Author Topic: Insurance Companies  (Read 1744 times)

cerat0n1a

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Insurance Companies
« on: October 28, 2017, 08:01:17 AM »
I'm sure this will come as no surprise to anyone, but just to show why you should never, ever let your car or home insurance automatically renew.

I had quotes this week for renewing house and car insurance (£950ish and £320ish) from one of the UK's largest insurance companies. Ten minutes entering my details online has given me quotes elsewhere for what appears to be identical cover with Aviva (£240 and £130.)

dreams_and_discoveries

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Re: Insurance Companies
« Reply #1 on: October 28, 2017, 10:29:42 AM »
I agree - I thought at the first numbers you were insuring an estate and a snazzy car, but the second ones are much more reasonable.

I always get quotes, then call the original company and they will always reduce the price - hassle indeed, but worth it for the savings.

I guess it's the same as the bank charges arguments, those that don't manage money well/put in effort for quotes end up paying more, subsidising people like me.

TartanTallulah

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Re: Insurance Companies
« Reply #2 on: October 28, 2017, 01:30:24 PM »
I've been guilty of letting my insurance run from year to year, but this year I shopped around and knocked a huge amount off my home insurance and annual travel insurance policy. Car insurance wasn't worth moving.

The big shocker was breakdown cover. I'd just been letting the AA help itself from my bank account once a year, and I might not have twigged if they hadn't got really greedy and quoted me a number that was bigger than my car insurance. I was able to get comparable cover for less than 25% of the AA quote. When I 'phoned the AA to cancel my policy, the boy in the call centre burbled on about me being a "valued member" but didn't value my custom enough to give me a year's free membership to compensate for all those years of ripping me off. And I'd only ever called them out twice in 18 years.

We looked into insuring our bicycles. My pips squeaked. "It'll take 14 years for the insurance premiums to add up to the cost of replacing all the bikes," said my husband, as if this made it a bargain. I decided that we'd self-insure.

cerat0n1a

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Re: Insurance Companies
« Reply #3 on: October 28, 2017, 02:43:05 PM »
the boy in the call centre burbled on about me being a "valued member"

Kind of funny that they keep up the pretence of you being a "member" rather than a customer, in spite of them having being owned by Centrica, sold to a private equity company, merging with Saga and then demerging as part of an IPO to become a FTSE-250 company.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!