Has your car insurance premium crept up?

I feel that the rise in the insurance premium tax is being used as a scapegoat for poor commercial performance by the insurance companies. There are several other factors involved including the rising cost of repairs, parts, and vehicles [not just for the insured party’s but for the third party’s, of course], but acquiring new policyholders is becoming increasingly expensive. In this instance, far from competition bearing down on premiums, excess competition is creating a bad but expensive market with commission payable to comparison websites, higher rates, poorer service, a deterioration in cover, and exorbitant charges for changing policy details.

With buildings insurance, I think the insurance companies do try to get their hands on some of the increase in property values even if that isn’t matched by an equivalent rise in repair and reconstruction costs. That cannot apply to car insurance because they tend to depreciate in value so while the cost of a new replacement for a write-off would inevitably be higher than the cost of the original car, a like-for-like replacement should be somewhat less expensive for the insurer, but is that fully reflected in insurance premiums? I doubt we’ll ever know. I expect they are just indexed to the ever-rising price of new cars.

yes both our car insurance premiums have gone up. I am surprised that M & S insurance came so high on your recent survey. Take heed when notifying them of a change to driver details. My wife’s insurance needed renewing and as a named driver on her policy I notified them of 3 points on my licence [the first for 15 years] they raised her quote by 25% and told me that I had to renew my policy there and then[even though it had 4 months to run] at an increase of 50% plus a cancellation fee of £50.
Needless to say I moved both car policies and a month later also moved our house policy to other insurers.

My renewal quote wirh LV seemed to be steep this year so i went on two different comparison websites and both came out with LV on top. Both were different prices to each other and both were a lot cheaper than my renewal quote. I called them to find our why this should be. They gave me a quote even cheaper than the comparison sites. Win, win!!

Just like many others I never take the first renewal figure given by any current insurer. I always check around using comparison sites, some direct contact. Then go back to my insurer to get them to beat the quote not just match it. So far worked about 95% of the time. One time it never worked was when the company deliberately overpriced and when challenge the just said take or leave it as they no longer wanted to cover big 4×4 cars. Which was surprising as I had been with them for 3 years with competitive pricing.
Rule is if they don’t want to fight for your business leave them for someone who does.

I’m pleased that insurers now show the previous year’s premium on renewal notices, although it’s a pity that it had to be enforced by law. Personally I keep last year’s renewal notice with my certificate and schedule, which is easy and seems the obvious thing to do, but the change must be helpful for those who are not so well organised. Incidentally, I keep several copies of the certificate and schedule in the car ready to give to another driver or witnesses or the police in the event of an accident. The schedule shows my name and address and I have written my phone number on it. It hasn’t happened yet but it would save having to write down insurance and contact details at the roadside in the rain.

I always check on at least two price comparison sites, I do this also for utilities. I’ve done this for more years than I can remember.
I often find I can get a cheaper quote, than that shown in the renewal, for the same cover from my current provider, even using my provider web site

I insured my car in 20016 with LV=. I received a renewal notice this year showing an increase that equated to 28%. I checked the online comparison site MoneySavingExpert.com and it showed the same price as quoted in LV=’s letter. I then checked the Confused.com website and it showed I could have the same cover with the same insurer at an increase of just 3% on last year’s premium so I got a quote for that! I rang LV= and they checked the price shown on the Confused.com and the quote reference I had before they agreed that I could renew my policy at that price.

Although it took a bit of time on the telephone, it was done amicably and the end result was satisfactory to me however the fact that LV= didn’t offer me the best deal when renewing was disappointing.

my insurance went up from under £500.00 to over £1100.00, so I shopped around & got it for just over £500.00 with extra benefits on top. But 1 important lesson I learned was not to trust online applications, make your application over the phone for the very best quotes that are legal. I found I could have been uninsured due to some of the answers I had filled in on line. So phone every time & shop around !!!

My wife died in July 2016. When my renewal came later in the year my premium was much the same but I declared the death which resulted in an increase of £100. I then asked what effect adding my daughter would have and the result was a reduction of £100. No one could tell me why two drivers obviously reduces the risk.

My premium went up from £383 to £472 and I had no changes through year. Before I rung then I got a quote on line as though I was a new customer. This came to approx £406. When I rang them re renewal they just started telling me about costs going up including insurance tax. I quoted my new customer quote and yes-they matched it.
!