This started last night as bit of fun to see what came back and the results were quite shocking to say the least

went through CONFUSED.COM  and gave all the bla bla bla and filled it all in as asked....

WELL what came back was truly outstanding in terms what it costs to insure a car these days so would like to know WHO and WHAT governs how much an insurance company can charge for insurance

only 2 company came back with a quote and the first was 999 quid and the other a staggering  2985 quid  !!!!!!!!!

who on earth decides what to charge?

Andy

personally i hate it how sexist companies are. same car girl can get it for 500 guys 1000 not fair..  rubbish being young!

chris_golfse:

personally i hate it how sexist companies are. same car girl can get it for 500 guys 1000 not fair..  rubbish being young!

Put a woman on your policy it usually comes down, I've just put the wife on my policy as a learner, declared my remap at 200bhp and it was £35 extra for the year she's only 21 too!!

boranik:

chris_golfse:

personally i hate it how sexist companies are. same car girl can get it for 500 guys 1000 not fair..  rubbish being young!

 

 

 

Put a woman on your policy it usually comes down, I've just put the wife on my policy as a learner, declared my remap at 200bhp and it was £35 extra for the year she's only 21 too!!

got me mum on already! they have their uses lol

Well as i only have 1 year NCD and my wife has 16 made NO difference to what it cost to add her to the insurance

OK banks and such have a guide to work to in terms of charges and such (to a degree) so what the hell are insurances working to?

Drugs!!!

i just cant see how it works out with one it is say 500 quid and another it is say 3000 quid WHY!!!!

what is the difference if BOTH are using the same guide lines to work to and also the same information that i provided .

Andy

I've been asking myself that same question for over 20 years. If I ever find the answer, you'll be the first to know.

eyeamsparticus:

I've been asking myself that same question for over 20 years. If I ever find the answer, you'll be the first to know.

we all know the saga with the bank charges and such that have been reclaimed due to banks taking the mick and that the last i had heard it was going to court to decide the outcome of there terms on charges so why the hell can this be done with insurance company's?

at the end of the day i can understand if i put all my details in and there were "slight" differences, say 50-100 quid but come on 2500 quid is a rather a step

eyeamsparticus:

I've been asking myself that same question for over 20 years. If I ever find the answer, you'll be the first to know.

I've done about 10 years of trying to resolve it... and still I can merely put it down to 'statistics' but even then, we all know that's rarely the case.

Possibly about as much chance of discovering it as Atlantis? haha.

Mike H:

eyeamsparticus:

I've been asking myself that same question for over 20 years. If I ever find the answer, you'll be the first to know.

 

 

I've done about 10 years of trying to resolve it... and still I can merely put it down to 'statistics' but even then, we all know that's rarely the case.

Possibly about as much chance of discovering it as Atlantis? haha.

Any clues into where the insurance company get there pricing ?

there MUST be something that states what to charge or a guideline as to how it is calculated or not?

Andy

I believe a certain percentage of our insurance premium goes on statistics, ie type of car owned and who drives them and how desireable (nickable) they are.

So unfortunately as we all know, most of us have been there, are still, or were once young, and maybe shall we say a little enthusiastic, which is where accident statistics are derived from and loaded accordingly.  However as Andy has said how come such a wide difference in pricing for the same car from different companies.???

 Some insurance companies put premiums on for young age, if they are only really interested in insuring drivers over say 21.

They will insure you if you are younger but put the price up loads to try and put you off as such.

they are effectivley 'picking' their chosen clients by setting their criteria to suit them.

 i think there are basic guidelines for insurers but after that, it simply comes down to policy. some companies dont want certain types of drivers, so will do the only thing they can do really to stop people getting insured with them, which is hike the price up

other companies then come in and see the niche and are willing to take the risk, but they have no obligation to give dirt cheep insurance as they are one of the few who are offering insurance to that kind of people, so less competition, means they can start with a higher price as they are less likely to get undercut. theres also the risk of younger driver etc

 It's very simple.

They have masses of statistical information on cars and drivers. Your age, sex, accident record, points on licence give a very accurate risk level.

They balance claims verses premiums. Mostly the only profit they make is from investing the money while they have it between premiums being paid, and claims being made.

Now if you are at the risky end of the business, so young, high risk, powerful or odd car for which stats don't exist, an underwriter will look at it and decide on what risk he sees, and come up with a price.

Often this will be a 'at what price am I prepared to take this business' approach

They don't necessarily want your business, as the risk is difficult to quantify, and they may well come a cropper. In their shoes I would be hiking the premium to cover my arse until some historical data could be built up about the car and driver.

