Car Insurance: Same policy €400 less..

L

Luternau

Registered User
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Can anyone explain how I can get the same policy for €400 less than my renewal quote, using the same information?

I questioned the increase which was €300 up on last yr. The broker said it was my claim 6 years ago. However, I have bonus protection with no step back so it cannot be this.

My no claims bonus cert from the insurer says full NCB (9y) and max protected bonus (5y).

Is this broker or insurance company gouging?
 
A guess would he that it's down to the claim/value and what the broker understands by it and what you understand by it. When you do the quote are you ticking a box to say you've no claim because you've bonus protection? The broker is putting it through their system and it's registered as a claim (still)?

If the broker can't find an alternative then that means that they haven't a market for it elsewhere because of the claim. Maybe.
 
Thanks.

I have renewed, through another broker, for exact same policy and cover for €400 less.. Why pay more for the same, or be penalised for being a loyal customer?

The claim 6 years ago did not load my policy in the 5 years post claim, and it was not a large claim. Now they say it is a factor in year 6? Thats just not logical. I suspect my renewal was inflated for absolutely no risk or actuarial reason.
 
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Luternau said:
I have renewed, through another broker, for exact same policy and cover for €400 less.. Why pay more for the same, or be penalised for being a loyal customer?
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Being a loyal insurance customer is being a mug.

I have taken out new policies for years. The new policy is always cheaper than the renewal quote.

Even when the new quote is with that same company issuing the renewal quote, it has always been less.
It always includes a new customer discount. I always declare my existing company and I still get the new customer discount applied.

In many cases the company websites state that new customer discount is for new customers only. But the discount is still given.

I would also renew using a discount site like onebigswitch, Avantmoney etc, if possible, this gives another discount.
 
S class said:
Being a loyal insurance customer is being a mug
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Agreed. Shame on us customers being loyal!

What ever happened to the business philosophy' it costs more to get a new customer than retain an existing one'. The insurance industry flies in the face of that!
 
I'm with Aviva for close on 10 years and always find them very competitive every year
Maybe it's because her car is also with them and the house
Give them a try if you haven't
Go direct with out the broker as I feel you pay extra for insurance by using a broker unless you've problems getting insurance

The other thing, was there not some ruling about declaring claims after a certain time as in you don't have??
 
Cervelo said:
The other thing, was there not some ruling about declaring claims after a certain time as in you don't have??
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I dont follow this.

I was asked how many years NCB I have. In response, I read out exactly what was on the NCB cert from my insurance company (9 years and 50%, with protected NCB of 5 years, the max achievable). They also asked if I had any claims in the past 5yrs. Had they asked if any in the last 6, I would have to give details. But year 6 is irrelevant if question is 5 years.

I think this is the broker, not the insurance company. They did the exact same with a house insurance renewal last summer which is why this time for the motor I was not accepting their quote without cross checking. I got the same home policy direct with the insurer for €200 less than the renewal quote. No reason given for the variance. No claims made.

It annoying that those in this businesses think it's acceptable to have dynamic pricing for the same risk/data, based on whether it's a renewal or new business.

Thanks for info on Aviva
I also got a good quote from Aviva which was lowerl, but still higher than the new quote for the same insurance company I am with . This policy is only available from brokers, as was the Aviva one.
 
Luternau said:
I dont follow this.
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I think you kind of answered it here
Luternau said:
They also asked if I had any claims in the past 5yrs. Had they asked if any in the last 6, I would have to give details. But year 6 is irrelevant if question is 5 years.
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The normal question that I've read in the past is "have you had any claims in the past" and most people would answer yes even if it was many years ago, my understanding is if its outside the 5 or 6 years or NCB range you don't have to answer yes to that question unless it was a major claim or serious accident, but a small fender bender 6 years ago should/would have no bearing on your current insurance renewal
but as I said that's my understanding, maybe someone with more insurance insight can comment??
 
S class said:
Do you renew the policy every year or get a new insurance quote ?
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Up until two years ago it was renewal of the policy with a phone call that got the premium fairly close to their minimum premium
But the last two years and I expect this year I'll get a renewal that will be slightly above minimum
but will go online as a new customer to get the extra discount to bring me under
It's a shame that it has come to this but that's the way insurance is going

Anytime we both go online to get quotes, Aviva always is the cheapest for us
 
We do exactly as above which as kept our policies very close to the minimum payment. I also do that for our house insurance. Aviva has been the cheapest for us for the past 10 years or so even when I looked around for a new policy a couple of weeks ago, the difference with some was over €1000.
 
Aviva Private Motor Proposal Form attached. Its' dated 12/2022 but I'm assuming it's still current.
Your Driving History.

2 How many consecutive years have you held a car policy in your own name without an accident or claim (excluding any fire, theft, or windscreen claims)?

State number of years.
 

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GSheehy said:
2 How many consecutive years have you held a car policy in your own name without an accident or claim (excluding any fire, theft, or windscreen claims)?

State number of years.
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That's interesting. I got a very competitive quote from them (350 lower than my renewal quote) based on selecting, full NCB (9yrs) and 5 yrs claim free from a range up to 9yrs claim free

It must be assumed that they know I had a claim in year 6, have a protected bonus, yet the claim did not materially impact the quote.
 
Paper version posted above has 5yrs as the limit too, at 3.8, but then asks at 4.2 how many years claim free. Seems at odds with 3.8.
 
Luternau said:
What ever happened to the business philosophy' it costs more to get a new customer than retain an existing one'. The insurance industry flies in the face of that!
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I'm not sure where that philosophy stemmed from, but at least in the Irish market, insurers and other service providers benefit hugely from consumer lethargy and reluctance to shop around. Every few months we get a new thread on how shopping as a new customer gets a better deal for insurance, utilities, and other services. We've had those for years yet many consumers still have a false expectation that loyalty is rewarded by the providers.
 
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