Date: 29-03-24  Time: 13:15 pm

Author Topic: Insurance... again...  (Read 1963 times)

Dead Eye

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Insurance... again...
« on: 03 September 2014, 11:34:17 am »
I know this topic has been done to death so this is just an informational post...

My renewal is at the end of this month and so my friendly bike insurer (MCE) phoned me up to discuss my renewal. After going through the options and stating about how I'm adding on extra stuff this year (which I am) that it's going to be more expensive bla bla bla, he comes back saying that he is surprised at how cheap it is... at a staggering £479.69 - I just laughed.

He went on to talk about how the winter prices are going up and that every company is some £100-150 more expensive this year and that no one is getting a cheaper renewal. I pointed out that I'd had quotes for £200-£300 for which he claimed that was because the online systems were wrong and that if I tried to purchase I'd be called up with the correct price.

So he did me a favour for a one-time offer of £354.69 for this years cover... after contemplating my options I decided to give it a miss, much to his disappointment (this call lasted like half an hour of him rambling about how the prices are more expensive this year etc).

I immediately proceeded to GoCompare, got my quote as usual and oh look, £215.38 - that's more like it and about the price I was expecting to pay... quote offered by, guess who? MCE...

I proceeded to the site whereby I purchased my insurance without any trouble and no phone call to tell me the price was incorrect.


So, ladies and gentlemen, ignore the bastard tele-sales people and don't be convinced that you are getting the "absolute best deal possible" when on the phone. I'll admit that my phone quote included Protected No-Claims and Free Trackday cover (with an excess of half the bikes worth mind!) but that doesn't warrant an additional 50% premium imo.

TL;DR
Tele-sales people are slimey bastards that want your money. Don't fool for it - check online for yourself before committing to anything over the phone.

Yamazer-92

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Re: Insurance... again...
« Reply #1 on: 03 September 2014, 12:34:07 pm »
I'm with MCE and was quoted something nuts like £170 for a years insurance on my Fazer 600 through gocompare. I thought that was pretty outstanding considering my age, although I do have quite a few years no claims. I phoned them up anyway and he explained that quote was just an absolute base quote with no perks whatsoever. I can't really remember the conversation because it was a few months ago, but I did agree with him that the quote was crap so ended up paying closer to £300 and getting everything thrown in. So legal cover, helmet and leathers, way way less of an excess payment that also had some perk such as I wont pay it if blah blah happens, national breakdown and possibly international. Just a much better quote. I also got free trackday and NCB protection thrown in. I was happy with the quote and have actually had to use them when my bike was knocked over in a car park and they were pretty good tbh and it was all dealt with 3rd party so I didn't have to pay anything and it didn't effect my no claims. I may go for someone else next time though because they always phone you back like 3 or 4 days after to try and con you out of an extra £10 a month for some "optional extras" which are a load of shite to be honest. They're also currently trying to sue some bloke who sold someone his bike, but forgot to cancel his policy on it afterwards, because the guy who bought the bike died on it a few days later and had no insurance. Not really sure how that's fair.

Fazerider

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Re: Insurance... again...
« Reply #2 on: 03 September 2014, 12:46:26 pm »

I went through exactly the same process with my house&contents insurance last night. Privilege were the cheapest offer I found last year, renewal quote was £138... a quick check on MoneySupermarket gave the cheapest quote as £95 from, you guessed it:- Privilege. So I rang them up, cancelled the renewal and started a fresh policy with the exact same details as the old one.
The stupid thing is, if they'd just done the honest thing instead of trying to rip me off they'd have saved themselves from having to hand over a few quid to a price comparison site.
I always make sure to tell insurers not to automatically renew, as soon as you get lazy they'll shamelessly inflate the price at renewal time and help themselves to your money.

BBROWN1664

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Re: Insurance... again...
« Reply #3 on: 03 September 2014, 01:14:28 pm »
:agree

It not only cost them the comparison site fee but also some cost is associated with cancelling and setting up a policy even if the computer does it automatically for them with no human interaction.
Serves them right for being thieving barstewards.
Another ex-Fazer rider that is a foccer again

Dead Eye

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Re: Insurance... again...
« Reply #4 on: 03 September 2014, 05:04:16 pm »
I actually checked what the policy included to see if there was a huge difference and there really wasn't. It was only the protected NCB and the track day cover that were additional on the phone, to which the guy stated that the track day cover was free. I can't see how protected NCB would cost an additional £140~

I still get Breakdown Cover, Helmet and Leathers Cover, 6 Months European Cover and some other stuff as well

Grahamm

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Re: Insurance... again...
« Reply #5 on: 03 September 2014, 06:53:06 pm »
TL;DR
Tele-sales people are slimey bastards that want your money. Don't fool for it - check online for yourself before committing to anything over the phone.

