Zurich Insurance - 20% discount for moving policy to new system!

babelfish1990

I have a Home Insurance policy with Zurich Insurance. The renewal notice came and had a price increase of about 10% to €300. I phoned them up, and they offered to come down to €260. Their website gave me a quote of €239 for new customers. I asked if they could treat me as a new customer - but they said that new customers are on a different system, and they couldn't move me to get the better price. I went onto their website and registered as a new customer on the new system, and got the quoted price! 20% saving!

It may not work for everyone - perhaps it depends on how long you have been with them and whether you are on their legacy system?

My old policy had ZHI in the policy number. The new policy is identical, but has PPZ in the policy number.

delta_bravo

I don't think it's anything to do with systems but it's common enough to discount new business policies and shaft existing customers. It's good advice in general for any policy to check online as a new customer

babelfish1990

delta_bravo wrote: »

I don't think it's anything to do with systems but it's common enough to discount new business policies and shaft existing customers. It's good advice in general for any policy to check online as a new customer

It is common practice for insurers to discount new customers. However, Zurich had charged me exactly the same rate each year until this. Furthermore, their customer agent admitted that they had two systems, but that they were unable to transfer me from the old system to the new. They also confirmed that if I signed up on the new system, I would get the discounted rate. Since the two systems are not linked, they are unable to see that I am an existing customer, and hence the quote is as good as that given to a new customer.

greenspurs

Same happened me with Aviva ..

Doodah7

Did this last year with Zurich. I pointed out to their rep on the phone how nonsensical their systems are and he agreed. Good to see they take customer feedback on board...

jonnybravo

Zurich said the same to me a couple of months ago. My house insurance had gone up 20% and this new system brought it back down....... Worth asking about anyways...

bazz26

Look up the term insurance dual pricing. Renewal price v new customer price despite the risk profile being the same.

babelfish1990

bazz26 wrote: »

Look up the term insurance dual pricing. Renewal price v new customer price despite the risk profile being the same.

I was aware of this practice. One of the reasons, I stuck with Zurich is that their price didn't change each year, and when I sought quotes each year from other insurers, Zurich remained competitive. It is as though their old system was incapable of implementing dual pricing. Their old system also had other limitations - it was still paper-based and sent out a ton of paper on renewal. Ironically, the new system will probably be able to do dual pricing, so I probably will suffer next year!

Thor

Oh its a joke how badly they treat pre-exiting customers and how much they ripped them off. Sad part is that most still aren't even aware and just renew anyway.

I was with Chill (Liberty). Renewal came in a 760 or so. Checked chills website, even cheaper as a new customer (again with Liberty, but also cheaper with other companies too)

Decided I'll check Liberty directly (was previously with them, but moved to chill as it was 100 euro cheaper). Quoted 460.

The rule should always be NEVER RENEW. Insurance companies don't want you to know that you are a NEW customer when your getting a new policy, so the new prices should apply, but if 20-30 percent don't bother checking, sure hey, that's more money for them. Same goes for broadband deals. Always get a new deal when your contract expires.

Happy_Harry

Thor wrote: »

The rule should always be NEVER RENEW. ....

Same goes for broadband deals. Always get a new deal when your contract expires.

I don't fully agree.
Shopping around for and actually changing home insurance can be a severe pain in the backside- especially if you have valuable items that require a certified valuation.
New company typically requires new cert and that is a) costly and b) time consuming to get.

Don't get me wrong- I am always shopping around for everything, but I was really happy that Zurich offered me a 3 year quote. I am on my second 3 year deal now and am not looking back at all....
Getting max €100 off (if even) my premium per year is simply not worth the hassle in my mind and would merely cover the valuation fee.
Means I only have to shop around every 3 years and as long as Zurich is somewhat close to 2 or 3 online quotes - I will happily extend for another 3 years...

But yes- on broadband , electricity etc , fully agree ,never renew

Thor

Happy_Harry wrote: »

I don't fully agree.
Shopping around for and actually changing home insurance can be a severe pain in the backside- especially if you have valuable items that require a certified valuation.
New company typically requires new cert and that is a) costly and b) time consuming to get.

Don't get me wrong- I am always shopping around for everything, but I was really happy that Zurich offered me a 3 year quote. I am on my second 3 year deal now and am not looking back at all....
Getting max €100 off (if even) my premium per year is simply not worth the hassle in my mind and would merely cover the valuation fee.
Means I only have to shop around every 3 years and as long as Zurich is somewhat close to 2 or 3 online quotes - I will happily extend for another 3 years...

But yes- on broadband , electricity etc , fully agree ,never renew

Totally agree. The effort can be time consuming, but the benefits mean future cheaper prices overall, your next renewal should also be cheaper.

Depending how long your term is, there is a chance to will require recertification anyway. But obviously not in every case.

My example was more towards car insurance, but same experience with home insurance and any for that matter.

mondeoman72

I am with Zurich for car insurance via chill insurance brokers. Email came in last week, renewal 633 euro comp, encouraging me to do it online.
Rang chill, what can you do with it, AIG is quite keen. 598 pay today. Ok, here is my card number.

sheroman01

30yr old male. I was already with them for car insurance last year. €420 fully comp. I went online again this year and got a new quote of €360! Make sure to add a named driver!

The_Conductor

That sounds like remarkably good value for fully comp (for anyone).
Whats the car?
I'm 47- never been the cause of an accident in my life- and am paying more than this for fully comp insurance.