Insurance doubled !!
Author
Discussion

julian64

Original Poster:

14,325 posts

284 months

Tuesday 7th November 2023
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Often hear of this sort of thing on PH and never really been affected by it till now.

Boggo BMW 335xd insurance gone from £304 last year to £640 this year. Obviously nothing changed, no convictions, no big age milestones, in my late fifties, no claims and 26 years of NCB

Obviously can't name the insurance broker but often on here as a recommendation and I have five cars and two motorcycles with them. So thought I'd give them a chance.

I rang them up to remind them about all the vehicles I have with them over the last few years and asked them to review the quote for competitiveness. I had gone on a comparison site and found same cover in every aspect I checked for £398.

They surprised me by telling me they weren't interested in a competitive quote because they couldn't verify it due to GDPR issues. They offered me a revised quote of £620 telling me they were waiving their fee.

i thanked them for their time and switched across to the £398 quote . But is this going to be the future where its a blind auction now?

Ankh87

1,150 posts

132 months

Tuesday 7th November 2023
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There's already a mega thread about this. It's going to be the norm from now on.

Truckosaurus

13,270 posts

314 months

Tuesday 7th November 2023
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julian64 said:
...because they couldn't verify it due to GDPR issues....
I'm not sure how that is even a thing? They surely know (and store) all your personal info already in order to give a quote.

GeniusOfLove

5,773 posts

42 months

Tuesday 7th November 2023
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Truckosaurus said:
julian64 said:
...because they couldn't verify it due to GDPR issues....
I'm not sure how that is even a thing? They surely know (and store) all your personal info already in order to give a quote.
"GDPR" is the go to excuse for "I can't be arsed" or "I'm not interested" now, all the same lazy useless slobs who alway used "health and safety" as a reason to be unhelpful and obstructive have a new arrow in their quiver more suited to desk jobs.

The Selfish Gene

5,582 posts

240 months

Tuesday 7th November 2023
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yeah that's a meeting in a board room somewhere coming up with a BS excuse.

If you have a bump, or speeding or indeed anything they can see it across insurance companies. So the whole we don't trust your competitive quote is BS - they know it, they've just decided they don't care about your business versus all the people that just keep it running regardless.


Ninja59

3,691 posts

142 months

Tuesday 7th November 2023
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Depends if you were truly comparing like with like over the price, the brokers may have been a better overall policy (but hard to say from this lack of information which only includes pricing).

The GDPR excuse is poor mind and is an excuse for not being competitive when they could have produced a sound reason like the one suggested above.

Furthermore, I also want to stress that you have 20+ NCD, but not ALL of that is likely to have been taken into account as most only go up to around 9 yrs anyway which is something a number of people seem to miss out. Additionally, proving so many years can be problematic depending on current provider.

gotoPzero

20,776 posts

219 months

Tuesday 7th November 2023
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I think you have done well to get insurance that cheap tbh! I have been paying on average £600 for the last few years.

julian64

Original Poster:

14,325 posts

284 months

Wednesday 8th November 2023
quotequote all
gotoPzero said:
I think you have done well to get insurance that cheap tbh! I have been paying on average £600 for the last few years.
I think that is probably for a number of reasons You and I won't be like for like as you are probably in a different area with a different car etc, too many variables. But nothing I have done is changed.

The only reasons possible for my hike is either

The broker going down the tubes.
The UK getting poorer vs the rest of the world
Or the claim culture in the UK which you read about of all these forums.

Regardless of which of the above it is, its pretty damn sad for the next generation.

DSLiverpool

16,506 posts

232 months

Wednesday 8th November 2023
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Truckosaurus said:
julian64 said:
...because they couldn't verify it due to GDPR issues....
I'm not sure how that is even a thing? They surely know (and store) all your personal info already in order to give a quote.
You’re talking to an idiot, ask to be put through to someone who’s not an idiot and don’t take idiots advice.

julian64

Original Poster:

14,325 posts

284 months

Wednesday 8th November 2023
quotequote all
DSLiverpool said:
Truckosaurus said:
julian64 said:
...because they couldn't verify it due to GDPR issues....
I'm not sure how that is even a thing? They surely know (and store) all your personal info already in order to give a quote.
You’re talking to an idiot, ask to be put through to someone who’s not an idiot and don’t take idiots advice.
I take your point but how much of your day do you want to argue with someone reading off a computer screen. I'm not trying to change their company. Nothing in their computer algorithm says 'Hey, here is someone who's been with us for 26 years and never made a claim, and also has five other vehicles with us....we might want to keep him'. Five sets of insurance premiums times 26 years of clear profit.

I guess you can't get too attached to a company and sometimes need to move on. I just thought I'd post because I was quite surprised after making the change

BOR

5,146 posts

285 months

Wednesday 8th November 2023
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julian64 said:
£304
When you think about it, there can't be much profit in £304 once you remove the admin costs, and overheads before you even get to the risk element.

Mr Tidy

31,534 posts

157 months

Wednesday 8th November 2023
quotequote all
julian64 said:
Often hear of this sort of thing on PH and never really been affected by it till now.

i thanked them for their time and switched across to the £398 quote . But is this going to be the future where its a blind auction now?
Admittedly not doubled, but I've been getting silly renewal prices for years!

