Insurance scam

[Mr Toad]

Last year when I renewed my insurance, I previously had a commercial policy with eighteen years no claim discount (NCD) but the general insurers would not accept that.

I received a quote and during discussions with them I told them about my previous NCD but as I said they refused to accept it. I asked them to give me an introductory discount but they refused. They informed me that on renewal I would receive a 60% discount. I then received the written quote which confirmed that the NCD was 0, and that I would receive a 60% NCD after the first year. I took out the insurance.

I received an invitation to renew, there are four vehicles involved and the quote for three of them was virtually the same as last year! When I telephoned the insurance company I asked how the premiums had been calculated they refused to give me a base figure but that they simply apply an average to work out the NCD. I told them I was not happy with that as it was incomprehensible and asked to speak to a manager. Later a Team Leader telephoned me and he said that he would reduce the quote by a small amount but I asked why the premiums had not been reduced by 60% he said that on taking out the policies "in the background I was given an 50% introductory NCD", what on earth does that mean! I wrote to the managing director of the insurers who ignored my letter. However, I have since spoken to a manager in the customer services who acknowledged the fact that I had been misled but would not reduce the premiums but on a "without prejudice" basis offered me an insulting £50 as compensation which I immediately rejected. Taking 60% off the original premiums the amount is about £1,500.

Needless to say I will not be renewing with this insurance company and taking action against them, but it seems to me that all the insurance companies are operating a scam like this as my understanding is that to calculate a NCD you take the base premium and then reduce that by the percentage of NCD. Most insurance companies just give you a figure and refuse to provide you with a breakdown so that they can avoid giving you the correct information. This needs to be stopped as in my view this is a scam being operated by the insurance companies.

Have any other members had such an experience?

Martin

[bl52krz]

You hit the nail on the head. Insurance= licence to print money. It is part of the capitalist system that treats people like idiots who know nothing about money systems. And let’s admit, most people don’t. Ask them how their phone works and they can show you magic. Money:- no idea. Just pay the interest on their cards. I have never in over 60 years of driving, accepted the first quote from insurance. Saved a considerable sum over the years. Paid less on my insurance for the last three years. Also my breakdown insurance.

[Gate Keeper]

In December, on the return of my loan car I had to cancel the car insurance UK. Following the cancellation I received a letter from the insurance company guaranteeing 20 years NCB and two thirds of the premiums was calculated and paid back as I had paid for the car insurance in one lump sum in advance. On this occasion I didn’t have any issues.

Tomorrow my 4x4 insurance is due and it’s gone up double on what it was last year even though I have never made a claim. Last year it was £200, tomorrow it will be £400

The insurance companies blame the higher premiums on covering the costs for fraudulent claims.

But it’s not all bad, here in Kenya there is no road tax and no MOT to worry about, so I can’t complain too much.

[wraymond]

Hint, if all that matters is the amount anyone is asked to pay (taken together with your experience with your latest insurer) then try the following:

When renewal notices arrive get two written quotes from competing companies as recommended by that Martin chap on TV. Email them with copies (not just the bald figure) to your current insurer with the message ‘Can you offer similar or better terms to secure my continued custom?’
If they can't, or they don't reply, thank them for their expiring policy. Take a cheaper offer, and drive with extra caution and care.

I spent 25 years of my highly valued working life selling and servicing insurance of all classes (and claims) and only very rarely did I lose a customer. Ah, those were the days.

[Gate Keeper]

Originally Posted by wraymond

Hint, if all that matters is the amount anyone is asked to pay (taken together with your experience with your latest insurer) then try the following:

When renewal notices arrive get two written quotes from competing companies as recommended by that Martin chap on TV. Email them with copies (not just the bald figure) to your current insurer with the message ‘Can you offer similar or better terms to secure my continued custom?’
If they can't, or they don't reply, thank them for their expiring policy. Take a cheaper offer, and drive with extra caution and care.

I spent 25 years of my highly valued working life selling and servicing insurance of all classes (and claims) and only very rarely did I lose a customer. Ah, those were the days.

Hi Ray, hopefully your making great progress and getting out and about.

It’s not only the price paid for the premium but it is also if an insurance claim is paid out or not and how quickly it is settled.

Several years ago whilst on a work trip to Barbados:

I had flown out to Barbados to repatriate a tourist back to the UK. A single man in his 30’s of heavy build who had been taken off a cruise liner having suffered a Schizophrenic mental breakdown.

