That times come again. You know, when your insurance renewal has just come in the post and even though you now have another years no claims bonus they still have the cheek to raise your insurance premium by a few hundred quid. If this wasn't offensive enough they even add a little flyer mixed in with your quote saying "Simply do nothing" "Renewing couldn't be easier". Yeah OK, I'll do nothing, let the cooling off period run out, and let you rob me for another year. So off I went in search of a cheaper renewal price. Every quote I completed where I went direct to the insurance company's website like Direct Line, Aviva, and Churchill they all came back with prices that were so high it made me laugh. I thought these companies said if you go direct to them you can save money!
So the only place left was the comparison websites. I generally use confused.com if I want to check new insurance quotes but this time I thought I'd try the other two comparison websites, Compare the market and Go Compare. Sadly, all three comparison websites return the exact same results..All after one thing and one thing only, the commission for making a sale in the form of you signing up for insurance through them. So after seeing that they just use the same results I stuck with Confused.
Some of the quotes that came back for me seemed a little too good to be true. ASDA came back as the cheapest for every quote. And I was very close to changing my insurance over to them but my instincts told me to do a little research first. But when you are desperate, and your dazzled by the cheap price, it's easy to just change insurers without checking them out first. I'm relieved that I did. I did email ASDA about my quote but have not yet received a reply (A week down the line).
If you are anything like me and you go and read the customer reviews on car insurance companies before committing to buy car insurance the chances are that you have been left as confused as me. Throughout all my research I did not come across one insurance company, offering a decent quote, that had a good rating. All of them had very bad reviews. In fact, the reviews weren't just bad they were absolutely terrible. And you guessed it, ASDA was the worst I came across.
Closely followed by Igo4, Zenith, and Swinton. Some of the reviews from customers were frightening! I won't mention specific company names but issues like, The insurance company cancelled a policy holders insurance for no reason, without informing them, and it resulted in the person being pulled over by the Police and arrested for having no insurance. Resulting in their car being seized and they are now awaiting a court appearance! This was not a one off that I read either, it was written by more than five separate reviewers.
Issues when changing insurers
Other problems that were consistent in my research were insurance companies asking for proof of drivers license and no claims bonus and then claiming they had never received the documentation, even though on many occasions the documents were sent by recorded delivery. Another problem that stuck out was insurance company's going back on their agreement after the policy holder had took the plunge and bought the premium, resulting in void insurance.
This only means one thing for the policy holder, as do most of the issues talked about here - Fees - Extra Charges! Upon reading the small print of some the insurance company's it's shocking to see some of the fee's and charges they demand for little changes to a policy. Cancelling a policy for no reason seems to be another problem high on the reviewers list. This of course results in the policy holder having to pay even more charges.
Better the devil you know
One word of advice: Always read the small print of any insurance company you are thinking of joining. The quote may seem low and attractive but there is a reason why it is so low. The Terms Of Services that I read for various companies were hiding some hefty charges. So in the end your not actually getting the cheap insurance you thought you were. It's like these insurance company's just make up whatever charges they think are right. The car insurance industry as a whole needs to have tighter regulations in place. As it stands right now, car insurance is a real rip-off. And I can't help but think that the insurance industry must be laughing their socks off at just how good they have got it. They are raking in some serious money.
No wonder some company's that previously had nothing at all to do with car insurance are using their brand names as a front for real car insurance company's that want to use a highly regarded company name as a disguise. Credit where it's due, It's a great tactic. But it's very misleading. And when you find out the truth it makes the companies in question look a bit sinister.
Going on all the reviews I have read on various review websites, they are all just as bad as each other. Is it worth changing insurers and risk encountering these sorts of problems to save a few quid. It seems like more trouble than it's worth. I know my current insurers might be asking a higher premium but at least I don't get any hassle from them. I pay my money and I'm left alone. Saying that, I haven't really needed to contact my insurance company for anything, and you usually only find out how good a company is when you have a problem.
And to be honest, Bell (Part of the Admiral Group), the insurance company I have been with for 7 years, had terrible reviews also. However, I have to be honest and say that I have never really had a problem with them. Rather than risking going with another company, and encountering some of these costly problems I think it might be worth giving Bell a ring and seeing if they can sort out the price a little. Hopefully loyalty still means something in this day and age. After reading all the reviews and being scared to change insurers, I think it's better the devil you know rather than the one you don't.
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