Big Insurance increases

[FrankNicklin]

Just had my Car insurance renewal come through and up 50% on last year. I insure with LV. Just spoke to my broker that arranged my Motorhome insurance and LV came back as the cheapest quote for my car but still 45% more on last year. Next nearest was over 60% more. Appears there has been a big reset in the industry and companies have been quoting too low a premiums to get business but at an unsustainable rate. Motorhome insurance was OK and they took my NCB in to account when arranging the insurance. But we can all expect big rises.

 

[Spriddler]

Renewed my car last week with my existing insurer LTSB. No changes to my circumstances but up from £255 to £368. They said it's largely due to increases in parts and labour costs.
Other online quotes were in the £455 to £650 range.
But hey-ho, we know they're not in business for our benefit.

 

[Jev88]

NFU. The only company in years I felt like I got a personal service from and a REAL PERSON'S email address and office phone number.
Started with MH, then RV and now added works van (for son's use mainly) and wife's car.
Last renewal premium went up about £25 a few months ago (even my contact was a little surprised it was a low increase).

 

[FrankNicklin]

NFU. The only company in years I felt like I got a personal service from and a REAL PERSON'S email address and office phone number.
Started with MH, then RV and now added works van (for son's use mainly) and wife's car.
Last renewal premium went up about £25 a few months ago (even my contact was a little surprised it was a low increase).

Well NFU will not cover me as an urban dweller. Did not even know that was a criteria. Just found some online reviews and apparently I'm not alone.

 

[SpeedyDux]

I think LV are acting as broker not underwriter in my case. An additional layer of insurance parasites that add to the premum cost.

The motor insurers appear to be acting like a cartel this year.

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[Dutch 68]

A load of BS, it’s pure greed, nothing else, have a peak in other countries around the world and see what average insurance premiums are for certain products, we are all ripped off big style, one big cartel and consumers have nowhere else to go

 

[The Wino]

A load of BS, it’s pure greed, nothing else, have a peak in other countries around the world and see what average insurance premiums are for certain products, we are all ripped off big style, one big cartel and consumers have nowhere else to go

Have you any evidence of that? I don't think insurance companies make excessive profits and other countries have quite different claims to the UK. I always find a lot of people think any industry is a rip off apart from the one they work or worked in what did you do or do you do?

 

[The Wino]

Here's a recent article

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2023/jul/22/uk-drivers-car-insurance-costs-price-petrol-diesel

And a quote from it

"Car insurance is a tough market. There’s a misconception about fat cat insurers making loads of money but that is not the case. Most of them lost money last year, and some people lost their jobs as a result.”

I think everyone knows the rise in repair costs recently why would anyone be surprised at an insurance cost increase.

 

[Mohawk Mo]

Just had pet insurance renewal for 2 dogs from Direct Line, this year they would like £2078.42 (yes you read it right!) up from an already 'we have you over a barrel' quote from last year of a whopping £1465.00!! Sadly I had to agree to that figure which was negotiated down to that as one dog was quite poorly at the time. Not rung them yet to discuss as still in a state of shock, but I will and they may not care what I have to say or where they can put their latest quote!

 

[jockaneezer]

A pal of mine's retired father delivers hire cars for a body shop repair company. The prices they charge are truly astronomical (short term lets of a few days can be charged out at up to £500 a day !) and these costs are generally charged against the "guilty party's" insurance company.
It's as if they want to gouge as much money as they can from the opposing company, but don't realise they'll probably be on the receiving end of the "gouging" next time ?
It just smacks of being a massive scam ?

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[Dutch 68]

A pal of mine's retired father delivers hire cars for a body shop repair company. The prices they charge are truly astronomical (short term lets of a few days can be charged out at up to £500 a day !) and these costs are generally charged against the "guilty party's" insurance company.
It's as if they want to gouge as much money as they can from the opposing company, but don't realise they'll probably be on the receiving end of the "gouging" next time ?
It just smacks of being a massive scam ?

It is, the Greeks can hire you a car for 25 euro’s or sometimes less per day but for example their supermarkets are certainly not cheaper than the UK, quite the opposite. You legally need vehicle insurance and they take the piss because they can.

 

[Dutch 68]

Have you any evidence of that? I don't think insurance companies make excessive profits and other countries have quite different claims to the UK. I always find a lot of people think any industry is a rip off apart from the one they work or worked in what did you do or do you do?

Why is it that other countries have quite different claims to the UK? I think on average their isn’t such a huge difference within Western Europe risk profiles

 

[The Wino]

Why is it that other countries have quite different claims to the UK? I think on average their isn’t such a huge difference within Western Europe risk profiles

Our legal system, the ambulance chaser lawyers, the claims handling companies like another poster mentioned etc it all goes on premiums. Come on what was your job in an industry that was always exceptional value and no one would say was a rip off? I have never worked in insurance and have no axe to grind but do get fed up with everyone seeming to think that some jobs are dead easy making lots of money for old rope but strangely enough never do them themselves!

 

[FrankNicklin]

Imagine of these costs figured in the headline inflation rates. Right or wrong insurance companies insist you use their approved repairs who then go on to charge a fortune for the repairs and then the hire companies also milk it knowing the costs are covered by insurance. Something has to give.

