NickS Posted January 25, 2014 Report Share Posted January 25, 2014 The insurance for mine and my wife's cars came up for renewal recently. We have been with Direct Line for years and it is several years since I checked their premium against other companies, allowing the policies to auto-renew. BIG MISTAKE! This year, I did a trawl through a couple of the price comparison websites and got a bit of a shock..... DL wanted close to £1200 for the two cars but ended up paying less than £400 with Admiral and with lower excesses. Lesson learned. What did hack me off was when I called DL to say that I wasn't renewing, they immediately knocked about 15% off - so much for looking after their loyal customers. Nick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDog Posted January 25, 2014 Report Share Posted January 25, 2014 It's not only DL but all of the other insurance companies do the same. The letter I always take offence at says..........'your insurance will automatically be renewed on......'. I make a point of calling them to cancel at that point and I then negotiate a reduction in the proposed cost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TIGHTCHOKE Posted January 25, 2014 Report Share Posted January 25, 2014 A timely reminder for everyone! By the way the instant 15% discount is relatively standard across the business. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mossy835 Posted January 25, 2014 Report Share Posted January 25, 2014 it pays to shop around,mine this year is a 1/4 going with another company. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88b Posted January 25, 2014 Report Share Posted January 25, 2014 Until last year I had my little run around insured with e sure , every year the price went up . I'd go to the comparison sites and e sure was the cheapest, usually about £80 les than the renewal. The first year you get an introductory bonus, so on the second year you lose that straight away and it can be up to 30%. I gave up on e sure last year after they insisted I send them their proof of no claims by registered mail even though the woman on the phone knew it was from them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shootgun Posted January 25, 2014 Report Share Posted January 25, 2014 I'm with cooperative insurance for 6 years now, and every renewal premium is higher than the one before.... i'm shopping around and call them, and everytime they've matched the lowest quote i've got online... this way i don't have to change the insurance company every year Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ferretfiddler Posted January 25, 2014 Report Share Posted January 25, 2014 I had the same with house & contents with swinton, again I had all my policy's with them, car etc. got my renewal quote, contacted them & they offered £80 cash back after 90 days. So I went with them again. Checked online & found I could get the same policy with the actual ins. Company direct at £280 p/a cheaper, called swinton & they gave me another £200 cash back. Couldn't be bothered cancelling & starting again, but made sure swinton knew I wasn't happy. Defoe going to change this year no matter how much cash back, I only use cash back as a means of saving money without the screaming skull finding out, but not this time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THE AD Posted January 25, 2014 Report Share Posted January 25, 2014 And guess what Admiral are part of Direct Line group.I did exact same thing a few years back,always use the compare sites now i saved £400 this year for my van insurance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mel b3 Posted January 25, 2014 Report Share Posted January 25, 2014 ive always been lazy when it comes to insurance and electric/gas suppliers until quite recently , after much prompting from the good lady ive started looking around , i didnt realise that i was paying £1,000 per year home insurance with lloyds tsb (apparently ive been paying this much for years), after a hissy fit on my part , theyve cut it to £300 per year with £30 cash back as an apology(not much of an apology considering how much ive given them). ive had my car insurance with direct line for years , theyve always seemed cheap until i did a comparison this week , they wanted £500 but after a few minutes searching on the computer ive got the same level of insurance with a lower excess for just under £300 with a different insurer . it certainly pays to shop around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
four-wheel-drive Posted January 25, 2014 Report Share Posted January 25, 2014 My renewal came the other day with Direct Line with all of the extras they wanted £400 the search engines could not better this until I looked at More Than I ended up paying £250 for the same as D/L wanted mind you having a Jeep running on LPG did not help much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silver pigeon 3 Posted January 25, 2014 Report Share Posted January 25, 2014 Its not just insurance, i switched electricity yesterday and saved over £200! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamster Posted January 25, 2014 Report Share Posted January 25, 2014 I did a price check on-line two weeks ago with 36 companies quoting ranging from £537 to £11760. The people I wanted to go with had quoted £711 so called them and got it down to £659 with the excess at a sensible level and no claims bonus protected. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikk Posted January 25, 2014 Report Share Posted January 25, 2014 Insurance has dropped a lot compared to last year so definitely shop around this time. Mines dropped by £100 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
