Insurance Companies - how are they allowed to get away with it?

[Bayerd]

Re the OP, I think a previous poster is right - however unfair it may seem, the bottom line is that insurance prices aren't worked out by what's fair but by hard statistics. They don't have the time, or the skills, to consider individual cases; all they do is have a big program that gobbles up all the criteria and spits out an actuarially accurate number. If it helps, your past good record almost certainly *is* one of those criteria, and has helped keep the increase down.

You nearly had me there.

A couple of months ago, we needed to renew our insurance on 2 cars that are the same make and model, both registered to the same address, both bought brand new a few years ago.

We asked for separate identical quotes for both vehicles and one came out £80 more expensive than the other. When I challenged why that should be, I was first told that it was due to postcodes . Once I'd explained again that both were identical models, same age etc they conceded that they hadn't a clue why one was more than the other, but that was what 'the computer said'. We even tried other insurers with similar results (sometimes one way, sometimes the other).

Hard statistics can't explain this one and neither can the insurers......

 

[Globalti]

I was chatting with somebody who works in motor insurance. She said to me off the record that you should NEVER tell your insurance co if you have been involved in a no-claim accident or claimed off somebody else because it will go down on your record and you will become what they call an "accident magnet". That will affect your premiums for ever onwards. My 81 y.o. Mum is an accident magnet, excellent driver, member of the IAM, never had a serious accident but somehow she seems to keep getting into little scrapes with other cars, roadside boulders, trees, fences, walls etc. none of which are ever really her fault.

 

[ASC1951]

I was chatting with somebody who works in motor insurance. She said to me off the record that you should NEVER tell your insurance co if you have been involved in a no-claim accident or claimed off somebody else because it will go down on your record and you will become what they call an "accident magnet". That will affect your premiums for ever onwards.

Whereas lying to your insurers will merely mean your insurance is voidable, so you will have wasted 100% of your premiums.

My 81 y.o. Mum is an accident magnet, excellent driver, member of the IAM, never had a serious accident but somehow she seems to keep getting into little scrapes with other cars, roadside boulders, trees, fences, walls etc. none of which are ever really her fault.

I'm with this insurers on that. There clearly is something about her driving that causes collisions.

 

[Globalti]

It's not collisions, it's small incidents, not even worth claiming.

 

[Manonabike]

My 81 y.o. Mum is an accident magnet, excellent driver, member of the IAM, never had a serious accident but somehow she seems to keep getting into little scrapes with other cars, roadside boulders, trees, fences, walls etc. none of which are ever really her fault.

You are being sarcastic, right?

In case you are serious about it I just don't see how you can have "excellent driver" and "...."keep getting into little scrapes with other cars, roadside boulders, trees, fences, walls etc. none of which are ever really her fault" in the same sentence. I'm sure your mum is a wonderful lady though

 

[ufkacbln]

Insurance has gone up massively. Mine has doubled in the last 3 years despite low miles.

Unfortunately they should be even higher!

One assessment was that in 2010 Motor insurance claims were 2 Billion pounds more than the income!

The present motor insurance premiums are subsidised by 3 - 4% by household and other insurers!

 

[nickprior]

I renewed my car insurance last week. While going through the usual price comparison sites and following up on the insurers sites, it struck me that some insurers seemed to want to know all about a no fault claim Mrs nickprior made through her own policy for her own car (she's a named driver on mine), and others weren't bothered about the details in the slightest. This lack of interest was reflected in the quotes. Shop around folks, and make sure you get competitive quotes on a strict like for like basis.

What pushes mine up is the uninsured legal cover, no claims discount protection and European travel - there's another £100 for you.

 

[Globalti]

You are being sarcastic, right?

In case you are serious about it I just don't see how you can have "excellent driver" and "...."keep getting into little scrapes with other cars, roadside boulders, trees, fences, walls etc. none of which are ever really her fault" in the same sentence. I'm sure your mum is a wonderful lady though

No, really, she's an excellent driver. She's smooth, mechanically sympathetic to the car, decisive, brisk, got good eyesight. Everybody comments on her competent driving but she just seems to attract bad luck. Example: a few months ago out in a friend's car (friend driving) some idiot boy racer comes around the corner much too fast, sees them, locks up, mounts the high verge and comes to rest beside them, his car then topples over and falls on the roof of their car! Another one: she is directed to park her car on some grass and she somehow succeeds in getting a boulder that's hidden in the grass trapped under her car, causing damage to the floor pan. You couldn't make it up!

 

[Night Train]

They might lie, but when the policy is set up, the insurance company automatically check the insurers' database, which has all details of all claims and reported incidents that were not claimed for.

I read something recently that said the insurance company doesn't check the database when you take out the insurance but when you make a claim. That allows them to accept your money for the policy 'in good faith' that you have been truthful. Then when you make a claim they can check the database and find a reason to say you have invalidated the policy by forgetting to mention something.

My insurance has risen three fold over the last ten years, most of it recently.