 

[pagey]

i re insured mine with lv on sept 13th £32,00 only dearer than last year

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[gus-lopez]

A load of BS, it’s pure greed, nothing else, have a peak in other countries around the world and see what average insurance premiums are for certain products, we are all ripped off big style, one big cartel and consumers have nowhere else to go

Very unusual for here but mine went up 9% this year.

I think everyone knows the rise in repair costs recently why would anyone be surprised at an insurance cost increase.

Why can't they just up the insurance costs for those who make the claims?

Just had pet insurance renewal for 2 dogs from Direct Line, this year they would like £2078.42 (yes you read it right!) up from an already 'we have you over a barrel' quote from last year of a whopping £1465.00!! Sadly I had to agree to that figure which was negotiated down to that as one dog was quite poorly at the time. Not rung them yet to discuss as still in a state of shock, but I will and they may not care what I have to say or where they can put their latest quote!

I really cannot understand where anyone gets this sort of money from to insure animals? Basically if i lived in the UK now I would never be able to afford a pet & first sign of any illness they would have to die. In fact I can't even contemplate retruning to the UK it is far,far,far too expensive to live there.

The prices they charge are truly astronomical (short term lets of a few days can be charged out at up to £500 a day !) and these costs are generally charged against the "guilty party's" insurance company.

It is called scamming.Why does the other company pay it when they know full well the car can be hired for 20 quid /day? Even if I was claiming there is now ay I would accepot a car being charged at that scamming rate & I would personally email them continually , as well as the company I was claiming off , about the scamming that all were involved in.

Come on what was your job in an industry that was always exceptional value and no one would say was a rip off?

I was an industrial & commercial regfrigeration engineer who specialised in Nh3 & charged 75% LESS than the going rate with no charge for callouts whatever time of day/night/weekends etc. & I earnt a good living at that amount. The others wanted to earn 7 days money for half a days work.

 

[The Wino]

Very unusual for here but mine went up 9% this year.

Why can't they just up the insurance costs for those who make the claims?

I really cannot understand where anyone gets this sort of money from to insure animals? Basically if i lived in the UK now I would never be able to afford a pet & first sign of any illness they would have to die. In fact I can't even contemplate retruning to the UK it is far,far,far too expensive to live there.

It is called scamming.Why does the other company pay it when they know full well the car can be hired for 20 quid /day? Even if I was claiming there is now ay I would accepot a car being charged at that scamming rate & I would personally email them continually , as well as the company I was claiming off , about the scamming that all were involved in.

I was an industrial & commercial regfrigeration engineer who specialised in Nh3 & charged 75% LESS than the going rate with no charge for callouts whatever time of day/night/weekends etc. & I earnt a good living at that amount. The others wanted to earn 7 days money for half a days work.

So presumably the rest of your industry must have been a really big rip off?

 

[gus-lopez]

So presumably the rest of your industry must have been a really big rip off?

Same as any other industry. Most want 7 days money for an hours work.

 

[Just smiffy]

I took my car to a body repairer for some small damage they quoted me £2500 and said if I’m going to go through my insurance come back as it would be a different quote, I asked why and he said because it would be about a grand more….

 

[Propshaft]

Just had my quote from comfort for Motorhome been with them years this year quote was well over £450 tried performance direct and saved a considerable amount for the same cover

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[SpeedyDux]

In late 2022 I got a quote for paint rectification from a local body repair business. It was to fix an area of the van roof where the Fiat grey metallic paint was peeling - a common problem with this paint on the Ducato roofs. £200 + VAT. In my mind that is a useful benchmark.

We had recently had a small bump with the car (I wasn't driving, I hasten to add) where the other car had 2 faint scratches on its bumper. Probably could have polished out easily. No damage to our car. Unbeknown to us, our car insurers coughed up £950 for the other driver's claim, without reference back to us for comment, and probably no questions asked of the other driver's insurers. There does not appear to be any rigorous process for weeding out embellished claims against their insured. The insurers don't seem to be bothered at all. It's almost as though it isn't "their" money.

Here's why. Our premium doubled on renewal; some insurers declined to quote at all, and this year the premium went up again by 33%. Instead of pooling the claims, which is the whole point of insurance, effectively in less than 2 years these insurers have clawed back their entire outlay from us alone, including our excess. Next year I expect they will pocket a huge profit on our renewal premium and it won't go down despite some NCD. We will shop around of course, but there is a whiff of us being on a shared blacklist despite only one relatively trivial claim in many years.

This reeks of anti-consumer behaviour. Middle men creaming off easy money as well. Cosy arrangements between insurers, to make claims processing easier and non-contentious. As well as not bothering to communicate, the insurers are happy to penalise their own customers. Motorists are a captive market, so the cartel exploits us shamelessly, despite the comparison websites (that in their turn rake off a significant percentage).

Apologies for this rant. I understand perfectly why some drivers would rather pay for the other party's minor repairs privately, and not report this kind of small incident to their insurers.

