Insurance Gone Up?

Michael Collins

Just got my renewal application for my insurance this year and, to my surprise, it's more expensive than last year, effectively €700 now vs €600 last year. I've had no claims or gained no points in the meantime - in fact I've gained one year no claims bonus (on top of 2 years named driving experience).

Is this unusual or are premiums on the rise?

Cheers.

Random

premiums are on the rise. shop around is the best advice.

Anan1

Mine went up a bit too, but a combination of shopping around and bargaining with my current insurer brought it back down.

Eoin

It's gone up for a lot of people. Ring around and see if you can get a better deal though.

Michael Collins

Cheers lads. Just tried out tesco.ie there and it's coming it at €450! Where's the catch?

Eoin

Make sure you compare the features such as:
Protected NCB
Excess
Windscreen cover
road side assist
3rd party on other vehicles

etc etc

kennethk

A friend of mine, was paying €1200, and got a quote off a different company for €700, rang up this current insurers, said he had got this quote elsewhere...They rang him back 20mins later, and they gave it to him for €800!!! €400 cheaper with a phone-call!!!!..madness!!

Del2005

kennethk wrote: »

A friend of mine, was paying €1200, and got a quote off a different company for €700, rang up this current insurers, said he had got this quote elsewhere...They rang him back 20mins later, and they gave it to him for €800!!! €400 cheaper with a phone-call!!!!..madness!!

This is what p!sses me off with insurance companies. They send you a quote expecting you to pay it. You go off and get a better quote, go back to your original company and feel great if they match the new quote.

I personally won't go back to the feckers if they won't give me the best price 1st time, what has suddenly changed that they can drop the price? Me doing their jobs. They've no loyalty to me if they think I'll foolishly pay the higher premium so why should I have any loyalty hand over my hard earner cash to them after getting a cheaper price elsewhere.

Quote me your best price 1st time or I walk.

Cookie_Monster

Michael Collins wrote: »

Cheers lads. Just tried out tesco.ie there and it's coming it at €450! Where's the catch?

None. Was with them last 2 years, no issues. They've changed underwriters from Aviva to RSA(?) or someone else. They weren't cheaper for me this year though.

Max Power1

I just checked around online (my renewal is not till the start of novemeber) and tesco is 200 euro cheaper for comprehensive than anyone else is for TPFT!

Im taken aback - Im currently with britton insurance (because they were the cheapest), but due to their shocking customer service (long story) im definetly not going to be renewing with them - tesco are even cheaper than them!

One question though, which isnt really answered on the website. Does anyone know if tesco insure you to drive other cars?

dts1

I'm looking for insurance at the moment also.
I got a Quick online quot eoff tesco and it looks good also.
I proceeded to get a full quote and the web site was unable to carry it out for some reason.
I'm gonna call them at 9am now when they open over the phone and see what the story is.
I will report back here then.

Max Power1

dts1 wrote: »

I'm looking for insurance at the moment also.
I got a Quick online quot eoff tesco and it looks good also.
I proceeded to get a full quote and the web site was unable to carry it out for some reason.
I'm gonna call them at 9am now when they open over the phone and see what the story is.
I will report back here then.

I should add that from the quick quote to the full quote they had added on about 40% to the premium

dts1

Ok thanks.
Sure we'll see what they have to offer anyway

Vanbis

Max Power1 wrote: »

I just checked around online (my renewal is not till the start of novemeber) and tesco is 200 euro cheaper for comprehensive than anyone else is for TPFT!

Im taken aback - Im currently with britton insurance (because they were the cheapest),

Isn't their voluntary excess something like €4k :eek:

Cookie_Monster

Max Power1 wrote: »

Does anyone know if tesco insure you to drive other cars?

yep, i had it. Different underwriter at the time though as I said, you should ask them to be sure

Max Power1

Vanbis wrote: »

Isn't their voluntary excess something like €4k :eek:

Not on all policies

I dont have that (then again I only have TPFT because my car is 15 years old), but I was getting quotes from them for valuable cars (BMW7 series/ S class merc/Jaguars etc) and they all came back with 4k excess.

