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Variables which affect an insurance premium?

  • 12-07-2015 9:11pm
    #1
    gaiscioch
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,534 ✭✭✭


    Are the things which affect an insurance premium from state-regulated motor insurance companies made publicly available?

    We all know address, occupation, NCB, etc can affect the premium. But do individual firms make their specific lists available?

    My premium (with AA) went from €446 up to €782 this year (of course I moved), despite being 9 years or so with a NCB. I get that insurance companies up the price just because they think you'd rather pay the increase than move, but I've also been told that the actuaries could have judged the risk category I fell into to be more costly - e.g. more car thefts in my area, more accidents involving people in my age group, etc. The fact that the AA increase was so substantial makes me think there could be something to this.


Comments

  • #2
    Atlantic Dawn
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 84,761 ✭✭✭✭Atlantic Dawn
    M


    What car have you got? Certain insurers will decide on a yearly basis a particular model or car they no longer want to have on the books.


  • #3
    gaiscioch
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,534 ✭✭✭gaiscioch


    Atlantic Dawn wrote: »
    What car have you got? Certain insurers will decide on a yearly basis a particular model or car they no longer want to have on the books.

    Even if it's a run-of-the-mill newish 1.6 Toyota/Ford/VW? What sort of rational basis could they have for deciding that they do not want, say, a VW Golf or Ford Focus on their books? (I surmise actuaries are making the call here?)


  • #4
    gaiscioch
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,534 ✭✭✭gaiscioch


    I came across a very informative thread from earlier this year by an insurance underwriter on Boards.ie:

    This post is very relevant to the OP:
    1 - What kind of data is used for the "risk assessment" process of car insurance, where is it available for viewing and if it is not, why is it secreted? As a lot of people do actually question its accuracy and suitability if not its very existence, wouldn't some transparency help everybody involved?
    Risk assessment is based on actuarial data that an insurance company has gathered over the course of literally years.

    Risk assessment, in its simplest terms, is trying to put a fair price for an insurance policy based on the facts as they are presented, or declining to quote and being able to give a valid reason why.

    The most common risk assessment criteria are

    Age
    Licence type
    Car type
    Any previous convictions
    Number of years NCB
    Claims experience
    Has the person ever had a policy cancelled and if so, why
    Occupation
    Location
    Class of use

    Using the above data to assess the driver will give a pretty good indication of what premium should be charged.

    Of course it isnt fool proof. There are drivers that would tick all the boxes in terms of car type, licence and bonus but are lunatics and like wise you could have a 20 year old with one years bonus and they could be an excellent driver but based on the information available and historic claims experience, certain answers will generate a referral. While there are exceptions to every rule, for the most part its pretty accurate.

    Im not sure what you mean by the information been secreted, its available on every insurance website there is in the form of the online questionnaire you fill out when getting a quote, thats the risk assessment.

    2 - Why do most insurance companies double the premium for EU license holders, in many cases to the levels of Irish Learner's permit holders, when the process for acquiring a license was stricter and longer outside of Ireland up until recently?
    Honestly, I dont know. Id be of the opinion that a full licence is a full licence, regardless of where it was issued from. You could argue the case for drivers coming from countries that drive on the left hand side of the road getting loaded but for right hand drivers, its pretty unfair imo.

    3.- What amount of "accident fronting" (e.g. father claiming he was driving at the time of the accident while it was clear it was the son, husband trying to take the blame instead of the wife and so on) do you see?
    I don't deal with the day to day claims side of the business, thats a totally different section to myself but I can honestly say Ive never encountered such a scenario. Im sure it does happen, particularly with young drivers but I reckon it would be very much in the minority.

    Also, this post from the same insurance underwriter:
    Its common practice in the industry and is known as "rating to exit", essentially it means that a particular class of business - could be car type, area you live in, occupation etc - is no longer within their target market.


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