Car insurance rocketing

[danny la rouge]

It’s time to renew the insurance on my Honda jazz hybrid, 23 days before renewal date, and the auto renew is 75% up on last year! I went to the Martin Lewis MSE app, as I always do, and the cheapest quote is £50 more! So for once I’m auto renewing, which I almost never do.

/vent over.

 

[planetgeli]

It’s time to renew the insurance on my Honda jazz hybrid, 23 days before renewal date, and the auto renew is 75% up on last year! I went to the Martin Lewis MSE app, as I always do, and the cheapest quote is £50 more! So for once I’m auto renewing, which I almost never do.

/vent over.

I paid just over 400 last year. Renewal wanted nearly 700 ffs. AA via Lewis did it for just over 300. Sorry you never got the same result.

 

[moochedit]

Yeah can't remember how much it was but i had a large rise last time round. I did the comparison sites thing but the cheapest wasn't different enough to make it worth the hassle of switching so i let it auto renew.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

another

 

[danny la rouge]

I paid just over 400 last year. Renewal wanted nearly 700 ffs. AA via Lewis did it for just over 300. Sorry you never got the same result.

£236 last year, £409 this year. Cheapest quote £465! This is a lot to me.

 

[moochedit]

£236 last year, £409 this year. Cheapest quote £465! This is a lot to me.

How old are you? In a new age bracket?

 

[BoatieBird]

Yeah can't remember how much it was but i had a large rise last time round. I did the comparison sites thing but the cheapest wasn't different enough to make it worth the hassle of switching so i let it auto renew.

Yes, this was me back in November.
Mine went from £350 to just over £600 and no amount of shopping around brought it down by much more than £10 so I let it auto renew.

 

[moochedit]

I think the law was changed a few years ago so that renewal letters have to tell you what last years cost to help you compare it when they send next years quote. So i think they've stopped the new customer discounts and just charge everyone the high price now

 

[Elpenor]

I have to do this next month and am concerned I can’t afford to keep my car on the road

 

[Kevbad the Bad]

A friend of mine was having trouble. His quote had gone up from £380 to £480. We tried M Lewis comparisons. Got it down to £360. Then started ringing. After 2 goes got it down to £260. And that was 2 days after his insurance expired.This was last November.

 

[PursuedByBears]

Mine was £150 more than last year.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

Mine is over £600 and I've not told them about the 3 points yet. The joy of living in Greater Manchester.

 

[danny la rouge]

How old are you? In a new age bracket?

No, I’m 59. I don’t think any of my circumstances have changed. But Martin Lewis says:

“Insurance is up more than 50% on last year – with the average premium now costing over £1,000 a year. Insurers say rises are down to rising car repair costs, the effect of inflation and, as the value of used cars increases, more being paid out when cars are written-off.”

 

[Griff]

Think I pay about £325 on my two cars, but that's a limited mileage policy of 5000pa, which living in London I'd be nowhere near doing.

That's also agreed values of £17k & £10k.

 

[moochedit]

From googling it. In 2017 they required insurers to show last years cost for comparison in the renewal quote. In 2022 they made it law that existing customers renewing can't be charged more than a new customer getting an equivalent policy. So this probably explains why comparion sites don't offer the huge savings that they used to as they just charge everyone "full price".

 

[Sasaferrato]

It’s time to renew the insurance on my Honda jazz hybrid, 23 days before renewal date, and the auto renew is 75% up on last year! I went to the Martin Lewis MSE app, as I always do, and the cheapest quote is £50 more! So for once I’m auto renewing, which I almost never do.

/vent over.

How many years no claims do you have? Also, do you have any points?

 

[danny la rouge]

How many years no claims do you have? Also, do you have any points?

No points, no claims since 1994.

 

[Sasaferrato]

No points, no claims since 1994.

I have no points, and my only claim in the last twenty years was for a broken windscreen. My renewal is July, at least this thread has given me a heads up to start looking soon.

 

[marty21]

I am eagerly awaiting mine - due in June ,expecting a big hike - despite no claims or points .

 

[danny la rouge]

I have no points, and my only claim in the last twenty years was for a broken windscreen. My renewal is July, at least this thread has given me a heads up to start looking soon.

Martin Lewis cautions that there’s a sweet spot to getting quotes, 23 days before due date. Sooner or later can be more expensive.