Not just telesales.

As posted elsewhere on here, my premium jumped by over £100 since last year until I phoned up and queried it, at which point is mysteriously dropped to about £10 cheaper than last year...

richfzs

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Re: Insurance... again...
« Reply #6 on: 03 September 2014, 08:16:09 pm »
Renewed my house insurance last week - same place, renewal quote was actually cheaper than last year, and I'm stowed under at the moment, so just went with it.

Got a letter today, thanking me for granting them a continuous payment authority so they can keep on taking payments next year. We had no such conversation, cheeky fuckers. They'll be getting a stroppy letter!

Bastards! (esure)

rustyrider

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Re: Insurance... again...
« Reply #7 on: 03 September 2014, 08:47:12 pm »
Tele-sales people are slimey bastards that want your money.
I think I can go one better and also point out the benefit of being an old git.  I got my renewal through from Swinton.  Last year I paid £99 fully comp but the renewal was for £168 although they could offer me an alternative company (Aviva) at £148.  Better but still a 50% jump from last year so I tried the new MCN compare site.  Best quote, and it wasn't the only one with the same ballpark figure, Saga at £58 (told you there's an advantage to being an old git!).  A couple of days before the insurance was due to expire I get a call from Swinton.  Now at the time I was working up in Glasgow so wasn't going to renew until I got home a few days later.  Told Swinton that their quote wasn't competitive and told him I'd been quoted £58.  He then says he'd see what he could do and proceeds to check the details.  A simple, nothing has changed would have sufficed but he insisted on checking every single detail of me and the bike.  At the end of it he comes up with £95 so I point out that I've been quoted £58 so why would I want to pay £95?  He'd speak to his manager and see what he can do.  Comes back and says that they can do it for £74, would I like to go ahead and pay it now?  "Why?" says I, "I've told you I've been quoted £58, you've kept me on the phone for the best part of half an hour and then expect me to pay over 20 quid more.  Do you think I'm stupid?"

Went with Saga but had to phone them as there was nowhere to put mods on the site but even with a bellypan, heated grips, Scottoiler, hugger and non-standard can, it still only cost me £61.

Doddsie

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Re: Insurance... again...
« Reply #8 on: 03 September 2014, 08:55:57 pm »
Why do we have to pay extra for legal cover..... Isnt that what Im paying insurance for in the first place???? You hit me, your insurance sorts it out, I hit you, my insurance sorts it out. What happens if I have an accident without it???

Dead Eye

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Re: Insurance... again...
« Reply #9 on: 03 September 2014, 09:33:41 pm »
I had exactly the same experience rustyrider - he seemed to think £200-300 quotes meant I would jump at the £350~ mark... I pointed out several times that I'd had -low- £200 mark quotes. In the end I think he gave up as I just wasn't biting, still a while on the phone, but thankfully I wasn't particularly busy

Arfa

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Re: Insurance... again...
« Reply #10 on: 04 September 2014, 04:09:40 pm »
Just renewed my policy. Currently with RAC/Devitt and underwritten by Equity Red Star, renewal was £307. Just did price comparison, top quote was £133, with H&R Insurance, all details identical and get this, also underwritten by Equity Red Star... Go figure!

Moral of the story, always throw the renewal quote in the bin, it is only aimed at lazy and gulable people and will always be about double what you ought to be paying.

darrsi

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Re: Insurance... again...
« Reply #11 on: 04 September 2014, 04:40:56 pm »
Renewed my house insurance last week - same place, renewal quote was actually cheaper than last year, and I'm stowed under at the moment, so just went with it.

Got a letter today, thanking me for granting them a continuous payment authority so they can keep on taking payments next year. We had no such conversation, cheeky fuckers. They'll be getting a stroppy letter!

Bastards! (esure)


"Calm down dear."  :lol
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Dead Eye

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Re: Insurance... again...
« Reply #12 on: 04 September 2014, 05:24:14 pm »
Underwriting can get quite confusing as often companies will underwrite several providers who target completely different parts of the market with various different products. It gets confusing as hell...

It's also confusing as one company may offer various "products" through different "channels" which have different pricing and cover limits / allowances etc

For example, one of the providers I work for (travel insurance) offers 14 different products across 5 different channels but its all still sold and underwritten by the same companies. To make matters more confusing, there's a further 9 products offered among 3 different providers by the same company, but underwritten by someone else...

God damn insurance.

richfzs

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Re: Insurance... again...
« Reply #13 on: 04 September 2014, 05:58:41 pm »

"Calm down dear."  :lol


I refuse to be patronised by a dead, crap, film director  :lol