Don't you just love insurance companies?

[AdeB]

I'm coming up to the first anniversary of ZS ownership. Naturally, it's insurance renewal time. I went with LV last year - they were one of the most competitive and I liked the 'extras' they offer EV drivers (including recovery to a charge point, if you're over-optimistic about the GOM!)

The EV was a return to car ownership after a break of four years, so I had lost my NCD but now, after one year, I have started to build it up again. That, combined with numerous reports of falling premiums owing to fewer claims during the pandemic, led me to believe I'd see a lower premium this year.

How naive of me.

No, of course LV tried to increase it. Even with the NCD, they suggested a 14 per cent increase to nearly £500. Given that they claim to offer a 60% NCD after one year, that represented an 89% increase in my premium

Back to GoCompare...where LV offers me a premium of £340 (including legal, injury cover, etc).

I was going to call them to moan, but what's the point? Someone in a call centre will say sorry, IT glitch or whatever, promise to escalate it to someone or other, and express empty platitudes. And all of that will only happen after I've been on hold for sixteen minutes listening to their inane drivel about how important my call is to them but apologies for the delay because we're exceptionally busy...

Instead, I've got the simple satisfaction of knowing that I've found them out And thank goodness I didn't take up their autorenewal option...

 

[ARealHuman]

Yes, it's all a complete rip-off. I've just done my renewal and was previously with LV in part due to the EV recovery option. Not soon after taking the policy out, I discovered on here that your MG Assistance will cover you for that. My LV renewal was less than I paid the previous year, but I called them and negotiated it down a bit, but it was about £50-£60 more expensive than the nearest quote I got. Have you used other comparison sites? I tend to favour confused.com as they give you a £20 voucher which can be quite useful, for example I opted for Halfords. The Meerkats movies/meals offer doesn't appeal to me.

I hope you can get a better quote.

 

[AdeB]

Yes, it's all a complete rip-off. I've just done my renewal and was previously with LV in part due to the EV recovery option. Not soon after taking the policy out, I discovered on here that your MG Assistance will cover you for that. My LV renewal was less than I paid the previous year, but I called them and negotiated it down a bit, but it was about £50-£60 more expensive than the nearest quote I got. Have you used other comparison sites? I tend to favour confused.com as they give you a £20 voucher which can be quite useful, for example I opted for Halfords. The Meerkats movies/meals offer doesn't appeal to me.

I hope you can get a better quote.

Confused.com was universally more expensive (apart from some dodgy, unheard-of brand at a rock-bottom price - no thanks), including for the same level of cover from LV.

I've gone with the CTM deal - it's £100 less than I paid last year, anyway, and obviously a lot less than LV tried to fleece me with for the renewal! I don't really care for the Meerkats either, but it is what it is.

A lot of insurance companies still don't seem to like EVs, hence prices being higher from other 'standard' insurers.

 

[ARealHuman]

A lot of insurance companies still don't seem to like EVs, hence prices being higher from other 'standard' insurers.

Yes - I tried to get a quote with a company on their own website and when putting the details in they said put "0" for engine CC for EVs. I did this, but couldn't get any further as it didn't recognise MG as an EV car maker!

 

[Paulie68]

I'm coming up to the first anniversary of ZS ownership. Naturally, it's insurance renewal time. I went with LV last year - they were one of the most competitive and I liked the 'extras' they offer EV drivers (including recovery to a charge point, if you're over-optimistic about the GOM!)

The EV was a return to car ownership after a break of four years, so I had lost my NCD but now, after one year, I have started to build it up again. That, combined with numerous reports of falling premiums owing to fewer claims during the pandemic, led me to believe I'd see a lower premium this year.

How naive of me.

No, of course LV tried to increase it. Even with the NCD, they suggested a 14 per cent increase to nearly £500. Given that they claim to offer a 60% NCD after one year, that represented an 89% increase in my premium

Back to GoCompare...where LV offers me a premium of £340 (including legal, injury cover, etc).

I was going to call them to moan, but what's the point? Someone in a call centre will say sorry, IT glitch or whatever, promise to escalate it to someone or other, and express empty platitudes. And all of that will only happen after I've been on hold for sixteen minutes listening to their inane drivel about how important my call is to them but apologies for the delay because we're exceptionally busy...

Instead, I've got the simple satisfaction of knowing that I've found them out And thank goodness I didn't take up their autorenewal option...

This happens with most companies, you simply get a quote from the comparison site of your choice, then call them, they'll just match it for you. I didn't get any nonsense, they openly admitted they quote lower on the comp. sites to get business, existing customers who don't check get to pay more, just the way it is, quite despicable really!

 

[teepee]

I'm coming up to the first anniversary of ZS ownership. Naturally, it's insurance renewal time. I went with LV last year - they were one of the most competitive and I liked the 'extras' they offer EV drivers (including recovery to a charge point, if you're over-optimistic about the GOM!)