 

[Kevbad the Bad]

A friend of mine was having trouble. His quote had gone up from £380 to £480. We tried M Lewis comparisons. Got it down to £360. Then started ringing. After 2 goes got it down to £260. And that was 2 days after his insurance expired.This was last November.

My own insurance in December was £136.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

a few thoughts -

if there's anything at all non standard about you or the car, can be better tracking down one of the remaining traditional brokers - the online comparison things are about the high volume market.

make sure the annual mileage you declare matches what you do - if you're over-estimating the mileage, or they are assuming an average and you don't do much mileage, you may pay more.

can be worth upping the voluntary excess (the amount you'd pay if there is a claim) so that you're effectively self-insuring for anything less than X amount

conventional wisdom is it's cheaper to go 'fire, theft + third party' but it can actually be cheaper to go comprehensive - apparently people who opt for FTTP are seen as higher risk.

 

[danny la rouge]

a few thoughts -

if there's anything at all non standard about you or the car, can be better tracking down one of the remaining traditional brokers - the online comparison things are about the high volume market.

make sure the annual mileage you declare matches what you do - if you're over-estimating the mileage, or they are assuming an average and you don't do much mileage, you may pay more.

can be worth upping the voluntary excess (the amount you'd pay if there is a claim) so that you're effectively self-insuring for anything less than X amount

conventional wisdom is it's cheaper to go 'fire, theft + third party' but it can actually be cheaper to go comprehensive - apparently people who opt for FTTP are seen as higher risk.

All good advice. I did up the excess (150 - 250), and I always do fully comprehensive. Two things that go against me: I only have one vehicle and there’s only one driver on the policy.

 

[Saul Goodman]

I got a quote last month for €520. "Sounds a bit expensive" I told them, but they said it was the best they could do, and the quote was valid for 30 days. "No problem" says I, "I'll phone around and see can I get it cheaper elsewhere", so I called a few places and they were even more expensive, so I called the first place back, and they told me they'd have to give me a new quote, as I'd refused the first one... €760!!! I argued with them that they'd told me the quote was valid for 30 days, and asked for a transcript of the recording, as I was going to report them to the ombudsman. They said they'd send me a copy of the recording, but I'm still waiting.
I ended up getting insured elsewhere for €404 for the same cover.
Insurers are the biggest scamming fucks out there.

 

[moochedit]

make sure the annual mileage you declare matches what you do - if you're over-estimating the mileage, or they are assuming an average and you don't do much mileage, you may pay more.

I always check my last 2 mot certs to work out the annual milage. Or you can see it online on the mot history checker.

 

[moochedit]

conventional wisdom is it's cheaper to go 'fire, theft + third party' but it can actually be cheaper to go comprehensive - apparently people who opt for FTTP are seen as higher risk.

Makes sense as arsehole drivers are totally confident that no accident could ever be their fault so they don't need comprehensive.

 

[Spymaster]

It’s time to renew the insurance on my Honda jazz hybrid, 23 days before renewal date, and the auto renew is 75% up on last year! I went to the Martin Lewis MSE app, as I always do, and the cheapest quote is £50 more! So for once I’m auto renewing, which I almost never do.

/vent over.

Yes, same. This year was the first for over 30 years that the renewal premium with my existing insurer was cheaper than the best quote I got by shopping around.

 

[Sasaferrato]

Martin Lewis cautions that there’s a sweet spot to getting quotes, 23 days before due date. Sooner or later can be more expensive.

Thanks for that nugget of information. I've just dug out my current cert, it expires on 07/08 so I should be looking 23 days before that.

 

[MickiQ]

Mine went up from £605.30 to £746.25 in February but I actually changed my car in December so I don't know how much of that is due to changing the vehicle. I took my son off my insurance now that he no longer lives here but at 33 with a clean driving licence for the last 15 years he wasn't costing me anything so there were no savings there.

 

[Saul Goodman]

Mine went up from £605.30 to £746.25 in February but I actually changed my car in December so I don't know how much of that is due to changing the vehicle. I took my son off my insurance now that he no longer lives here but at 33 with a clean driving licence for the last 15 years he wasn't costing me anything so there were no savings there.

It can be cheaper to have a named driver on your insurance. It has been every time I've had a quote.