Insurance renewal 'arrangement fee'.

[monkeh]

A very rude, "why so expensive, and you're not charging me that" followed by silence, makes them squirm at renewal. They disappear to find a better deal.
I WAS with Chris Knott for years and they constantly had to be knocked back from overcharging me, the increases were rediculous. I've not had the renewal fee from my current insurer, they will be getting the same treatment at renewal if I find that!

[DaveNP]

Originally Posted by john.wigley

...
We have three cars between us. Two are owned and insured in my name, with Linda as a named driver, and one in Linda's with me as the named driver. Two things occur to me: 1) Would all three cars need to be registered in the same name in order for us to take out such a policy, and 2) if, say, I had an accident while driving Linda's car, would that affect the other two?
... John.

We have three cars in our house - my son's, he's 22 drives a Peugeot 307 all in his name; my wife's, she's 57 drives a KIA Cee'd registered to her but insured in my name with her as second driver; mine, I'm 57 drive the Volvo V70 all in my name; I'm also named on the Peugeot policy and my wife on the Volvo.
With Admiral multicar the policies are separate but I am 'Administrator' for all three, this means my son's is all in his name and he earns the no claims bonus etc.
I had intended to put the KIA insurance in my wife's name (at 57 I'm starting to realise my own mortality and one day she may need it insured without me) but due to an oversight it's still in my name. This led to an odd anomally a couple of years ago after she had a minor accident, the following year at renewal the paperwork made no mention of the claim, fearing them kicking up if we were unfortunate to have another bump I phoned up to check why they had missed it, I was told that because she had the accident it didn't appear against my claims record but because she wasn't the policy holder it didn't appear against her either. However when I asked about changing the policy in to her name I was advised to leave that well alone for a few years. Added bonus to that conversation was that while I was on the phone they voluntarily 'reviewed' the policies and gave me a discount on some of it.

[john.wigley]

An interesting scenario, David. For many years Linda and I have had at least two cars between us with sometimes as many as four. I've always believed in keeping things simple, and have therefore always insured each car separately - it also means that the premiums are dispersed throughout the year.

Does having a policy such as the one that you describe show a worthwhile saving against the cost of insuring each individual vehicle separately? I am aware that installment plans are available, but we prefer to pay our premiums in one installment and our current insurance bill is in the order of £800 a year.

Regards, John.

[DaveNP]

Now to me keeping things simple is having all of the car insurance dealt with in one go. I haven't really checked the comparison of prices recently, even to the extent that this year as I was busy on several other fronts I just let it roll over unchecked. When we went over to the multicar policy it was a saving, which is their selling point, over the years as we've changed cars, had my daughter on the policy (and off and on and off again), added my son's car etc. they've remained in the right price range, not necessarily the cheapest but sometimes knowing who you're dealing with (and a call centre in the UK or Canada) is worth a few quid.

If you really want the cheapest I'd say that you could certainly get the price down by searching each time one of the cars comes round for renewal, the problem I found with that was the amount of time I spent online filling in forms for the comparison sites (not always the greatest place to buy) and the individual companies' websites. Now many on here will call me weird/mad/stupid but I have to go to work 5 nights a week and I have a full life outside of work, if I value my time at just £20 an hour it doesn't take long searching before my time is worth more than the savings.

[john.wigley]

Thank you, David. Certainly not necessarily looking for the cheapest option and agree that customer service etc. is definitely worth a few bob on the price. I personally like Saga, although I am also aware that some feel otherwise; I guess it depends very much on personal circumstances. My original gripe was more about the 'Renewal arrangement fee', than the policy per se.

Regards, John.

[green van man]

I have been with the same insurers for many years.
Volvo was within a pound or two of last year's price and landrover was 3 pounds cheaper than last year.
They cover my needs and while not the cheapest they are known company's that you confidently expect to be there for the year. It's the covering my needs that keeps me with them, I've known too many whom come claim time found to their cost things were not as they thought. Call centers were renown for telling the customer what they wanted to hear in the past and it was only the fact I insisted it be provided in writing before buying that I found out that one company had massaged the figures I provided in order to cut the price. I was doing big miles at the time and put annual milage at 25k the quote came at 7k miles. Accident at 9k miles and no payout.

Sorry John, saga have never been competative for me, always found them at least 100 pounds more expensive than current insurers, especially when you ask for class 1 business use.
My Volvo’s with volvo insurance, the landrover NFU.


Paul.

[Baxlin]

I take your point, Paul, but with so much business being re-insured, it can be very difficult to know who is actually underwriting the risk, often some never-before-heard-of name.

[john.wigley]

Originally Posted by green van man

I have been with the same insurers for many years.

(Edit)

Accident at 9k miles and no payout.

Sorry John, saga have never been competative for me,

(Edit)

Paul.

'Morning, Paul. Thank you for the explanation; I now have a clearer understanding of why you prefer one provider to another. Even without it, I fully respected your position and there was no requirement for you to justify it, far less to apologise for it.

You had an unfortunate experience with Saga in the past, and I have no experience of NFU. I don't think either of us will, or wishes to, change the other's mind. That is little different from you preferring Typhoo and shopping at Tescos, while I drink Tetleys and favour Sainsburys. Neither of us is wrong; both of us are right.

Where I do wholeheartedly agree with you is that any insurance must fulfill one's needs and expectations. Cost is but one consideration among many, and quality remains long after the price is forgotten.

Regards, John.

[S60D5-185]

I have my Caravan insured with NFU.


I could have probably obtained cheaper cover BUT I feel that they offer a good level of cover and have a good reputation within the Insurance Industry.

[cardiomike]

if the company is actually an insurance broker expect them taking their cut- need to go directly to insurance company ,if they are doing it, then i'd move companies- often cheaper rates by going online rather than over phone