You get what you pay for - which in that this case is a disc that fulfills the legal requirement to be insured but in practice means nothing

oohlala

Personally i always go with a broker. I usually find they get the best deals with being able to 'trim the fat' off insurance policies that you don't need and they can let you know what you do need. I've used a fair few over my time but the one i'm with now is www.kellehers.ie I'm pretty happy with them. I'm not clued into insurance so they explained it all to me that i knew exactly what i as getting and the price went down by nearly 200 euro too.

Max Power1

oohlala wrote: »

Personally i always go with a broker. I usually find they get the best deals with being able to 'trim the fat' off insurance policies that you don't need and they can let you know what you do need. I've used a fair few over my time but the one i'm with now is www.kellehers.ie I'm pretty happy with them. I'm not clued into insurance so they explained it all to me that i knew exactly what i as getting and the price went down by nearly 200 euro too.

Taking this at face value.

They dont have an online quote system? Thats going to lose them a lot of "passing trade" so to speak.

Mena

I was surprised when both mine (5 series BM) and my wifes (CLK conv) came down this year, from €580.00 to €482.00 and from €790.00 to €700.00 respectively.

I'm with Zurich and she's with Travelers (via 123.ie).

Prices may seem to be going up, but I'd say you'd best shop around.

dts1

dts1 wrote: »

Ok thanks.
Sure we'll see what they have to offer anyway

Initial quote was for €435 with no windscreen cover or bonus protection.
Hopeful there 4 a sec an'all !!
€625 and €714 then for other quotes !
Joke shop stuff !

Anan1

Del2005 wrote: »

This is what p!sses me off with insurance companies. They send you a quote expecting you to pay it. You go off and get a better quote, go back to your original company and feel great if they match the new quote.

I personally won't go back to the feckers if they won't give me the best price 1st time, what has suddenly changed that they can drop the price? Me doing their jobs. They've no loyalty to me if they think I'll foolishly pay the higher premium so why should I have any loyalty hand over my hard earner cash to them after getting a cheaper price elsewhere.

Quote me your best price 1st time or I walk.

In a situation like that i'd look carefully at the policy details - there are quite a few variations from company to company. For example, Aviva don't cover a glass sunroof under windscreen breakage but they were over €200 cheaper for me than the best quote I got which did. Best not to take it personally - they're trying to make money, we're trying to save it.

zeds alive

Michael Collins wrote: »

Just got my renewal application for my insurance this year and, to my surprise, it's more expensive than last year, effectively €700 now vs €600 last year. I've had no claims or gained no points in the meantime - in fact I've gained one year no claims bonus (on top of 2 years named driving experience).

Is this unusual or are premiums on the rise?

Cheers.

Mine went from €570 last year up to €710!! I was with 123.ie rang them up and they said every insurance companies premiums have gone up and they "couldn't" lower the price. I rang around and got insured for €505 with Cullen insurance. Its been my experience trying to get re-insured that the big companies are more expensive, Quinn direct being the most expensive as they wanted €840!

stevenmu

I got my renewal quote from Quinn recently, my premium was going up by about 50%. Got a few other quotes for in and around what I had been paying previously. Rang Quinn up expecting them to match the quotes, or at least try and come close but they wouldn't budge. I didn't have any claims or anything. Needless to say they lost my business.

Anan1

oohlala wrote: »

Personally i always go with a broker. I usually find they get the best deals with being able to 'trim the fat' off insurance policies that you don't need and they can let you know what you do need. I've used a fair few over my time but the one i'm with now is www.kellehers.ie I'm pretty happy with them. I'm not clued into insurance so they explained it all to me that i knew exactly what i as getting and the price went down by nearly 200 euro too.

I dunno, I try a good selection of brokers every year, and i've yet to find one who can match the quotes I get by going directly through the insurance company.

Im_No_Superman

stevenmu wrote: »

I got my renewal quote from Quinn recently, my premium was going up by about 50%. Got a few other quotes for in and around what I had been paying previously. Rang Quinn up expecting them to match the quotes, or at least try and come close but they wouldn't budge. I didn't have any claims or anything. Needless to say they lost my business.

Exact same thing happened me yesterday with Quinn. Their quote was a good €400 higher than competitors, I rang them up expecting them to at least make a counter offer. But they wouldn't budge,

I was even told I was on record for ringing last year to say my renewal was too high! :eek::mad: I politely informed the guy that it was too high and Quinn had reduced it by a couple hundred euro and I renewed and I would have at least expected the same this year for a loyal customer who has never had a claim. Anyways they have lost my business.