He had not been admitted into hospital but was put into the same hotel I was staying in. When I met him, it was 30C. He was wearing a heavy overcoat and the A/C in his room was switched off. Poor chap was struggling to care for himself so we agreed I would look after him, we would dine together and I would get him back home to the UK and into hospital for further assessment and treatment.

In the hotel I was staying in, I met a couple, he was a British Bobby and she was an insurance broker. She had lost” a gold charm bracelet whilst swimming in the surf and was confident her insurance claim would not be questioned as it was below the amount needing clarification. They were so proud of being able to beat the system boasting all of this to myself a complete stranger. Were they being naive or did they get another buzz from telling me all of this, who knows.

Did you ever have to deal with fraudulent claims. You must have heard some stories, you probably heard them all

[wraymond]

Thanks for that Phil. I’ve done more miles in the three weeks since my licence was gratefully received than in the six months before being hospitalised. That's 18 months ago now. What finally worked was the welcome intervention of my local MP, who's party I will refrain from mentioning due to to forum rules!

I’ve had a few ambitiously optimistic claims. Amateur ones at that. One in particular comes to mind.

A ‘front room’, or lounge in more salubrious areas.
The claim was for a well-worn carpet with a 2’ circular area right in the middle that was the obvious site of a spilled paint tin, and still wet.

‘It accidently slipped of the top rung’ was the claimant’s Enid Blyton story.

I called within the hour and found the step ladders at the far end of the 17’ long room and a foot wide freshly painted strip of ceiling (from side to side). There were no ladder foot marks anywhere else in the room.

With the lame excuse that a carpet of that size was just above my pay grade, I passed the claim on to our Fire and Accident inspector for review. He eventually persuaded the claimant to withdraw the ‘claim’.

Just one of the many adventures of ‘old septic knuckles’. As I became known. God Bless the 'Man from the Pru'.

[picky747]

Insurance companies state that your premium is based on risk......strange how this "risk" increases the closer it gets to your current expiry date!!

[wraymond]

Motor insurance is entirely based on risk. Oh, and 'market factors'. But there are many 'risks' for an underwriter to take into account! I've even known of a driver having to agree not to carry his St. Bernard dog in the car. Then it's your post code. Then up to a dozen more assumed risks with weird underwriters. The trick word there is 'assumed'. It's called a 'getout' card.

If people had full access to national claim results separated by scope of cover, i.e. 3rd party/3rdPFT/Comp. there would be major shifts at renewal time. However, premium differentials have narrowed somewhat these days.

What price insuring mid-range electric vehicles costing £40,000? That's another factor in the market for quality low mileage older cars. Fortunately, my 21 year old R75 will be, with luck, the last car I will buy.

[SCP440]

Insurance companies are only after as much money they can squeeze out of every customer.
My uncle had been with the same insurance company for years, he had never shopped around as he thought he was being looked after.
When he retired he replaced his car for something newer and was suprised to find the premium was not going up, I asked him how much he was paying bearing in mind he had never made a claim in over 40 years, he lived a village on the edge of the Cotswolds and did about 6K mile a year. with no convictions. His newer car was a 4 year old Astra from a 15 year old Astra. He was paying £1400 a year. I said he should check and this was correct.

I popped into my broker and they quoted him £290 and the best bit was it was the same insurance company. He contacted them again and the exscuse was Brokers get a better deal as they do so much business with them. They offered to reduce his premium by £200. Needles to say he didnt and took out the ''new policy''. He did have a letter of appology and they did offer to renew the following year at ''the brokers rate'' but he declined unless they wanted to return some of the money he had overpaid.
I know High Street Brokers are not always the best but at least you have a person to talk too rather than a voice on the phone.

[wraymond]

A familiar story and, with the advent of technology, we can easily avoid roll up as it is called.

Hint: continued reinsurance with the same company is, in the right circumstances, not necessarily a bad thing. Insurers and brokers manage their business extremely efficiently. All that matters is the bottom line and for them the loss of one or two policies is neither here nor there.

There is neither sense nor virtue in building a sound record of being a walkover in the hope of getting a competitive quote.

With either a company direct or through a broker, try getting 2/3 written quotes about a month before renewal time and ask your current insurer or broker about a week from renewal date if ‘after all this time’ with them they can offer the same or better. If offered even a favourable change, quiz them about any conditions that are different from your current policy.

There is no such thing as loyalty. Tell them you are thinking seriously about going where you can get a better deal. If their quote is not competitive, do us all an eventual favour and go elsewhere.