secretagentmole Posted January 25, 2014 Report Share Posted January 25, 2014 My mother had her Smart car insured with the AA, policy underwritten by AXA, renewal cost this year £426, last year they charged £95 to change over from a Clio to the Smart! Went through a few comparison sites, cheapest company was Swinton, underwritten by AXA, cost £160, including the additional to protect the no claims bonus! How the hell can the AA justify charging over £300 more for insurance from the same company? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruno22rf Posted January 25, 2014 Report Share Posted January 25, 2014 (edited) Sorry NickS but I cannot believe that, in this day and age, anybody would not shop around for insurance of any kind-it takes 10 minutes could save you hundreds (and get you a free Meerkat !!)+ NEVER opt for auto renew-make a point of telling them you do not want it. Edited January 25, 2014 by bruno22rf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickS Posted January 25, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2014 It does seem hard to believe but may have something to with timing (about Christmas time when I am up to my ears in other things) and that the last few times I went through comparing quotes there was little in it. What shocked me was that I ended up paying about a third of what it would have cost me. As I said originally - lesson learnt! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walshie Posted January 25, 2014 Report Share Posted January 25, 2014 When my last renewal came through it was about 50% higher than loads of other companies. I called my company to tell them not to renew as they were too expensive and she asked if she could find me their best possible price. I said no - they should have done that BEFORE sending out the renewal notice, not after. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88b Posted January 25, 2014 Report Share Posted January 25, 2014 The first time I used the comparison sites was for electric and gas, I saved over £1000 a year. The problem is once you do it the first time there are no more big drops. I always use the sites now although home and contents is harder to do, we got three Meerkats last year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
humperdingle Posted January 25, 2014 Report Share Posted January 25, 2014 The insurance for mine and my wife's cars came up for renewal recently. We have been with Direct Line for years and it is several years since I checked their premium against other companies, allowing the policies to auto-renew. BIG MISTAKE! This year, I did a trawl through a couple of the price comparison websites and got a bit of a shock..... DL wanted close to £1200 for the two cars but ended up paying less than £400 with Admiral and with lower excesses. Lesson learned. What did hack me off was when I called DL to say that I wasn't renewing, they immediately knocked about 15% off - so much for looking after their loyal customers. Nick Same here. I've been with Direct Line for years, as has the missus. They lost both our policies this year after we shopped around and got better cover AND saved around 40%. I'll be shopping around every year from now on. Oh, and they lost our home insurance business too, for the same reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HDAV Posted January 25, 2014 Report Share Posted January 25, 2014 Admiral whacked a massive increase on after the "multicar" we had the previous year, back to2 separate insurers, also Admiral count a speed awareness course against you even tho the police don't and insist on all the dates etc. Just like a fixed penalty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davyo Posted January 25, 2014 Report Share Posted January 25, 2014 I have 3 cars and always shop around as I find that ond company that offer a discount will only try and sting you the following year.I have also tried multi car insurance but have yet to find one that is cheaper that insuring all 3 seperatly.After all it only takes 10/15 mins.I get all 3 covered fully comp with only a compulsary exes of £250. 2013 ford focus zetec 1.6 tdci £150 2006 ford fiesta zetec s 1.6 tdci £129 2002 grand vitara 1.6 £179 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fenboy Posted January 25, 2014 Report Share Posted January 25, 2014 To be fair the company I insure with (quote me happy) came in with a renewal price £35 cheaper than I could get from the comparison sites and that is a automatic renewal policy, so they dont all take the P I always shop around each year but have now been with QMH for the last three years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garygreengrass Posted January 25, 2014 Report Share Posted January 25, 2014 Travel insurance is the same, 2 weeks family cover with Thomson £180 got a years family cover travel insurance for £85 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old rooster Posted January 25, 2014 Report Share Posted January 25, 2014 Been doing this for years now on everything that has an annual renewal; house insurance, boat insurance, bike insurance, motorcaravan insurance, car insurance, mobile phone contract etc. by the time you've been rough the lot it is amazing what you can save per year. Annoying thing is that new customers always seem to get a better deal, no loyalty discounts these days unless you threaten to ditch your contract in favour of another provider! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rimotu66 Posted January 25, 2014 Report Share Posted January 25, 2014 I have been with NFU for years and have excepted that they are not the cheapest because there cover and care are second to none, having said that, with things getting tight in the wallet department I will have to shop around this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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