Another way to try bring your insurance down is to add your wife / girlfriend to the policy, providing of course they have a full clean license.

djimi

Im_No_Superman wrote: »

Exact same thing happened me yesterday with Quinn. Their quote was a good €400 higher than competitors, I rang them up expecting them to at least make a counter offer. But they wouldn't budge,

I was even told I was on record for ringing last year to say my renewal was too high! :eek::mad: I politely informed the guy that it was too high and Quinn had reduced it by a couple hundred euro and I renewed and I would have at least expected the same this year for a loyal customer who has never had a claim. Anyways they have lost my business.

Another way to try bring your insurance down is to add your wife / girlfriend to the policy, providing of course they have a full clean license.

Ive heard this same story numerous times with Quinn. Getting insuance quotes is a game but Im not sure that Quinn quite understand how to play...

Max Power1

djimi wrote: »

Ive heard this same story numerous times with Quinn. Getting insuance quotes is a game but Im not sure that Quinn quite understand how to play...

I think they are trying to gradually exit the market. Why else would they consistently price themselves out of the game? I know of at least 3 close relatives that left quinn in the last 3 years. All with well over 5 years no claims.

stevenmu

It's hard to understand really. They were very profitable, they have been having 'issues' with the regulator and were apparently complaining about the amount of business they were loosing due to it, and now they seem to be throwing away business by not being competitively priced in a market where they were succeeding well at being the low cost option.

The only explanation I can think of is that they are being forced into higher premiums by the regulator to make up the capitol shortfall.

oohlala

Anan1 wrote: »

I dunno, I try a good selection of brokers every year, and i've yet to find one who can match the quotes I get by going directly through the insurance company.

no online quote system, do brokers have that? i thought only insurance companies would. I generally go through brokers as i need the advise to geet exactly what i wanted and i've always found i haven't gotten the advise needed from an insurance company. I wouldn't only check one broker, i would generally check at least two and the insurance co i'm with at the min, you've got to go with whoever gets you the best deal, but i was impressed with the service at that place. I need a lot of explaining to and they were very tolerant

Max Power1

oohlala wrote: »

no online quote system, do brokers have that? i thought only insurance companies would.

Any brokers ive checked ( the likes of britton, insure.ie etc) all have online systems.

Alanstrainor

Surprisingly enough, i got a better quote through a broker this year than i did going direct to the insurer. I was a bit baffled by it tbh, the cover was the same for both, but the broker was 500 cheaper!

djimi

The main reason I would go thru a broker is to get access to insuranace companies such as Setanta who do not deal directly with the public.

I have found that its rare that a broker will come in with a quote from one of the main insurers (Axa, Aviva etc) that is better than what they will give you directly.

Alanstrainor

Btw the underwriter of my policy is Aviva. Going direct gave me a quote of 1500; through the broker it was just less than 1000.

Eoin

Holy crap, that's some difference. Identical policies?

Alanstrainor

eoin wrote: »

Holy crap, that's some difference. Identical policies?

Yeah, when i got the quote from the broker i asked to go through all my details just to make sure he hadn't put me down as a bird or something! Both policies were the same, i actually didn't want to go back to Aviva after i got the quote from the broker, to say that it was a third cheaper. I doubt they're keen on competing with themselves!

Alanstrainor

Alanstrainor wrote: »

to make sure he hadn't put me down as a bird or something!!

How would there even be an option to do that

Michael Collins

eoin wrote: »

Make sure you compare the features such as:
Protected NCB
Excess
Windscreen cover
road side assist
3rd party on other vehicles

etc etc

It seems like this was good advice. Just read through the Tesco T+Cs and while they do provide 3rd party Driving Other Cars cover they won't do it for

1) cars over 2.5L (kind of understandable) or
2) cars belonging to people you live with

A bit of a ridiculous clause really. Makes DOC rather useless for most people I'd say. The devil is in the detail.

Then you get what you pay for I guess...

Eoin

Michael Collins wrote: »

It seems like this was good advice. Just read through the Tesco T+Cs and while they do provide 3rd party Driving Other Cars cover they won't do it for

1) cars over 2.5L (kind of understandable) or
2) cars belonging to people you live with

A bit of a ridiculous clause really. Makes DOC rather useless for most people I'd say. The devil is in the detail.

Then you get what you pay for I guess...

