Renew, or replace ?

[DforDave]

I don't know if it is because I am getting old and cantankerous, or if this is a genuine grievance.

I received a renewal notice for one of my car insurances for a premium of £225.75 - £4 less than last year so I was happy to allow it to renew automatically. However, the next day I received a junk email about a web site that compares lots of insurance companies and gives the best quotes. I decided I had nothing to lose so I tried it. The second cheapest quote it gave me was £185, with my current insurance company.

I went to that company's own site and got an online quote for £182.70.

I rang them up and it transpires that the online quote includes a discount for first-time customers. It seems that loyalty counts for nothing and there is absolutely no reason to renew a policy with this company - it is cheaper to allow the current one to expire, having first purchased a new policy commencing on the expiry date of the old one.

After a lot of 'debate' they have renewed by old policy for the discounted premium. When I asked if I will need to have this discussion every year from now on they said no, because they are changing their online system to prevent existing customers getting online quotes (I didn't ask how they will tell if I use a different name).

Am I right to be so pi**ed off about this, or am I just getting old ?

 

[Surefire]

Best advice is to shop around. There seems to be no incentive to stay with any one company any more. I recently shopped around and found over £100 pound difference from several large companies.

 

[nstreet]

All too common and not just with insurance, take broadband for example. As a new customer I would pay half that as an existing customer for the first 4 months. I've been with my provider for about 10 years (telephony to start with). What will they do for me to keep me, nothing. Where's the logic in that. If everyone switches to take up these better deals each year, how will any of them make money in the long term.

 

[pipme]

You have seen the advert on TV

Brand New Customers Only

What a rip is it not ? ...... If we only had a motorists union we could really kick ass what a power base .. after all the years of cr ap .. we could play all the bu##ers off against one another ... Govn, oil companies, Insurers ..
Blimey .. a 'motorist's party' in every sense of the words...

 

[david and julie]

I have often thought the same about a consumer union, but not restricted to cars. It needs to cover every area of life. The big supermarkets, banks, multi nationals etc, are all getting to powerful and need pulling down a peg or two. There is only one thing they understand, we have it in our pockets but don't use it wisely enough.

 

[DforDave]

Best advice is to shop around. There seems to be no incentive to stay with any one company any more. I recently shopped around and found over £100 pound difference from several large companies.

I used to - every year - but I never found a premium that was much lower. Also, the service I have received from this company (claims for two stolen vans, one home burglary and one no-fault accident) was so good I am reluctant to move to a slightly cheaper company and risk getting a poorer service. The couple of pounds I would have saved didn't seem worth the risk if and when you need to use their services.

 

[DforDave]

All too common and not just with insurance, ... What will they do for me to keep me, nothing. ..

Thinking about it I have experienced the "no loyalty" problem in a different area in my younger days. When I first strarted in IT I stayed with a computer manufacturer for eight years. After about four or five years I discovered that even after good salary increases and promotions the company was having to offer new recruits a higher salary than I was getting - and some of the vacancies were for programmers who would be working for me! If I hadn't talked to the bosses and got it sorted it would have gone on for the entire time I was there and I would have been working for much less than the market rate.

 

[pipme]

I have often thought the same about a consumer union, but not restricted to cars. It needs to cover every area of life. The big supermarkets, banks, multi nationals etc, are all getting to powerful and need pulling down a peg or two. There is only one thing they understand, we have it in our pockets but don't use it wisely enough.

I agree dave ... Tis organisation where they have us boll oxed, quite cleverly the idea of Unions being sh ite to all mankind has pervaded our society, how else can we get results PDQ? I think the starter, could be via the car 'cash cow' and it's control, just 25% of the owners would be a hefty chunk of consumer power .... Get things going and publicised, cameras for dosh ? Ok ! target an area then fight selected cases clogging the courts, they would yield, as they are doing now with the pub owning chains rendering some councils totally unable to fund court battles, due to financial clout.

I cannot see another way of showing disapproval which would have teeth .... ( Plan 'B' Once up and running could always sell the 'rights' to an oil company and retire to the bahamas)