Vehicle Insurance

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brockers

Senior Member
Holy Cow! What's happened to the insurance market? I've spent most of the day on the phone trying to get my motorbike premium down, as the online quotes I was getting were astronomical. My ancient CBR600 motorbike was £80 tpft last year, with a £250 excess. This year, the premiums start at £200 with a £450 excess. So I've gone third party only and am keeping my fingers crossed that it doesn't get half-inched.

I find it pretty hard to believe there's been that much fraud committed to justify these increases. Strangely, our buildings insurance is around 30% less this year too. Odd.
 

colly

Re member eR
Location
Leeds
I had exactly the same with my van insurance October last year. The renewal premium (fully comp) was £900 plus :eek::eek::eek: up from £630 the previous year.

Bear in mind I drive less than 8000 miles per year, I am 59, have a clean licence, and maximum NCB. I finally got it for something like £825 from someone else but it still wrankles. Then I got shot of the van and bought an old Transit instead and lo and behold third party ONLY on it is STILL over 600 notes.

Effing robbery.
 

fossyant

Ride It Like You Stole It!
Location
South Manchester
My car insurance went right up last year as some idiot hit it just before the renewal, and it's just remained the same this year. £200 jump from year before - up by a third. PS I have full protected no-claims and the claim was settled in my favour.
 

ohnovino

Large Member
Location
Liverpool
I don't drive, but out of curiosity I checked today to see what insurance would cost me. For a Mondeo worth £2000, the best quote I could find was was £2600, and the next best was £3300 :ohmy:

I think I'll be sticking with the bike.
 

pepecat

Well-Known Member
Lordy.... that's expensive... I pay about £240 ish for mine.... Max no claims. Vauxhall corsa from '02. Most of the other quotes i looked at (before remaining with the current provider) were WAY over that. It's crazy prizes!
 

vernon

Harder than Ronnie Pickering
Location
Meanwood, Leeds
My CB500 Honda costs £2 less to insure fully comp this year than it did to insure it third party fire and theft last year. Go figure......
 

srw

It's a bit more complicated than that...
Claims inflation for car insurance is running at something like 8% per year. This is fuelled by all sorts of things - no-win, no-fee lawyers, a shortage of parts after the Japanese tsunami, rapidly increasing fraud (and insurance companies who can't work out how to deal with it). Prices have been static for several years. The result is that the motor insurance market is catastrophically unprofitable. Prices have to go up a lot.

Brockers - £80 is about what it costs simply to service a typical policy - produce and send out the documentation, collect the cash, pay the broker, pay for the insurance company's overheads. That doesn't leave anything at all to pay for claims.
 

Night Train

Maker of Things
My car insurance quote last month went up from £600 to £1200.

I shopped around and got it down to £750 then when I added a another (female) driver to the insurance it went down £100.

I think I will need to get used to the stupid costs though as I need to have full commercial use, high mileage and I live in a 'bad' part of the country.

I am wondering what would happen when I have my electric car built.
 
OP
OP
brockers

brockers

Senior Member
Claims inflation for car insurance is running at something like 8% per year. This is fuelled by all sorts of things - no-win, no-fee lawyers, a shortage of parts after the Japanese tsunami, rapidly increasing fraud (and insurance companies who can't work out how to deal with it). Prices have been static for several years. The result is that the motor insurance market is catastrophically unprofitable. Prices have to go up a lot.

Brockers - £80 is about what it costs simply to service a typical policy - produce and send out the documentation, collect the cash, pay the broker, pay for the insurance company's overheads. That doesn't leave anything at all to pay for claims.

They told me there'd been an increase of 60% across the board for motor insurance to cover losses due to fraud. Ok fair enough, as I'd seen my insurance drop from £250 to £80 in two years (and I hit the +44 age bracket which classified me as low risk on an old motorbike.) But the quotes I was getting were 2 1/2 times last years (ten years no claims included). That's the bit I was having trouble with; but srw's explanation points out that's not the way to look at it from an insurer's point of view.


Although my insurance is cheap in the big scheme of things, it's getting harder to justify keeping my motorbike, what with petrol and spares prices going stratospheric. I know we've been here before, but I'd find it really hard to get used to being without one. I feel getting rid of it would signify the end of the last vestiges of my youth. :sad:

The solution is of course, to find a way of earning more !
 

danphoto

New Member
Location
East Sussex
Reading this makes me thankful that one benefit of my involuntary retirement is that we can sell the motor car once the Lady Wife's hospital treatment is finished. Bikes, cargo trike and buses is the way forward now.
 

funnymummy

A Dizzy M.A.B.I.L
I was paying £23 a month for mine FC, 2 years ago asked how much it would cost to add #1 to my policy - He was just 17 & was going to book a block of lessons as a birthday present.. It took my monthly premiums up to £146 a month!
Two years later he's given up on cars, he says there no point paying for lessons as we can't insure him to drive anyway!
He has had a 50cc Vespa, 125 bike & has now just passed his full test & about to buy a 600cc
- the best quote we have got for that has been £500, with a £400 excess
 

GrasB

Veteran
Location
Nr Cambridge
I had to take my sister off the Alfa's insurance this year, it went up £2400 (yes that's the extra not the total cost) with her on, with me & my wife it's down a touch on last year. :wacko:
 

GrasB

Veteran
Location
Nr Cambridge
Two years later he's given up on cars, he says there no point paying for lessons as we can't insure him to drive anyway!
Actually just having a license is useful long term. I know someone who learnt to drive, then just didn't drive for almost 15 years, their premiums where way lower than someone who had just past their test at 35.
 
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