Actually, I don't know if the second clause is all that unusual. Both my wife and I have policies with the usual extras, but we both have to be named drivers on each others cars as they specifically prohibit the 3rd party cover. Maybe it's to cut down on the 18 year old with a micra driving his "mother's" supra.

Michael Collins

eoin wrote: »

Actually, I don't know if the second clause is all that unusual. Both my wife and I have policies with the usual extras, but we both have to be named drivers on each others cars as they specifically prohibit the 3rd party cover. Maybe it's to cut down on the 18 year old with a micra driving his "mother's" supra.

Yeh I know what you're saying. But Driving Other Cars is only 3rd party cover, so it's not like they're liable for damage to a real valuable car. And if the car is expensive, surely you'd want more than 3rd party cover. But I've no doubt that there are 18 year olds who do that...

Still Tesco may be the cheapest option if I used the named driver route for the other car.

Eoin

But they're liable for the damage to the person and/or car they might hit. I think the 3rd party cover is just for occasional use, whereas being covered in a housemate or spouses car could be seen to be more regular use. I may be way off though.

no1beemerfan

My cars are insured with Axa and my quotes were the same as last year but after a wee bit of haggling I got €100 off. I've two cars fully comp and my no claims bonus insured for €930. The joys of turning 30 and 11 years of no claims and no points.

dceire

I got my renewal form last week and it has gone from €620 to €890 fully comp :eek: This despite the fact that I am now on full NCB as opposed to 4 years NCB last year. It just doesn't make sense to me.

Luckily I'm hightailing out of the country for a year. Here's hoping it starts to go down before I get back.

Our man in Havana

Quinn are absolute chancers though.

I was quoted 1200 for renewal which was way too much. I then for pig iron sake went online and got a quote of 750 from Quinns own website simply by removing the open driving and protected NCB (fat lot of use it was anyways) and by adding the old folks as named drivers. I bought the policy online and sent them back their own ncb cert.

They don't like being played at their own game.

Michael Collins

eoin wrote: »

But they're liable for the damage to the person and/or car they might hit. I think the 3rd party cover is just for occasional use, whereas being covered in a housemate or spouses car could be seen to be more regular use. I may be way off though.

No sounds about right to me, they don't intend it to be a continuous cover alright - in fact some policies say you have to be "in control" of the "other car" for less than 30 days.

About cover on a housemates car, I suppose if it is a bigger car than yours, you're more likely to do more damage to someone else or their car than you would be in your own car, maybe that's their reasoning.

dceire

Haddockman wrote: »

Quinn are absolute chancers though.

I was quoted 1200 for renewal which was way too much. I then for pig iron sake went online and got a quote of 750 from Quinns own website simply by removing the open driving and protected NCB (fat lot of use it was anyways) and by adding the old folks as named drivers. I bought the policy online and sent them back their own ncb cert.

They don't like being played at their own game.

I was with Quinn for the first two years I was driving. They always sent out a renewal quote that was substantially more that the price they quoted me online.

I've been with AXA for three years now.

Year 1: €1500
Year 2: €990
This year: €620
Renewal Quote: €890

RentDayBlues

My ins was up today, the quote from my insurer was for €529 for my old car which was an '03 1.2. When I added my new car '05 1.4 it went to €720, which was still cheaper than the quote last year.

Rang Axa - €550 but no NCB protection

Finally decided to go with AA who quoted same policy as my insurer for €483.

When I went back to my insurer they dropped €50 but that was as much as they could do - it does really pay to shop around as the quote with AA includes that fact I had a TP claim on my policy and I was expecting to be screwed if I moved insurer.

TBH - if my insurer had come back to me last week like they promised on a question I asked I would never have thought to switch as I assumed it would be higher elsewhere

kkhornet

Got mine last month from quinn, they rose it by €400 from 800 last year to 1200 this year. Rang them and they said they would gimme 10% discount because I have a bike insured with them aswell.
No thanks I said, I got a quote on their online system for 670 and she said she couldn match it that 1100 was the best she could do.
I told them to lapse my policy and send out my documents.
The day I was gonna insure online I got another quote just to see and it came in at €589 with 2 added drivers, windscreen protection and ncb protection.
Happy days, it pays to shop around

Barr

Rates sure have gone up , mine went up €80 with FBD and they wouldn't match last years premium :mad: