Insurance renewal time ......

 

My Direct Line policy renewal has come through and I've done it online which usually knocks 40-50 off the price... This time its exactly the same.... £390

 

Time to change then .....

 

Called Swinton £425

 

Called Adrian Flux £410 !!!

 

WTH !! This is a first for me .... II was expecting Flux to say yeah £330.

 

So suggestions appreciated ! I've never just gone with  the renewal quote and would hate to do it this time ..... I've been with Direct Line years and have 2 cars insured with them ...

 

 

Have you tried a car insurance comparison web site? I've always found LV to be most reasonable

Bloody hell !! Just tried Money Supermarket and cheapest is Quote Me Happy at £276 !! Looks like same policy as Direct Line as well !!

Ring Direct line with the quote policy ref and ask them to just match your current policy to that.

 

jobs a good one!

I am with DL and go through the process each time   . Do my research then go back to them and hey presto they virtually match it.  

 

But why oh why do I have to do that.

Strangely enough it's renewal time for me too. I'm with Hastings Direct, it's gone up about £75 to £458. I've been on the usual comparison sites and managed to get it down to just under £400. Then I tried Direct Line and lo and behold they're a lot cheaper at £333. The last time I tried DL they were almost twice the price. I'll never work insurance companies out!

Aviva came out cheaper than Direct Line for me. Maybe it's to do with my business mileage? 

 

Protected NCB, legal, physio, enhanced courtesy car, £150 excess. £485.00 which isn't bad with 30,000 annual miles. 

 

I did a quick check with the car that's on order - £531.00 

I'm with DL as well.

 

My first year premium came to £285, which included Protected NCD and Legal Protection.

Second year renewal invitation was £358 - an increase of 25%.  

(Exact same tactics as used by Aviva and Saga in previous years).

 

I phoned DL to voice my dissatisfaction, and the renewal invitation was reduced to £323.

A reduction of £35, just for a phone call.  But why oh why do I have to do that? 

 

But I have to give some credit to DL.  For a similar policy, AXA and Aviva wanted £417, Saga wanted £434, and AA wanted £501

 

I'll never work Insurance Companies out, either!

Me too. I use comparison sites. Need to renew two insurances in the next few weeks. Renewals are getting on for twice last year's price (with no claims in between) yet checking with the well known meerkat comparison site I can get £275 for my Superb through M&S Bank instead of £430 I've been quoted with Tesco with whom I was paying a similar amount last year for a 2.0 diesel Insigna as this year's M&S quote.

Do insurance companies think we're muppets who despite switching the year previous are not going to bother to do the same again?

Mine is £650 30,000 miles with business use... 6 years ncb I'm 30

You will never get the best deal on renewal unless you check a comparison site....fact

You want to try living in Beirut, London E17, I won't get much change out of £600 and I'm 60 with more years NCB then I can remember!

That's why Londoneeers get paid so much compared to us poor people out in the sticks.hehehehe, sorry no bloody emicons.

Just checked with the Meerkat, Noddy dog Insurance, comprehensive, hire car, windscreen and protected  £175.20.  There were cheaper but I'm never sure about internet insurance companies.  Oh and LV £199.22.

Edited 16 January, 201610 yr by rafmike

That's why Londoneeers get paid so much compared to us poor people out in the sticks.hehehehe, sorry no bloody emicons.

If only that was true............

You will never get the best deal on renewal unless you check a comparison site....fact

My renewal quote was the cheapest last year, as was my GFs.

You want to try living in Beirut, London E17, I won't get much change out of £600 and I'm 60 with more years NCB then I can remember!

I'm the same age and have the same NCD. I'm 4 miles away from you and my premium with Direct Line was £339.

 

What amazed me was the premium reduced by £50 if my wife was added as a second driver (was 389)! I thought it would increase.

 

Edit to add... premium includes protected ncd and legal.

Edited 16 January, 201610 yr by RobertP

You will never get the best deal on renewal unless you check a comparison site....fact

Not always. My renewal with Churchill was nearly £100 cheaper than the cheapest online quote.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Not always. My renewal with Churchill was nearly £100 cheaper than the cheapest online quote.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Same with me, my Bell renewal came in at less than I could get on any comparison site.

It's a competitive market! I always shop around and generally change every year. I had several years with DL but they became uneconomic. My risk hadn't changed since first using them. Switched to LV last year and this year LV gave me a better quote than anyone else and so I stayed. A word of caution though; you really do need to check the details. The list that comes up on the comparison sites is often skewed by companies to ensure they appear to be the cheapest. When you look in more detail that is only because the offer is not like for like with others. Compulsory and voluntary excess amounts is a favourite trick.

 

It's about new business as much as risk. Loyalty doesn't pay anymore for either the company or the individual. Grab the business for a year and then risk getting the premium to more reasonable levels with auto-renewals. A lot of people still dont bother to shop around or change if the increase is marginal !

So.... Just called Direct Line.... Waited 25 minutes and cut off GRrrrrr ...

Called again... Another 25 minutes...

Got through that time and told them I had a quote for 276 for the same policy from Quote me happy. No problem they will see what they can do ! 2 minutes later...

Yes sir we can do that for £318.... Er.. Well that's no good is it I can get it for £276 ! Well sir we can start taking things off your quote to bring the price down...

Tell you what... Don't bother.

So that's Direct Line lost a loyal customer from 2002 but not only that my Wife's car is also with them so I'll not be renewing that either !

They didn't seem all that bothered :-)

They didn't seem all that bothered :-)

 

That is just it... they are not.

 

I always use a comparison site, (usually the meerkat one) and compare like for like

 

I actually got my previous company to beat my best quote... eventually

Direct Line don't seem to play the same game as everyone else. I'd been with them for more than a decade as they had always been cheapest then one year they went up by fifty percent. I phoned and asked if there was anything they could do and got a one word answer. No.

Have a look at www.quidco.com   It's one of those cashback sites..   Used them loads of the years and always seem to get an extra few quid off. They also have their own price comparison portal..

insurance is funny take direct line and tesco

 

tesco maybe cheaper but its underwritten by directline so DL still would get your business. what applies to one firm the other sees differently.

 

personally I like to change every year but for the last two years LV have beaten every quote when you compare like for like.

 

last year my 08 Octavia vrs tdi was £190 they then held the no claims ( I traded in early as I have a second car) until I received my new superb.

 

price for superb 1.4 SE-L DSG £160 ( now both prices are without courtesy car as I have second car )

 

but I always look around every year. ( don't forget they always give bigger discounts to new customers, so get a new quote online and call them and barter)