Insurance - Large difference between renewal and new quotes

You'll need to read the small print of the other offers to make sure that you really can get equivalent cover for a lot less - then challenge your existing insurer to match the others - or at least to give you their 'new customer' price.

If they refuse, go elsewhere. You can always come back next year - when you *will* be a new customer!

It sickens me the way these companies reward DIS-loyalty. They rely on people's inertia in order to get away with higher and higher prices. The people who really make money out of insurance are the parasite 'comparison websites' which encourage you to switch and earn a fat commission when you do. I would rather have the insurance companies giving a fair deal to existing customers rather than keeping these parasites in business. Their existence is causing *everybody's* premiums to be inflated.

Here's a simple trick I stumbled across accidentally.

Let your policy 'laps' by a couple of days. Do not make the renewal payment by the deadline stated in the renewal notice. (It happened to me due to carelessness.) When I eventually contacted my insurers with an apology and a request to reinstate my existing policy, I was told they have to re-issue the contract, for reasons best know to them and their small-print. The 'new' policy was much lower in cost than my last renewal notice. Their explanation was "It is policy to give a set discount for 'first time' clients". Just to test the system, I repeated this two years later, this time deliberately. Same results.

I had a renewal quote - say £350.

I checked with an online quote (like for like) and the same insurer was offering £300.

So, I rang them up and said that "online I can pay £300. What can you offer?"

Their response was £275.

I suspect that there is a business model which says 'be ridiculous and they will contact you. Your customer knows what you are like. Give them the telephone number because if they don't do something right now, they may forget and be stung for £350'.

As an addenda I would advise you to stay with one insurer if possible - especially for home/house insurance.

If you need to claim for eg subsidence, the question may arise about when the defect started.

Your current insurer can suggest that you claim from your previous insurer.

[I believe that there is some agreement that current insurers must take responsibility but I do not know how well this is implemented].

didn't work for me

the best that they would offer was "free" emergency home repair cover, which is actually about 50 quid if you pay for it

So I moved

tim

In message , tim... writes

Well, in the end, so did I.

The renewal (house buildings and contents) was £402 (Churchill), so I spent a lot of time on the Meerkat website looking at alternatives. I could have got something for £103, and the cover looked reasonably adequate - but eventually I went for one for £140 (Legal & General). However, I'll be keeping on next year's renewal price.

My car insurance is due next month, and if the past couple of years' hikes are anything to go by, expect that I'll be asked for something like £360 (fully comp, Churchill again). I'll probably go for one of the Meerkat quotes for around £180 (RAC, who I used to be with until about ten years ago).

Very Risky IMHO. You may not be covered for a few days and (IIRC) many Mortgage companies will really not like this.

I disagree. If they themselves agree to renew it, the continuity of coverage is intact. What normally worries insurance companies is if you have previously been refused insurance. The only (infinitesimal) risk is if, in the couple of days of missing coverage, you suffer flooding or an earthquake and fall in the 'gap' of two valid contracts.

What if they don't or you turn them down because it's still too expensive?

Much more likely risks are on the contents part of the insurance such as burglary.

Why?

That sounds like agreement with the previous poster.

What are you disagreeing?

Mortgage companies will not even get to know about it. That is why I disagree.