Insurance renewal not same as for new customers?
Discussion
I thought the rules had changed? My renewal is £810 but from same company if I do a quote through comparethemarket is under £500. I thought they had to offer same price to existing customers as new customers these days, have I got that wrong? 
(For info - looks like exactly the same product with identical car / details etc)
(For info - looks like exactly the same product with identical car / details etc)
Edited by CoolHands on Saturday 8th February 18:58
They do, although there are some limitations, so it will need to be the same price within the same channel: e.g. if you bought the current policy on confused then it is the current price on confused that matters.
Otherwise assuming identical details then the renewal should be equal or lower to the new business price.
Worth saying there can be things that alter that. E.g. a customer takes out a telematics policy and drives somewhat poorly. At renewal they will be able to use this new additional information to calculate the premium. So that renewal price may be higher than if the customer uses a comparison site and gets a price for the same product priced without this additional telematics information - the details wouldn’t be identical however.
Otherwise assuming identical details then the renewal should be equal or lower to the new business price.
Worth saying there can be things that alter that. E.g. a customer takes out a telematics policy and drives somewhat poorly. At renewal they will be able to use this new additional information to calculate the premium. So that renewal price may be higher than if the customer uses a comparison site and gets a price for the same product priced without this additional telematics information - the details wouldn’t be identical however.
Edited by Dingu on Saturday 8th February 18:57
I think they only need to offer the same price as long as you go through the SAME sales channel.
i.e. It must be the same price for both existing/new customers on comparison sites and it must be the same price for new/existing customers on their own website but the price on comparison sites doesn't need to match the price on their own website
i.e. It must be the same price for both existing/new customers on comparison sites and it must be the same price for new/existing customers on their own website but the price on comparison sites doesn't need to match the price on their own website
I would be surprised if it diverged by that much due to channel alone tbh.
But if it is a sufficiently new product then it would also be allowed. It would need to be materially different and despite what some claim insurers are not creating new products every year to side step the rules. Not least as there would likely be enforcement action taken as it would be against the spirit of the rules.
But if it is a sufficiently new product then it would also be allowed. It would need to be materially different and despite what some claim insurers are not creating new products every year to side step the rules. Not least as there would likely be enforcement action taken as it would be against the spirit of the rules.
Edited by Dingu on Saturday 8th February 18:59
CoolHands said:
I thought the rules had changed? My renewal is £810 but from same company if I do a quote through comparethemarket is under £500. I thought they had to offer same price to existing customers as new customers these days, have I got that wrong?
(For info - looks like exactly the same product with identical car / details etc)
It still seems the same with house insurance too. I've just started a new policy via compare... and got a significant saving with the same insurer compared to their renewal quote. (For info - looks like exactly the same product with identical car / details etc)
Edited by CoolHands on Saturday 8th February 18:58
gt40steve said:
It still seems the same with house insurance too. I've just started a new policy via compare... and got a significant saving with the same insurer compared to their renewal quote.
It's the same with breakdown cover too - providers just seem to find some way around the regulations so every renewal it's comparison time. 
Mr Tidy said:
gt40steve said:
It still seems the same with house insurance too. I've just started a new policy via compare... and got a significant saving with the same insurer compared to their renewal quote.
It's the same with breakdown cover too - providers just seem to find some way around the regulations so every renewal it's comparison time. Doofus said:
They have to give the same prices to existing and new customers, but they don't have to do so without negotiation.
Not true. They have to ensure prices provided to renewal customers (for identical policies) are equal or lower than new customer prices. They can’t offer higher and rely on negotiation. Doofus said:
Dingu said:
Not true. They have to ensure prices provided to renewal customers (for identical policies) are equal or lower than new customer prices. They can’t offer higher and rely on negotiation.
But they plainly do.TwigtheWonderkid said:
Doofus said:
Dingu said:
Not true. They have to ensure prices provided to renewal customers (for identical policies) are equal or lower than new customer prices. They can’t offer higher and rely on negotiation.
But they plainly do.Mr Tidy said:
gt40steve said:
It still seems the same with house insurance too. I've just started a new policy via compare... and got a significant saving with the same insurer compared to their renewal quote.
It's the same with breakdown cover too - providers just seem to find some way around the regulations so every renewal it's comparison time. Doofus said:
TwigtheWonderkid said:
Doofus said:
Dingu said:
Not true. They have to ensure prices provided to renewal customers (for identical policies) are equal or lower than new customer prices. They can’t offer higher and rely on negotiation.
But they plainly do.Didn't you know the first car insurance policy was the "Friday 10:15" policy, but your second one was a "Saturday 14:27" policy.
They are completely different things - how could you be so naive? It's not like people just contact a car insurer expecting to buy just plain simple "car insurance"?
As ever, the insurance companies have a "particular" way of looking at things that tends to suit themselves.
My example is deliberately labouring the of course to show how ridiculous it is, as I assume your renewal policy and the one you ultimately bought were as near as dammit identical to the layman ( in terms of level of cover, specifications and usage.)
If one was 3rd party only multi-car classic 2 miles a year cap, and the other was fully comp no excess trade policy then yes obviously they'd have different prices, and rightly so.
But when I requote my renewal I follow the existing policy as closely as possible to get like for like results, and I would be surprised if anyone on this thread was talking about anything different to that.
I don't see how that practice could be mistaken as "non identical" policies, and if it does turn out that a new quote will never be considered an "identical policy" to an auto renewal quote then it shows up yet another area of sharp practice insurance companies er, practice.
Slightly off topic, but remember to include a partner as a named driver (as long as they're not high risk). I always add my wife and it reduces the premium by ~20% or so. She has no intention of driving my manual car and not driven any manual car since passing her test (luckily in a manual) decades ago. But she ''could'.
Forums | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff