Car Insurance

[Sasha01]

Hiya, I've built up 4 years no claims bonus, my car insurance has stayed around the £600 mark for the last three years, being reduced around £20 a year. Is that correct and will it continue to decrease by only £20 a year?

[edward d]

I have 20+ years NCD & my insurance has risen this year.
The best thing is to shop around for a better deal

[theshedman]

You could try your own insurance company's website and putting in your details. Often when we do that it comes up with a lower or sometimes much lower price than the one on the renewal letter. Then we phone them and get the cheaper deal.

[Islay]

I have been with the same insurance co rot 5 years (RAC) even they wrote on their email that I may get a better deal elsewhere!!
The wanted £670 on renewal, I shopped around got my insurance for £275 and £65 cashback

[Islay]

for not rot!!

[jno]

try Direct Line, they always seem to be cheaper than anyone else. Though I don't know how helpful they'd be if you actually had to claim for something.

[TWR]

I am not Loyal to any insurance Sasha, try and play one against the other if on the phone, depending on your details,
Age, age of car & CC
How many miles to cover in one year,
Where the car is kept day / night,
Is it used for work,
How many drivers,
Your postcode,
Excess / Value,
keep checking around, I know it can be a pain in the rs, but it pays off at times.

[gingejbee]

The renewal premium from your current insurer will decrease as your no-claims discount increases....but will be offset by increases in the overall premiums that seem to happen every year. So, you really need to get at least two/three more quotes from other insurers to see if your current premium is fair...as a new customer elsewhere, you would probably get a much better deal.

[ToraToraTora]

sounds like a lot to me, remember, loyalty is punished. Hit the comparison sites

[Deskdiary]

Car insurance in the UK is too cheap.

The majority of insurers who write car insurance have a combined operating ratio of over 100%, and therefore to ‘balance the books’ they make a profit by loading their more profitable lines of business.

In effect, for many insurers, car insurance is a loss leader.

This situation has arisen due to the fact the investment returns they receive from premiums are not what they used to be, fraud, and the pot of gold that never stops giving to ambulance chasing lawyers, the advent of no win no fee (in other words risk free to the claimant) compensation claims.

It is a sorry state of affairs that bottom-feeding lawyers know it is cheaper for an insurance company to pay a couple of grand to a claimant for unsubstantiated ‘whiplash’ than it is to ask the claimant to prove their loss.

In March Lynne Truss amended the Ogden rate with a 3.25% swing which, while sounding small, is going to have a profound effect on serious injury claims. I won’t bore you with actuarial statistics, but suffice to say a £1m reserved pre-Ogden claim could now be reserved at £3m, and therefore insurers are having to set-aside millions (in one case I’m aware of £400m) for post-ogden increases in claims awards.

In addition, Insurers have to abide by very robust solvency rules, and therefore as insurers are having to set-aside more money for claims, some of the more tertiary insurers could very well fall foul of the solvency rules resulting in them being closed down by the FCA – if this happens there will be less market capacity, rates will harden and premiums will increase.

Bottom line is, insurance is going to increase, and therefore now more than ever people should be shopping around.

Incidentally, it is now a requirement of the FCA that companies offering personal insurance must state there may be cheaper rates if people look around. Essentially treating people as if they are morons (when was the last time you went into Sainsbury’s and they warned you that you might be able to get a tin of beans cheaper at Tesco).

[Peter Pedant]

seems very age dependent

one site says - it is well known that the premium for a 22 y old is the same as for an 18 y o
and then quoted over £2000

[Arrods]

.... and standard rate Insurance Premium Tax, first introduced at 2.5% now stands at 12%.

[Sasha01]

I have shopped around on comparison sites and the renewal quote I had from my current insurer is £20 less than last year but by far the cheapest quote I've had. No hope of it ever drastically dropping in price then?

[Sasha01]

Maybe if car insurance wasn't a legal obligation, but covering the cost of damage was, people may decide to put some money aside or pay out as accidents occurred. then if people didn't have an accident its money in their own pockets and people may be more careful on the roads. No hope of that ever happening either :)