So every time I go and compare my meerkats. Credit where it's due to Saga though as my E90 330i has been with them for 3 years now because the increase was so small it wasn't worth looking around.

Condi

20,385 posts

201 months

Wednesday 8th November 2023
quotequote all
julian64 said:
The only reasons possible for my hike is either

The broker going down the tubes.
The UK getting poorer vs the rest of the world
Or the claim culture in the UK which you read about of all these forums.

Regardless of which of the above it is, its pretty damn sad for the next generation.
Or just general inflation....? Tried hiring a car recently, compared with what it cost 2 years ago? Used car values going up have meant bigger payouts for write offs. Cost of replacement parts is considerably more.

Although, granted, does that justify a 100% increase? I'm not sure, but the insurance companies employ very clever people to calculate the amount they need to charge to justify the risk.

popeyewhite

23,087 posts

150 months

Wednesday 8th November 2023
quotequote all
Truckosaurus said:
julian64 said:
...because they couldn't verify it due to GDPR issues....
I'm not sure how that is even a thing? They surely know (and store) all your personal info already in order to give a quote.
The bigger joke is them saying they couldn't verify it, who cares? At which point the OP says he couldn't care less either drop your quote or I'm off.

Robertb

3,866 posts

268 months

Wednesday 8th November 2023
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I’m a comparison site tart. I couldn’t care less about the insurance company I’m with, I just go with the best deal. Takes less time to change company online than ring your incumbent insurer and argue fruitlessly with them.

Do check TnCs though… I’ve noticed stuff like windscreen cover being quietly removed on lower premiums.

I managed to keep my renewals at a 10% increase this year. First time they’ve gone up for donkey’s years.

gotoPzero

20,776 posts

219 months

Wednesday 8th November 2023
quotequote all
julian64 said:
gotoPzero said:
I think you have done well to get insurance that cheap tbh! I have been paying on average £600 for the last few years.
You and I won't be like for like as you are probably in a different area with a different car etc, too many variables. But nothing I have done is changed.
No I get that but I don't know many people with that sort of car who are paying that sort of money.

Its a very good price! Maybe they finally realised who knows?

Condi

20,385 posts

201 months

Wednesday 8th November 2023
quotequote all
Robertb said:
I’m a comparison site tart. I couldn’t care less about the insurance company I’m with, I just go with the best deal.
This is fine until you need to claim, at which point the difference between a "good" known brand, and a non name policy will often become glaringly obvious.

Mr Tidy

31,534 posts

157 months

Wednesday 8th November 2023
quotequote all
gotoPzero said:
julian64 said:
gotoPzero said:
I think you have done well to get insurance that cheap tbh! I have been paying on average £600 for the last few years.
You and I won't be like for like as you are probably in a different area with a different car etc, too many variables. But nothing I have done is changed.
No I get that but I don't know many people with that sort of car who are paying that sort of money.

Its a very good price! Maybe they finally realised who knows?
Saga only charged me £245 for my old (2005) 330i in April, and my Z4M Coupe with some mods was less than £400 in June - but not with Saga!

Maybe where you live is a problem, although I'm in Surrey where most things are expensive.

Sheepshanks

41,105 posts

149 months

Wednesday 8th November 2023
quotequote all
Robertb said:
I’m a comparison site tart. I couldn’t care less about the insurance company I’m with, I just go with the best deal. Takes less time to change company online than ring your incumbent insurer and argue fruitlessly with them.

Do check TnCs though… I’ve noticed stuff like windscreen cover being quietly removed on lower premiums.

I managed to keep my renewals at a 10% increase this year. First time they’ve gone up for donkey’s years.
Driving Other Cars (DOC) is a big one, if you ever rely on it. Some companies default to not including it, but will add it at no cost on request.

quinny100

1,013 posts

216 months

Wednesday 8th November 2023
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I’m not surprised insurance costs are skyrocketing having witnessed how two work colleagues claims have been handled in the past couple of months.

Case 1 - Third party backed out of a parking space at low speed into the rear arch of an Audi A6 causing cosmetic damage. Little bit of creased metal but I’m 99% sure the local guy I use would have had it pulled/knocked out, painted and as new 48 hours at a cost of somewhere between £500 and £700. Insurer sent a low loader to the office and transported the car to a bodyshop 75 miles away, separately delivered a 330e from Thrifty the same day, kept the car for 4 weeks, returned it on a low loader and left the 330e in the car park for a further week before my colleague gave up and rang Thrifty herself and told them to come and get it. She only knew it was from Thrifty because I pointed out the sticker in the windscreen. Total claim is apparently well over £10k.

Case 2 - 4 car shunt on the motorway, colleague was at the front of the shunt. Courtesy car provided. Car written off within a week, couple of days back and fourth over the value but agreed. That was 3 weeks ago, claim still unpaid due to an admin dispute between insurers about who shunted who. Parties involved have a WhatsApp group and are in full agreement over who is liable! All are in insurer provided courtesy cars, none have had their claims settled yet. Courtesy cars alone must be costing circa £2k per week.

If they can’t handle claims and repairs efficiently, premiums are only going one way.