Not to mention all the common factors like car modifications, type of cover (Third party, Comprehensive etc), age and car power. Fair enough, some of these should be relevant, such as power of the car, age, and type of cover. But, if you look at all the criteria they now use, it's clear to see they are taking it a bit too far. It's being milked ridiculously beyond belief.
Are you aware of the fact that if your car gets crashed into while parked, without you or anyone else even being in the car, most car insurance companies seem to be of the belief (how convenient) that it was somehow your fault, and as a result, be prepared for a sky-high premium the following year when its time to renew. This is common knowledge to all the Insurance companies as they generally follow the same cash-grabbing criteria throughout the industry.
That exact scenario actually happened to me. My car was crashed into while parked on a residential street. No one, including myself, was in the car at the time and the car was perfectly parked. But still they tried to blame me. Saying "Oh, it must be a risky location to park in". Truth is, it isn't at all. And bear in mind that the driver who crashed into my car claimed full responsibility, admitting it was totally their fault.
Around comes the next renewal date and surprise surprise, it's through the roof. Even though I had another one years no claims bonus to add to the 10 years that I had already built up. So I call up my insurance company, I won't say who I'm with but they are part of the Admiral Group. I tell them the situation and stress the fact that I've been a customer with them for ten years, and if something isn't done about the price of my premium I will be leaving them straight away.
I also go into detail about why my insurance has gone up in the first place. The only "Incident" was the crash into my empty parked car, nothing else was different from the previous year other than an additional one years no claims bonus that needed to be added. Which should have made my insurance cheaper, not more expensive. Perhaps my loyalty paid off on this occasion because the representatives tells me they will have to go and speak with their "manager" (negotiator more like) to see if anything can be done.
After a while the representative comes back and says they are willing to keep the price exactly the same as it was the previous year. I accepted this offer as I did not want to have to look around to find a new insurer, because no matter who you go with, you never truly know how good they are until there's a problem. By the time you get to the stage of potentially finding out the contract is already in force.
And, to be honest, I think they're as all just as bad as each other in terms of pushing the price up at any opportunity they get, due to the fact that they all follow the same industry standard protocol. Some offer different features and perks to sweeten the deal, but ultimately, if they don't get you're money one way, they get it another way. Such as, down the line if you or another party makes a claim. And that's the case whether you are at fault or not. Customer service is another story altogether, and I can safely say they are not all the same in that regard.
This post wasn't meant to be so long. The reason for this post was that I recently discovered a new angle that the insurance companies are now using. I'm not totally sure if this is new, but it's new to me. Now, even if you downgrade your car to one that has a smaller engine and sits in a lower insurance group than your previous car, insurance companies can still charge you more money, especially for the first year of ownership. Guess why.. Because you are new to the car and don't know it too well yet! I kid you not.
That's how ridiculous it has become. When I recently bought a new (used) car and needed to get it insured so I could legally drive it home, that is exactly what my insurer told me over the phone. When I asked why it was so much money, even though my new car was in a lower insurance group to my last one and has a smaller engine, I was told, "the car is new to you, so you're not familiar with it yet".
This is just another new, ridiculous excuse so they can justify raising the price yet again. It seems like they just make up new money-grabs as they go along, even with a car downgrade. It's a known fact that their profits are astronomical, and it's not hard to see why. I wonder what they'll come up with in 2018. I don't even want to think about it. The whole industry needs a shake up. Do you know any new money-grabs car insurers are using that are beyond belief? Leave a comment below.
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