The difference in premiums is often just down to the underwriters take on risk.

So from what we can see things like age play a massive part and what type of car you drive.

ok so i am 29, so not what i would call a "high risk" if they think a 19yr old with a porsche would be and a golf is not what i would call a super car well not yet anyway.

i could understand if the above 19yr old went to insure my car and got a price of say 2000-2500 quid between the insurers.

Now i live in one of the most low risk postcodes you could get apart from living on skoma island where there are NO roads and the car is garaged, so BOTH of the 2 company came back with a quote, still fair enough.

so what we are saying is we are just being shafted so some mug can make a few quid extra if the person would be dull enough to pay two and a half grand to insure his car compared to the 600 odd i pay now

Andy

 No Andy

They are taking a risk. They have to look at what risk:reward ratio they want to work on.

They don't have to take your business.

Let me ask if you would charge the same to knock a dent out of a golf, as you would for say a veyron owned by an arab sheik who could hang you if you screw it up.

Is the amount of work the same? Yes. Is the risk higher on the veyron if you screw up? Yes.

Which will you charge a lot more for?

Now a fellow arab may think it's gods will if he screws up and gets hung, so he may do it for a lot less.

Dent Reform:

Mike H:

eyeamsparticus:

I've been asking myself that same question for over 20 years. If I ever find the answer, you'll be the first to know.

 

 

I've done about 10 years of trying to resolve it... and still I can merely put it down to 'statistics' but even then, we all know that's rarely the case.

Possibly about as much chance of discovering it as Atlantis? haha.

Any clues into where the insurance company get there pricing ?

there MUST be something that states what to charge or a guideline as to how it is calculated or not?

 

Andy

As far as post code goes... when an insurer gets a new claim, the handler should input the postcode of the incident... or theft, or fire, or malicious damage. Once collated, shows statistics. Each insurer differs as they have different clientel...and as such have different areas in the market. The systems give out a reading, so for example... Greenlight do not insure ANYONE in OL, M or L postcodes. So basically, if you live in the ghetto's of Oldham, Manchester or Liverpool then you won't get insured with them at all due to high theft rates.

It's all about what sort of claims that insurer has had, for what sorts of vehicles and with what age/sex/experience driver....thats why everyone gets different quotes from every insurer.

With some insurers you may be classed as low risk because of the stats you possess, but with others you may be classed a 18 year old single male, driving a Saxo VTS in Oldham, and you get dry bummed.

 often read threads of where do insurers get their prices from... because they vary so much and for everyone... and it all boils down to:

- what area of the market they want to concentrate on... some insurers like Greenlight only take on 'safe' risks

- what claims the insurer has had, for specific postcodes, volumes of claims, and percentage of claims for ages.

Hope that makes sense I'm shattered!

That is SPOT ON Mike

Thanks and i can see where you are coming from now and how things are worked in the paper chase of these company's.

Sounds fair ish to me

all i can say is thank god for FLUX

Andy

I'll throw this one into the mix,

Renewal price.

Twice I've had renewal quotes for more than expected get a new quote and its cheaper. The first time this happened, I saved 200 quid by cancelling and getting a "new" policy. I phoned and confimed that all details were the same, the lady on the phone couldn't explain the difference.

I can, these compainies rely on people's lazyness and add on a little bit of money, then of course offer automatic renewal.

It kind of proves that insurance companies have a license to rip people off.

Tesco BTW.

Automatic renewals are the biggest rip-off usually.

I'v never once hada renewal quote that has been competitive - consequently, I've been with a different insurer every year.  Takes a little hassle to arrange, but much better than being done on cost...

Wigster. 

Admiral sent a new Certificate of Insurance along with my renewal quote this year. Do other insurers do this? What a damn cheek! To cancel your insurance you have to telephone them then return the certificate via post. I called to say I'm changing my insurer, and they knock 10% off my renewal quote without any hesitation.

"Automatic renewals are the biggest rip-off usually"  -  Never a truer word was spoken.

It's very very sad that insurers offer new business incentives to attract more custom, which are better than the incentives they offer do to keep already good risks.

Mike H:

It's very very sad that insurers offer new business incentives to attract more custom, which are better than the incentives they offer do to keep already good risks.

My attitude is insurers don't offer incentives for new custom rather they charge their existing customers more as they know most people don't (are too lazy to?) shop around.

Never looked at it that way you know, but yes, I agree.