided competitive quotes so I’d not moved for several years.

Their website has an FAQ that says “don’t call for a better price. What we provided is our best deal” so I found a similar policy through TopCashBack for £295ish with 40 quid cashback.

When I set my QMH policy to not renew they then offered a discount down to £310 which I’d have probably just accepted if that’s where they started.

[Sheepshanks]

I think they’re all just chancing their arm due to the regulation that they’re not supposed to offer new customers lower prices than existing customers.

So you could shop around before and get a low quote for the first year as an intro bonus, now they know you can’t do that.

[hepy]

x5tuu said:

I got my renewal through via email last week and was shocked to see it had gone from £298 to £525

Thought that wouldn’t be a problem at all and just bang it into a comparison website … I was wrong, that’s still the cheapest (by only £5) and the next cheapest had a black box and there’s no way I’m having one them fitted when I’ve got 10+yrs no claims etc.

Seems like I’m just going to have to suck it up and pay.

Ours went up by £200 but by fitting a black box (sticking it to the windscreen and downloaded an app) ended up being cheaper than the previous 12 months.

[Dingu]

Sheepshanks said:

I think they’re all just chancing their arm due to the regulation that they’re not supposed to offer new customers lower prices than existing customers.

So you could shop around before and get a low quote for the first year as an intro bonus, now they know you can’t do that.

The whole market? When some reported no profit last year? Behave.

If someone could do it lower and still make a decent margin they absolutely would. There is no shortage of competition. The price is what it is because that is what is needed to cover claims costs and make a similar margin. What you “think” doesn’t alter facts.

[bugo]

Dingu said:

The whole market? When some reported no profit last year? Behave.

If someone could do it lower and still make a decent margin they absolutely would. There is no shortage of competition. The price is what it is because that is what is needed to cover claims costs and make a similar margin. What you “think” doesn’t alter facts.

Thing is, the variance in the insurance market on the whole is part of what breeds mistrust.

It's a free market but often insurers are uncompetitive and that can be frustrating for the consumer.

No way the inflation we've seen causes the level of rises being reported. Shop around folks and do your level best!

[Sheepshanks]

Dingu said:

If someone could do it lower and still make a decent margin they absolutely would.

They can't - at least not on a "let's grab a chunk of new business by offering an intro discount" basis - because they'd be quoting lower than existing customers' premiums.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

lost in espace said:

James6112 said:

I read somewhere that if you max out your excess (then get insurance to cover the excess!) it can save a fair bit

My sons just passed his test, Stirling Insurance wanted a grand excess but for a small fee for their premium product we got excess insurance from them too Go figure!

Just remember that excess insurance usually only kicks in for claims above the excess. So, if you have a £1000 excess and you have an £1100 claim, it'll only cost you £100. But if you have a £900 claim, it'll cost you £900.

[anonymous-user]

TwigtheWonderkid said:

lost in espace said:

James6112 said:

I read somewhere that if you max out your excess (then get insurance to cover the excess!) it can save a fair bit

My sons just passed his test, Stirling Insurance wanted a grand excess but for a small fee for their premium product we got excess insurance from them too Go figure!

Just remember that excess insurance usually only kicks in for claims above the excess. So, if you have a £1000 excess and you have an £1100 claim, it'll only cost you £100. But if you have a £900 claim, it'll cost you £900.

Interesting clarification, thanks

[TwigtheWonderkid]

James6112 said:

TwigtheWonderkid said:

lost in espace said:

James6112 said:

I read somewhere that if you max out your excess (then get insurance to cover the excess!) it can save a fair bit

My sons just passed his test, Stirling Insurance wanted a grand excess but for a small fee for their premium product we got excess insurance from them too Go figure!

Just remember that excess insurance usually only kicks in for claims above the excess. So, if you have a £1000 excess and you have an £1100 claim, it'll only cost you £100. But if you have a £900 claim, it'll cost you £900.

Interesting clarification, thanks

Actually, got that wrong, an £1100 claim will cost nothing, as your insurers will pay £100 and the excess insurance company will pay £1000. But you can only claim on the excess insurance if you incur the excess. If it's an £1100 claim, you cannot claim your £1000 excess and pay the £100 yourself to keep your bonus. You need to make the claim. £1000 claim or less and the excess insurers won't pay, neither will your insurers, so it'll cost you up to £1000.

Hope I've made that clear?

[spaximus]

Had my renewal and it had gone up from £256 to £425 .

Did the usual ring round and comparison sites and best was still £355.

I was told that due to there being a lot more write off EV's and an increase in costs to repair cars with ludicrous hire charges that on average insurance has gone up 24% and likely to go up again next year as well.

I have no idea if that is true but it sort of makes sense as I do not know anyone whose insurance has gone down this year so far

[GolfDragon]

Not sure if this has been mentioned but one thing that might make a difference is ensuring you try to be accurate with your estimate for annual mileage.

Say if on average you cover 6000 miles a year then record your usage as 7000 miles as opposed to 8000-10000 miles (if you find your usage has gone up then adjust with insurer)

[Mr Tidy]

Insurance for my BMW 330i with Saga (I'm old) actually cost less in 2021 and 2022 than in 2020!

In April 2023 it went up from £220 to £245 but comparison sites couldn't get close to that so I stayed with them.

But renewal for my Z4M with some declared modifications that cost £260 in June 2022 shot up. The best I could get this year was £370.

Maybe the type of car is a factor?

Either way it's cheaper than the Road Tax, so not a big problem in the scheme of things.

[Ninja59]

Sheepshanks said:

They can't - at least not on a "let's grab a chunk of new business by offering an intro discount" basis - because they'd be quoting lower than existing customers' premiums.

In fairness though, it is customers that have sometimes brought that logic forward by only thinking of price and not the level of coverage offered as well.

I bet the policies available directly are so watered down in comparison of even a few years ago they are frankly a joke. Now you could say well that is all person X needed and that is fine, but I think more and more people are getting caught out by some as fundamental are happening, from additional excesses for choosing your own repairer should the worst happen to bigger things like DOC being removed.

Some insurers taking the pee on renewals going far above the removed initial discount is a company issue mind.

[Gycraig]

Sheepshanks said:

I think they’re all just chancing their arm due to the regulation that they’re not supposed to offer new customers lower prices than existing customers.

So you could shop around before and get a low quote for the first year as an intro bonus, now they know you can’t do that.

Basically customers that don’t shop around have stopped subsiding customers that do.