Sneaky insurance companies

[swee'pea99]

Just received my regular 'don't you worry about a thing' renewal notice from my home insurer. Nice chaps - they're going to renew my policy for me, to make my life easy, so that's nice isn't it? Well, apart from the facts that a) I never said they could automatically renew (tho' they say I did - doubtless it's buried somewhere in sub-clause 14 iii of the Ts & Cs I didn't read), and b) they've helpfully added family legal protection, which I never asked for, and c) they've also added home emergency cover, which I never asked for. All of which results in a premium about 30% higher than I can get from another 'name' insurer, on a like-for-like basis. Not that nice then.

 

[Spinney]

In that case I would phone them up and explain that I am moving my policy, even if their premium (without the unwanted add-ons) is cheaper.

 

[classic33]

Always nice when they act, then tell you what they've done.

I was lucky in that the Head Office was fairly local. When the only phone call made failed, it was on my bike time.

 

[Oxo]

Every year when I get my car insurance it has gone up, but that is not a surprise. I then long on to their web site, fill in my details as a new customer and the quote is always a fair amount less, as they are trying to attract new business . I them ring them up about my renewal and ask why I can't have the cheaper quote. They always check my new online application and so far they have renewed at the lower quote.

 

[mjr]

Name and shame, please?

 

[mjr]

They always check my new online application and so far they have renewed at the lower quote.

In otherwords, so far, you've rewarded them for wasting your time with useless extra form-filling by renewing with them?

 

[Markymark]

Whenever I get insurance for home/work/car etc I always state I don't want auto renew whether they ask or not. Not had an issue for many years now amongst several insurers since I decided to do this.

 

[PaulSB]

Just a hint re house contents. Like most people unless something huge has occurred I tend to ignore the "please inform us of any change in circumstances" bit.

My wife retired last May, contents was due for renewal in late June. I phoned and told them this and without asking got a 50% reduction on the basis the property is occupied, or more likely to be, during the day.

I wouldn't have anticipated this saving and only informed them by chance really.

 

[Starchivore]

I think it is auto-renew by default, to avoid situations like having a major incident happen just after you forgot to renew the insurance on the right day. But adding all of those things on..... very devious indeed.

 

[swee'pea99]

Whenever I get insurance for home/work/car etc I always state I don't want auto renew whether they ask or not. Not had an issue for many years now amongst several insurers since I decided to do this.

The auto-renew doesn't actually bother me, since they always write in plenty of time to cancel anyway, but I was proper pissed off by the family legal protection and home emergency cover - basically the industry's equivalent of extended warranties or PPI - worthless add-ons used to rip-off the unwary. How they're legally allowed to 'add them to my shopping basket' without my say-so is a mystery to me. Oh, and as for the name & shame, esure in this case, but they're all the same. The only possible exception being Hiscox, who I believe are actually different. But the cost reflects it.

 

[Grant Fondo]

My car renewal from Hastings last year was £1240 due to a my fault prang on protected no claims and zero excess (nice one).... 5 minute phonecall to them and it dropped to £420..... so isnt that original renewal quote illegal and potentially theft? Of course not, as they stitch all of us up every day

 

[swee'pea99]

My car renewal from Hastings last year was £1240 due to a my fault prang on protected no claims and zero excess (nice one).... 5 minute phonecall to them and it dropped to £420..... so isnt that original renewal quote illegal and potentially theft? Of course not, as they stitch all of us up every day

My missus recently found that our elderly neighbour, who's one of those trusting souls who's been with the same insurer for decades, is paying over £1000/yr for home insurance, having never made a claim. We get effectively the same cover for £150.

 

[Grant Fondo]

My missus recently found that our elderly neighbour, who's one of those trusting souls who's been with the same insurer for decades, is paying over £1000/yr for home insurance, having never made a claim. We get effectively the same cover for £150.

Thats where they make the margins, like energy companies they are total strangers to integrity

 

[Dan B]

There's nothing illegal about setting your prices at whatever level you want to, nor of charging two different people different amounts for the same product or service.

Whether it's ethical to do so, that's another matter. For insurance you could possibly make the argument that it's all about spreading the risk anyway and if a bit more of the financial burden is shouldered by the people who would rather pay the renewal quote instead of first spending 30 minutes to check if it's still competitive then that reduces the premium for the rest of us. It doesn't feel like a particularly good argument to me, but there it is

 

[Globalti]

My missus recently found that our elderly neighbour, who's one of those trusting souls who's been with the same insurer for decades, is paying over £1000/yr for home insurance, having never made a claim. We get effectively the same cover for £150.

Our elderly neighbours are the same; paying too much for everything and too complacent (and rich) to bother changing. Mrs Gti has been helping them with their accounts and is staggered at how much they waste.

Our own house insurance renewal time always brings the same old routine: they quote, I ring them and tell them it's not acceptable as insurance costs are going down, not up, and I will pay only 2% extra or change my insurer. They always find a way of bringing it back down.