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Why so much price variation ?


Observer II

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Car insurance quotes -  every year my car insurance increased by around £100, so i took to arguing the toss and got a miraculous reduction; then I tried a comparison site and found a huge variation between insurers for an identical policy - so what's going on ?    The same thing seems to be happening with insurance generally and with the utilities; even worse is the fact that loyalty to one company means nothing, as sticking with one provider means paying more .

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It's called "a market". If everyone charged the same then you would be paying the highest rate that anyone would pay. In the energy market you find new providers coming along who charge a lower rate. If they can survive making less profit than their competitors then they will. If they can't survive making less profit than their competitors then they go bust and their ex-customers get taken on by their competitors - at a higher rate of course.

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i switched my car insurance company two years ago after being with hem for about twenty odd years with various vehicles.

previous years car insurance £430. ( due to a claim some years prior to that).

That years car insurance £2400. i called them up and asked why it had suddenly jumped to the thousands. Their reason was that the car i have is french and so parts are more expensive. i laughed and said something on the lines of that was the best joke i have heard all year. i then enquired why it was so low last year and the previous years seeing as it was the same car. they just said all the insurers they had tried had decided that was the price. (and at that it was the cheapest they could get)

i tracked down one that my brother uses, cost £340 which was cheaper than the last years quote and way cheaper than the joke of a quote i had received.

i did try online quotes and had one from tesco at £220. However when  i explained that the car i had was being driven on a motorcycle licence they did not want to know, despite them being touted on the importers website as an insurer and stating that the car can be driven on a full motorcycle licence.

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I expected such a reply Asp;  but IF the cheapest price is a viable and fair quote for the same product; I think it fair to assume that the more expensive quotes are merely profiteering.  Fine if your of the digital generation and can shop around and sort it all out on a key board, but many of the analogue generation don't have the access to or the knowledge to use a computer. 

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2 hours ago, Observer II said:

, but many of the analogue generation don't have the access to or the knowledge to use a computer. 

If they can’t use a computer you have to question whether they are fit to drive.

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24 minutes ago, Confused52 said:

Why?

Because it’s not that difficult to use a computer, any muppet can manage it, as your question proves.  Driving a motor car safely on the road is far more complicated and dangerous to the old duffers let alone other drivers.

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3 hours ago, Observer II said:

I expected such a reply Asp;  but IF the cheapest price is a viable and fair quote for the same product; I think it fair to assume that the more expensive quotes are merely profiteering.  Fine if your of the digital generation and can shop around and sort it all out on a key board, but many of the analogue generation don't have the access to or the knowledge to use a computer. 

Where does "fairness" come into the equation? It's a market place and, as such, the insurance companies are after a profit. They can do that by selling a lot of policies for a small profit or a few for a large profit. If they are selling a few for a large profit by targetting people who are too lazy to shop around then that's what they will do.

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I have kept following the cheapest quotes over the last few years & changing accordingly & ,ironically ,it is sometimes cheaper to get fully comp than  third party f&t. I don't know whether it is a spin off of cheaper quotes but your policy will not always cover "any vehicle" just any car so if you borrow your mate's van you won't be insured.

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My policies have hardly changed over the past 5 years so I've tended to stay with the same company rather than do the shopping around business. This years fully comp premium on my 2.2 Alfa Brera (Italian with bloody expensive parts) was only £331 with LV 💚 which I think is pretty amazing. Last year I splashed out and got a 4.7 V8 Maserati GranTurisimo as a retirement treat. LV wouldn't cover it so anyone care to hazard a guess the premium on that one? :shock:

Bill :)

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Its become a game.    I use an agency to handle all of my insurance.  Every couple of years the current company skyrockets its rate and the agency shops around and finds another one, so I usually end up with the same rate but a different company. 

Here's something to think about.  According to the Prof in my economics class, insurance rates vary from company to company depending on how successful each company was in the investment market.  Apparently they make the majority of their money from investing your premiums and reaping the rewards, if they do good their rates stay the same, but if they take a beating, they increase their rates to cover the shortfall.

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10 hours ago, Davy51 said:

I have kept following the cheapest quotes over the last few years & changing accordingly & ,ironically ,it is sometimes cheaper to get fully comp than  third party f&t. I don't know whether it is a spin off of cheaper quotes but your policy will not always cover "any vehicle" just any car so if you borrow your mate's van you won't be insured.

I think this is normal now Davy, I think they're trying to encourage fully comp on all policies. Probably easier/more profitable for them in the long term.

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25 minutes ago, asperity said:

I think this is normal now Davy, I think they're trying to encourage fully comp on all policies. Probably easier/more profitable for them in the long term.

Might that be because the Third party element dominates the cost and is as high as the comp given the way no claims discount deters own cost claims.

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Presumably Insurance Companies base their risk assessment on accurate data;  which is why younger drivers pay more.  Believe HMG is now talking about stopping youngsters driving at night - which is quite scary, as if they're not considered safe at night they can't be considered safe to drive at all;  and perhaps they should include M/Way experience too ?

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 7/20/2019 at 10:19 AM, Bill said:

My policies have hardly changed over the past 5 years so I've tended to stay with the same company rather than do the shopping around business. This years fully comp premium on my 2.2 Alfa Brera (Italian with bloody expensive parts) was only £331 with LV 💚 which I think is pretty amazing. Last year I splashed out and got a 4.7 V8 Maserati GranTurisimo as a retirement treat. LV wouldn't cover it so anyone care to hazard a guess the premium on that one? :shock:

Bill :)

£500?

 

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On 7/19/2019 at 2:59 PM, asperity said:

It's called "a market". If everyone charged the same then you would be paying the highest rate that anyone would pay. In the energy market you find new providers coming along who charge a lower rate. If they can survive making less profit than their competitors then they will. If they can't survive making less profit than their competitors then they go bust and their ex-customers get taken on by their competitors - at a higher rate of course.

Yet they all seem to have the same rules.

A few years ago my annul travel insurance went up a lot, I asked why they told me it was because of a pre existing medical condition. So I told them I go someplace else but everyone else also put their premiums up for the condition I had.

Wanted to take my elderly mother abroad on holiday, two weeks in Italy insurance £1800! I pointed out I we were  going to Italy not the USA but they told by they are 5 star defecto (or something) insurance with billions of pounds of medical cover and they had to offer it, which is totally unnecessary for the EU 

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On 8/4/2019 at 9:02 AM, asperity said:

If you're travelling in the EU you only need a European Health Insurance Card which will give you medical treatment in EU countries, the cost being covered by the NHS.

It provides you with the same health care as available in the visiting country, the UK won't refund for medicines should you have to pay (they used to), translators or accommodation and missed flights, which is fine

Neither is transport back to the UK by air ambulance, that can cost £20000 from Spain I believe which is stopping us from traveling. 

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So, if the cost of an air ambulance is £20,000 why do you think the insurance companies want to charge a high premium? It's a business not a charity, so they aren't going to put themselves in a loss making situation are they? Unlike the NHS 😉.

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I don't know asperity.! An air ambulance cost the same whether you 10 or 100 years old. My insurance is now £40 per year which covers winter sports cover and high blood pressure. 

I am aware my mother has some pre existing conditions and is older then me, but I am not that young either. She does not go riding motorbikes, diving or go skiing or get drunk, for the record I don't get drunk. 

The hike in cover is 4400%, is mum 4400 greater risk then someone who goes on holiday skiing or cycling or horse riding? 

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