andsome Posted February 18, 2005 Report Share Posted February 18, 2005 Just had the renewal notice for my wifes car insurance from Norwich Union Direct. The quotation is £267.87 including legal expenses. On line at confused.com, I got a quote of £182.50 inclusive, this was through Auto Direct, underwritten by Norwich union. What a fiddle, I can have the same underwriter for £80.37 less. The broker has to buy this policy off Norwich Union and then resell to me at a profit, and can still save me £80.37. It makes me wonder what a true fair price from Norwich Union would actually be. I argued this case out on the telephone with Norwich Union, and they did come down in price a few pounds, but nowhere near to the Auto Direct price. The moral is to use Confused .com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djohn Posted February 18, 2005 Report Share Posted February 18, 2005 Always a good idea to shop around now andsome. I had my home contents with Tesco, never thought of checking with others as it seemed such a good deal anyway.Received my renewal last month and it had gone up a considerable amount even though I've never made any claims. Checked with a few other company's and settled with Direct-Line at two thirds the cost with better cover. :blink: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
don't ask Posted February 18, 2005 Report Share Posted February 18, 2005 We have just done mother-in-law's Home Insurance renewal (MBNA scheme) - over the phone they said it would be £257 - when the papers came (late) they said £207.I am probably confused enough without confused.com :wacko: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deuces wild Posted February 18, 2005 Report Share Posted February 18, 2005 One can never say that X Insurance Company will always offer lower rates for you. While the rate offered to you may be lower than brand Y Insurance Company, it could possibly be much higher for Mary, age 35 who lives in the city.Insurance is a competitive market. This goes for all types of insurance. As DJohns said. you have to get quotes every year to make sure you are gettting the best rates possible.And I would not group all insurance companies in the same basket and brand them shysters. If you don't like the rates move to another company. It is a business after all, and a business much more regulated than other types of business. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted February 18, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2005 One can never say that X Insurance Company will always offer lower rates for you. While the rate offered to you may be lower than brand Y Insurance Company, it could possibly be much higher for Mary, age 35 who lives in the city.Insurance is a competitive market. This goes for all types of insurance. As DJohns said. you have to get quotes every year to make sure you are gettting the best rates possible.And I would not group all insurance companies in the same basket and brand them shysters. If you don't like the rates move to another company. It is a business after all, and a business much more regulated than other types of business.I just don't like the fact that when I complained I was offered a lower rate. I had a similar argument in the past with Norwich Union when we had only one car. I asked why there had been such a massive increase over the previous year. I was told that my previous quote had been lower because it was for new business. I asked the operative to quote me as new business, and he said that this was NOT possible because I was an existing customer. I insured elsewhere that year, and the following Year Norwich Union quoted me a lower premium, no doubt because I had now become new business again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Radfordin Posted February 18, 2005 Report Share Posted February 18, 2005 The best example of this kind of madness for me goes back a couple of years. I rang endless 0800 numbers to get quotes (was a student in those days!!) and got one quote from Company X. Rang a few more numbers and then rang a final number. It was a different advert to company X with a different name/number but I ended up speaking to exactly the same sales person in what must have been a huge call centre. The two quotes given were different! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artist Posted February 18, 2005 Report Share Posted February 18, 2005 I always do an on line comparison for the cars and the house - Varies a lot!Gone are the days when we stick with the same company year after year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparks Posted February 18, 2005 Report Share Posted February 18, 2005 I just don't like the fact that when I complained I was offered a lower rate. I had a similar argument in the past with Norwich Union when we had only one car. I asked why there had been such a massive increase over the previous year. I was told that my previous quote had been lower because it was for new business. I asked the operative to quote me as new business, and he said that this was NOT possible because I was an existing customer. I insured elsewhere that year, and the following Year Norwich Union quoted me a lower premium, no doubt because i had now become new business again.Recently insured car with Norwich Union via Confused.com, but if price rises next year because I won't be a new customer, then I intend to same as you andsome.Give them a miss for a year and try again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted February 18, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2005 My own car is also insured with Norwich Union, this time the broker is Peoples Choice. The whole thing is a mine field. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gandalph Posted February 18, 2005 Report Share Posted February 18, 2005 Never liked Norwich Union. When I had my business running I had one of my new trucks stolen and burnt out. The truck was only three months old and had cost me £22,000. Norwich Union offered me £13,000 in settlement to which I told them what they could do with their offer. I held out for over a year and ended up with £19,000 settlement from them. I have never used them from that day on and would never use them again. If they were trying to tell me that a brand new truck, three months old had devalued by that amount, they should join a Circus. :angry: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rong Posted February 18, 2005 Report Share Posted February 18, 2005 just a thought, are all the extras the same Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarecrow Man Posted February 18, 2005 Report Share Posted February 18, 2005 Car insurance companies are shystersIt's in thier blood. :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted February 18, 2005 Report Share Posted February 18, 2005 My Sister works for one of the big Insurance companys and the best bit of advice she ever gave me was, change company every year, this way you always get the New Customer Discount, which can be as much as 25% less.Tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranger Posted February 18, 2005 Report Share Posted February 18, 2005 I had to claim for a stolen car, my insurance company was CIS, after what I heard about insurance companies trying to wangle out of paying out and offering way below cost I was fearing the worst, so I was pleasantly surprised when they dealt with my claim quickly, swiftly and only a couple of hundred difference in what I had paid and what they offered, considering I had had the car for 5 months a couple of hundred pounds difference was buttons Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted February 19, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2005 I had to claim for a stolen car, my insurance company was CIS, after what I heard about insurance companies trying to wangle out of paying out and offering way below cost I was fearing the worst, so I was pleasantly surprised when they dealt with my claim quickly, swiftly and only a couple of hundred difference in what I had paid and what they offered, considering I had had the car for 5 months a couple of hundred pounds difference was buttonsNice to get a good report. I used to be with CIS, but as with all the other companies, after a couple of years, the premium went through the roof. I strongly recommend everyone to log on to confusion.com on my link. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pilch Posted February 23, 2005 Report Share Posted February 23, 2005 tis a good little link...Norwich union quoted my mum close to £300, just confused it and got £182 or there abouts!She did try getting me on the insurance... but a 20 year old been driving for 3 year's, adds on close to £400 for a little 1.2 corsa!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bvw Posted February 23, 2005 Report Share Posted February 23, 2005 tis a good little link...Norwich union quoted my mum close to £300, just confused it and got £182 or there abouts!She did try getting me on the insurance... but a 20 year old been driving for 3 year's, adds on close to £400 for a little 1.2 corsa!!So there are benefits to being an old git then :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted February 23, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2005 tis a good little link...Norwich union quoted my mum close to £300, just confused it and got £182 or there abouts!She did try getting me on the insurance... but a 20 year old been driving for 3 year's, adds on close to £400 for a little 1.2 corsa!!So there are benefits to being an old git then :DCan't beat it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lester1 Posted February 23, 2005 Report Share Posted February 23, 2005 I always get competitive quotes when my car insurance is due for renewal. However my current insurers have proved to be the lowest for the past 2 years. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted February 24, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 24, 2005 I always get competitive quotes when my car insurance is due for renewal. However my current insurers have proved to be the lowest for the past 2 years. :DI have found over the years that two years is about the most you can expect. When you have a false sense of security, WHAM, up shoots the price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lester1 Posted February 24, 2005 Report Share Posted February 24, 2005 No worriesthe mailers from the competition come in each anniversary :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted February 25, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2005 No worriesthe mailers from the competition come in each anniversary :DTry confused.com , you may get a surprise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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