The EV was a return to car ownership after a break of four years, so I had lost my NCD but now, after one year, I have started to build it up again. That, combined with numerous reports of falling premiums owing to fewer claims during the pandemic, led me to believe I'd see a lower premium this year.

How naive of me.

No, of course LV tried to increase it. Even with the NCD, they suggested a 14 per cent increase to nearly £500. Given that they claim to offer a 60% NCD after one year, that represented an 89% increase in my premium

Back to GoCompare...where LV offers me a premium of £340 (including legal, injury cover, etc).

I was going to call them to moan, but what's the point? Someone in a call centre will say sorry, IT glitch or whatever, promise to escalate it to someone or other, and express empty platitudes. And all of that will only happen after I've been on hold for sixteen minutes listening to their inane drivel about how important my call is to them but apologies for the delay because we're exceptionally busy...

Instead, I've got the simple satisfaction of knowing that I've found them out And thank goodness I didn't take up their autorenewal option...

I'm coming up to the first anniversary of ZS ownership. Naturally, it's insurance renewal time. I went with LV last year - they were one of the most competitive and I liked the 'extras' they offer EV drivers (including recovery to a charge point, if you're over-optimistic about the GOM!)

The EV was a return to car ownership after a break of four years, so I had lost my NCD but now, after one year, I have started to build it up again. That, combined with numerous reports of falling premiums owing to fewer claims during the pandemic, led me to believe I'd see a lower premium this year.

How naive of me.

No, of course LV tried to increase it. Even with the NCD, they suggested a 14 per cent increase to nearly £500. Given that they claim to offer a 60% NCD after one year, that represented an 89% increase in my premium

Back to GoCompare...where LV offers me a premium of £340 (including legal, injury cover, etc).

I was going to call them to moan, but what's the point? Someone in a call centre will say sorry, IT glitch or whatever, promise to escalate it to someone or other, and express empty platitudes. And all of that will only happen after I've been on hold for sixteen minutes listening to their inane drivel about how important my call is to them but apologies for the delay because we're exceptionally busy...

Instead, I've got the simple satisfaction of knowing that I've found them out And thank goodness I didn't take up their autorenewal option...

I too was with LV for the first year of EV ownership and had the same experience as you. Went via comparison sites and ended up with RAC insurance at a much lower price.

 

[jamesie]

Be careful that your existing policy doesn't have auto renew set. My wife deals with all our insurances and has mentioned to me that it can be a default that policies can be automatically renewed.

 

[Cocijo]

Interesting article. This happens across so many areas - phone contracts, gas cover, house cover etc

Car and home insurers face ban on charging existing customers more than newbies

Car and home insurance customers should pay no more when renewing their policy than they would if they were taking out a new one with the same firm, under radical new proposals from the financial regulator

www.moneysavingexpert.com

 

[Lovemyev]

Be careful that your existing policy doesn't have auto renew set. My wife deals with all our insurances and has mentioned to me that it can be a default that policies can be automatically renewed.

This has become a common practice unfortunately now.
It is one of my pet hates !.
It a cheap trick to retain your business.
You have to tell them if you DON’T want to auto renew !.
I was with LV for my first year with the ZS EV.
I liked what they where offering at the time and EV’s where not covered by my previous insurance provider.
When I got the renewal cost, it was an increase of over £80 !.
I switched company and saved that increase.
Same level of cover OBTW.
Just to say, LV are the sponsors of the massive Fully Charged Show in Farnborough this year.
Of course this no connection at all with increasing the price of their premiums, to off set the cost ?.
YEAH - RIGHT !.

 

[macd2401]

Be careful that your existing policy doesn't have auto renew set. My wife deals with all our insurances and has mentioned to me that it can be a default that policies can be automatically renewed.

Managed to fall foul of exactly that this year, on my home and motorbike policies

 

[kiltox]

Some insurers are wise to this now. If you’re an Admiral customer, for example, you’ll not get a quote from them on a comparison site.

 

[biffo]

Not sure if this has been mentioned, but there was talk of legislation to stop this whole nonsense of new customer discounts - which would result in cheaper insurance for existing customers at the expense of more expensive premiums for new members - essentially ‘levelling the playing field’ and removing the incentive to move companies annually.

Found the link - from January 2022

Car and home insurers to be banned from charging renewing customers more than newbies in loyalty penalty crackdown

Car and home insurers are to be banned from charging existing customers more at renewal than they would expect to pay if they were taking out a new policy with the same firm, as part of a ‘loyalty penalty’ crackdown.

www.moneysavingexpert.com

 

[Pict]

This happens with most companies, you simply get a quote from the comparison site of your choice, then call them, they'll just match it for you. I didn't get any nonsense, they openly admitted they quote lower on the comp. sites to get business, existing customers who don't check get to pay more, just the way it is, quite despicable really!

