Do You Know Why.

[nicebloke1]

I keep reading about car insurance hitting the roof, but that's it, no one seems to give a reason why. I can't disagree with what I read because my insurance company tried it on with me.
Last year I only paid £150 mainly due to over 50 years of driving without any claims, and I don't do anymore than 4k a year with a bog standard small car. This year they tried, ( and failed) to hit me with £510, now the latter is way off the scale? after a morning of hissing about for quotes I settled for £225 with another company.

Is it just a case of, everyone else is banging their prices up, so lets join them, or the only other thing I can think of is, are we paying the price for these electric cars when they are written off? Could be one of many any thoughts?

[jno]

you get older, the car gets older; it will happen most years. It is getting worse, though

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/why-car-insurance-prices-gone-up-b1087100.html

[Old_Geezer]

Could be a bit of both. Apparently electric vehicles are a massive pain when damaged and so one might expect companies to spread the excess cost around.

[Zacs-Master]

One theory is that the cost of repairs has rocketed (cars with sensors, cameras, warning sign detectors, mirrors that tell you not to pull out etc etc) therefore premiums have to go up.

Another theory is, the insurance companies are ripping you off because people can’t be bothered to spend 30 mins researching and swapping.

[nicebloke1]

jno, its affecting everyone, not just oldies or older cars?

[douglas9401]

Because they can, end of. :-)

[nicebloke1]

They have always tried it on Zac year after year, but when I saw this years quote, that was just down right silly, from £150 to £500.

[Zacs-Master]

Well, there you go then. Theory 2 case example.

[Hymie]

This is a perennial news story that appears in the press each year (I’m pretty sure I’ve posted about it before on AB; insurers crying into their beer).

Personally I reckon the papers are in cahoots with the insurance industry, putting out these stories in the hope that there will some mugs who accept their renewal premium (having gone up in line with the newspaper BS), without checking other insurance providers for a better deal.

[vulcan42]

I have a friend in the accident and repair service and his major problem is getting the parts to repair the vehicles. He has literally over a dozen cars waiting for parts, sometimes it's just one small but essential item that's keeping the car off the road. The consequence of this is more and more people are having to use courtesy cars for a much longer period and the costs are falling onto the insurance companies. Naturally they are trying to reclaim the extra expenses.

[Hymie]

^^^
That’ll be due to Brexit then.

[Khandro]

Just paying ours here in Germany where the cars are no less complicated and because we did less kilometres last year than we estimated, we have actually received a refund.

[vulcan42]

Hymie, no it's not due to brexit, at least in his case. The majority of parts he's waiting for are Japanese or Korean. He's said on more than one occasion he breaths a sigh of relief when he sees a BMW being unloaded as he can get those spares easily, especially directly from Germany.

[Hymie]

Insurers in the UK don’t play that game; you declare your annual mileage – and in the event that you have a claim, they may reduce any payout, claiming that you are exceeding your insured stated annual mileage.

Although during the pandemic, insurers did refund some motorists who had significantly reduced their mileage due to working from home – but it was on nothing like a pro-rata basis.

[nicebloke1]

I can understand some increases, but when you look at what they quoted me from the previous year, that can't be anything other than crazy. When I first opened the email quote I nearly fell off my chair, unless it was a error. A £360 increase is past stupid.

[barry1010]

I got refunds during Covid because I was driving significantly less, but my premium went through the rough at the last renewal.
After 20+ years loyalty I had no choice but to move provider - same with the home insurance.
Disappointing

[nicebloke1]

There is somthing very wrong when insurance companies want turn their backs on loyalty, and drivers that have never made a claim, or had any accidents in over 50 years, it appears to count for very little.