 

[FrankNicklin]

In late 2022 I got a quote for paint rectification from a local body repair business. It was to fix an area of the van roof where the Fiat grey metallic paint was peeling - a common problem with this paint on the Ducato roofs. £200 + VAT. In my mind that is a useful benchmark.

We had recently had a small bump with the car (I wasn't driving, I hasten to add) where the other car had 2 faint scratches on its bumper. Probably could have polished out easily. No damage to our car. Unbeknown to us, our car insurers coughed up £950 for the other driver's claim, without reference back to us for comment, and probably no questions asked of the other driver's insurers. There does not appear to be any rigorous process for weeding out embellished claims against their insured. The insurers don't seem to be bothered at all. It's almost as though it isn't "their" money.

Here's why. Our premium doubled on renewal; some insurers declined to quote at all, and this year the premium went up again by 33%. Instead of pooling the claims, which is the whole point of insurance, effectively in less than 2 years these insurers have clawed back their entire outlay from us alone, including our excess. Next year I expect they will pocket a huge profit on our renewal premium and it won't go down despite some NCD. We will shop around of course, but there is a whiff of us being on a shared blacklist despite only one relatively trivial claim in many years.

This reeks of anti-consumer behaviour. Middle men creaming off easy money as well. Cosy arrangements between insurers, to make claims processing easier and non-contentious. As well as not bothering to communicate, the insurers are happy to penalise their own customers. Motorists are a captive market, so the cartel exploits us shamelessly, despite the comparison websites (that in their turn rake off a significant percentage).

Apologies for this rant. I understand perfectly why some drivers would rather pay for the other party's minor repairs privately, and not report this kind of small incident to their insurers.

I had an accident about 11 years ago. A cyclist chanced crossing a motorway slip road in the dark with no lights and wearing dark clothes. We collided. She admitted to the police it was her fault. She ended up in hospital. Caused £1500 damage to my car. Never heard a thing from my insurance until 7 months later when I came to renew and when I spoke to them and queried what had happened, they admitted they had paid £14K in damages to the cyclist and hadn't even bothered to inform me and paid even though the police were on record saying she admitted fault.

 

[Rob Lawrie]

Insurance companies are all owned by Hedge funds and large investment institutions. Prices go up only to pay maximum dividends. Rich get richer etc…..

 

[Captain Birdseye]

Just had my Car insurance renewal come through and up 50% on last year. I insure with LV. Just spoke to my broker that arranged my Motorhome insurance and LV came back as the cheapest quote for my car but still 45% more on last year. Next nearest was over 60% more. Appears there has been a big reset in the industry and companies have been quoting too low a premiums to get business but at an unsustainable rate. Motorhome insurance was OK and they took my NCB in to account when arranging the insurance. But we can all expect big rises.

Exactly the same with our house insurance and five vehicles. Our premium has doubled in three years.
It's partly due to the state of the economy (dire) and partly due to the insurance companies themselves who pay claims up to a certain figure (I'm not going to quote the figure) with minimal checking because it is cheaper to do so. This encourages such claims and we all suffer for it, but the main cause is economic mismanagement. I'm sure you have noticed that most roads have potholes and some roads are all potholes linked by a few bits of tarmac.

 

[msb03]

Our MH insurance went up by about 80% and the car went down by about 20% no changes other than a year older, both with CAMC. Quotes from others for MH were all at least £100 more and one was £700 more!!!!

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[simsy56]

NFU. The only company in years I felt like I got a personal service from and a REAL PERSON'S email address and office phone number.
Started with MH, then RV and now added works van (for son's use mainly) and wife's car.
Last renewal premium went up about £25 a few months ago (even my contact was a little surprised it was a low increase).

I too am with NFU, Car, home, and RV. Been with them for years, proper people, doesn't go up in leaps and bounds, and professional when it comes to a claim. A really nice company, in my personal opinion.

Craig

 

[denisejoe]

I’m with lv got their quote and went on compare the market and got the same policy cheaper with lv when I phoned them they said sorry but the person on the phone couldn’t even match the quote so still with lv exactly the same policy But through compare.

 

[Taran_Las]

My elderly neighbour (mid 80s) asked if I would search the internet for an insurance quote for him. His current policy with LV is approx. £690/annum. The renewal price was £1120 with no change to circumstance other than his age increasing by 1 year. I searched using the well known insurance search engines and low and behold the cheapest I could find was £980. It appears (for him at least) there is an almost 50% increase this year.

 

[gus-lopez]

Cosy arrangements between insurers, to make claims processing easier and non-contentious.

This ^^^^ it is a cartel ,scamming.

and queried what had happened, they admitted they had paid £14K in damages to the cyclist and hadn't even bothered to inform me and paid even though the police were on record saying she admitted fault.

I'd have sued them for all the increases on your insurances x 5 years´+all costs,+I'd then have gone after the cyclist again as she is committing fraud just by taking payment having admitted fault.

Caused £1500 damage to my car.

Always sue the cyclist regardless of your insurance company. especially as she admitted fault to the police.straight in small claims court + all costs.

 

[RayD]

A number of insurers are increasing premiums across the board for all vehicles by £50!! to cover increased costs relating to electric car parts and repairs. B@$t@rds

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