And at that point I thank them very much and explain to them that even though they are now matching other quotes the fact that they chose to treat me as a mug and not a loyal customer has cost them the business.

 

[Sark21]

I'm coming up to the first anniversary of ZS ownership. Naturally, it's insurance renewal time. I went with LV last year - they were one of the most competitive and I liked the 'extras' they offer EV drivers (including recovery to a charge point, if you're over-optimistic about the GOM!)

The EV was a return to car ownership after a break of four years, so I had lost my NCD but now, after one year, I have started to build it up again. That, combined with numerous reports of falling premiums owing to fewer claims during the pandemic, led me to believe I'd see a lower premium this year.

How naive of me.

No, of course LV tried to increase it. Even with the NCD, they suggested a 14 per cent increase to nearly £500. Given that they claim to offer a 60% NCD after one year, that represented an 89% increase in my premium

Back to GoCompare...where LV offers me a premium of £340 (including legal, injury cover, etc).

Hi
I was with Hastings and in similar situation big increase on renewal.Went on go compare and same company offing price nearly same as last year.With extras.So I renewed with that offer.My insurance wasn't due to run out for a couple of weeks at this point.
I rang Hastings up next day to say I wish to cancel my renewal,I had taken another policy offer from your company via go compare.No problem they said what they could do was swop the details over and just run on when last year's policy runs out.
Hope that helps

 

[Cocijo]

Ridiculous really. They should have given you the best premium to start with - they’ll pay GC for the referral too. You should get GC excess cover by going through them.

 

[AnonymouseDriva]

Not sure if this has been mentioned, but there was talk of legislation to stop this whole nonsense of new customer discounts - which would result in cheaper insurance for existing customers at the expense of more expensive premiums for new members - essentially ‘levelling the playing field’ and removing the incentive to move companies annually.

Found the link - from January 2022

Car and home insurers to be banned from charging renewing customers more than newbies in loyalty penalty crackdown

Car and home insurers are to be banned from charging existing customers more at renewal than they would expect to pay if they were taking out a new policy with the same firm, as part of a ‘loyalty penalty’ crackdown.

www.moneysavingexpert.com

Thing is, I'm not sure if I'm entirely for that as it's going to cost me.

Selfish, I know, but the insurance companies have to make money, and the average premiums is never going to go down here. It just means that the deals won't be there (or as good) for those of us that do shop around as those that don't won't be subsidising for us any more.

 

[Cocijo]

It’s an interesting thought. Major insurers will set and charge their premiums based on thier assessed risks and how much they want a particular type of business, but they will also look to compete in the market place for what they consider to be the cream of the market.
This means that where there is good competition the premiums can reduce. At the niche end of the market (high risk customers and performance cars) it’s a different story. The aggregate online brokers like GC have now also added another dimension to this.
Active and aggressive competition is what you want to get premiums down. Before the advent of Direct Line Insurance who completely re-wrote the car insurance rule book, top insurers would just put their heads together and set premiums each Year in conjunction with the broker network - suddenly they had a direct model to contend with and the lowest premiums that they couldn’t match.
i think if insurers do stop loading their premiums for auto-renewal that will overall be a good thing for the customer who still shops around at renewal time.

 

[Kithmo]

And at that point I thank them very much and explain to them that even though they are now matching other quotes the fact that they chose to treat me as a mug and not a loyal customer has cost them the business.

I don't even ask them to match now, I just use GoCompare, buy a new policy with whoever is the best value for cover and price then ring my old company to tell them I don't want to renew if it's set to auto renew or don't even ring them if it's not.
I've changed insurance companies every year except for a brief period with Privilege a few years back where the renewal was less than £10 difference to comparison sites for two years running.

 

[biffo]

Thing is, I'm not sure if I'm entirely for that as it's going to cost me.

Selfish, I know, but the insurance companies have to make money, and the average premiums is never going to go down here. It just means that the deals won't be there (or as good) for those of us that do shop around as those that don't won't be subsidising for us any more.

Yep. Totally agree - it might. Or your renewal quote might be acceptable rather than including a loyalty penalty and you then choose a provider based on criteria other than the new customer incentive. Going to be interesting how the marketplace settles.

 

[SCB86]

It's soon going to be a thing of the past; from 1st January 2022 they legally have to offer you the same price as a new customer - they can't increase it automatically at renewal. They say people over pay £1.2 billion a year and this new policy will save over £10 billion in the first 10 years! They also have to take into account any incentives like cash back vouchers or other goodies new customer get.

Car and home insurers to be banned from charging renewing customers more than newbies in loyalty penalty crackdown

Car and home insurers are to be banned from charging existing customers more at renewal than they would expect to pay if they were taking out a new policy with the same firm, as part of a ‘loyalty penalty’ crackdown.

www.moneysavingexpert.com