Home Renewal time - home and motor

Hi All

Every year, my home and car comes to renewal and every year it seems there's a c. 25% increase in the quoted renewal premium. Invariably, after a bit of haggling - hey presto the premium reverts pretty much to that of the previous year. For the avoidance of doubt, this was a systemic year on year approach - not as a result of say, particularly bad claims experience for the insurer in a given year, etc.

I got fed up with this modus operandi with my previous insurer - OneDirect - so I went with a broker last year - JLT. Very disappontingly, the circus seems to have continued with them.

It seems that the broker and insurance companies are happy to profit on the inertia of clients rather than genuinely reward customer loyalty?

And so to my questions -
1. Are there any insurers who don't have this "approach" to renewal quotes?
2. Any sense of who is best to contact for home / motor quotes at this time?

Thanks!

1. No
2. All of them.

In fairness its not the fault of brokers. Inertia doesn't make explaining higher prices any easier! We can only shop around with the companies we deal with. And then have a limited scope of discount to apply to insurance premiums. Particularly with household prices this year, I've seen up to 50% increases but the norm seems to be around 30%. Insurers own competitiveness had driven down the prices in the last few years and the two bad winters in recent time hasn't helped the amount paid out for claims. Also in recessionary times people start to claim a little more for the smaller things. So in the cyclical nature of insurance things start to go back up.

So shop every and make sure you've correctly assessed your sums insured.

Make sure your cover is like for like too. A lot of online quick quotes give you a price for the basic cover and then charge to add on the extras.

That said if you have extras you don't need such as unspecifed all risks cover, lose it! Take a higher excess of €500.

peteb said:

Make sure your cover is like for like too. A lot of online quick quotes give you a price for the basic cover and then charge to add on the extras.

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Good point. Insurers try and make this as hazy as possible - so there's a little extra effort in ensuring that a like for like comparison is being made. Always make sure that all of them base their quotes on the same 'excess' amount.

jump through the same hoops every year, assuming its something to do with a "new business" discount or the likes, I always do quick call 2 check on line with the cheapest insurers then go back and get my orginal insurer to readjust, bit tedious and certainly shows the no claims bonus to be a farce

Every year I spend a couple of hours shopping around (mostly online) for home insurance quotes and haggling to get the best deal (for the appropriate level of cover for my specific needs). Not the most interesting task that I face each year but neither is it the most onerous.

Thanks potnoodler and ClubMan - I think you get my original points!

Peteb - sorry for being so blunt but I don't think you get my points?!!

1. I know that I will end up getting better rates than quoted and recommended by my broker - so how you can justify (as in "in fairness its not the fault of brokers") an amateur getting a better deal that the so called professional is strange; and

2. I had anticipated the clouding of the issue with the "bad weather" argument (if you excuse the awful pun!) in my original post when I said...."For the avoidance of doubt, this was a systemic year on year approach - not as a result of say, particularly bad claims experience for the insurer in a given year, etc."

Bottom line - if I was a regular contributor - I'd be posting this in "letting off steam". As I am not a regular contributor and not blessed with ClubMan's more philosophical approach to things ("Not the most interesting task that I face each year but neither is it the most onerous") - it seems I'm obliged to "jump through the same hoops every year" as potnoodler so succinctly put it?!

As I mentioned recently in another thread my 123.ie home insurance cost €270 last year. Renewal quote for this year was €400. They then automatically discounted this to €370. I called them and haggled a bit (and also upped the excess from €250 to €1K but otherwise left the cover unchanged - probably slightly overinsured on reinstatement cost...) and got it for €280. I checked elsewhere but got no quotes even near that for similar cover.

elacsaplau said:

Peteb - sorry for being so blunt but I don't think you get my points?!!

1. I know that I will end up getting better rates than quoted and recommended by my broker - so how you can justify (as in "in fairness its not the fault of brokers") an amateur getting a better deal that the so called professional is strange; and

2. I had anticipated the clouding of the issue with the "bad weather" argument (if you excuse the awful pun!) in my original post when I said...."For the avoidance of doubt, this was a systemic year on year approach - not as a result of say, particularly bad claims experience for the insurer in a given year, etc."

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I do. But i don't think you fully understand what exactly the role of a broker is. It isn't just to shop around your insurance each year.

1. When it comes to do in some cases you will get a cheaper quote from direct insurers as they are in control of their own prices. A broker also gives advice and acts on your behalf, handling claims etc. If you don't feel you need the advice of a broker then just go to the likes of 123.ie. But they won't try to find loopholes in their own wording when a claim happens. You'll come back then looking for advice as to how to deal with the matter.

Your broker can't exactly recommend a price with Quinn Direct he doesn't have. Brokers work for you. Not insurers.

2. Rates go up because people make more claims and more premium is required. It's a basic principle of insurance. The operating of a common pool where everbody equitably pays in. So its not a ficticious issue.

Is it also because insurers want to make money and they probably have lost out on investment income? Of course it is. Lets be honest, people operate a business to make a profit, not for the sake of providing you with a product.

So the bottom line is shop around. If you feel you don't need the advice of a broker the go direct. You will never find one person that guarantee you they have the cheapest price available on the open market. As I said a broker can only offer you the cheapest price they have available to them.

Peteb

I disagree with you but I'll be better rewarded spending my time on the annual circus rather than engaging in an argument with you. Let's agree to differ.

well if you disagree buddy, go direct!