Motor Liberty Car Insurance - Premium increase.

Tintagel

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Last year I moved to Liberty Insurance for my car. I was offered full comprehensive for €240. This year their renewal quote is over €300. Percentage wise a big increase. Have car insurance premiums increased over the last year or was Liberty just trying to get me on their books last year and I am now going to be paying for moving to them?
 
I'd imagine it's very very rare to have a renewal that's competitive. Insurance companies prey on customer inertia.
 
Insurance companies like banks and service providers thrive on customer inertia. Shop around - if you get better offers got back to Liberty to request they match/do better than the alternative quote. PS: cross check benefits as well, you need to compare like with like.
 
I got my renewal in early June 2015 from Liberty for Taxi insurance. It was increased by 46 % for the coming year. I have zero penalty points and have only ever got 1 windscreen replacement in 8 years with Liberty / Quinn. I called them, but I got no reduction.
Today, 25 June I have read that there will be 270 redundancies in Liberty's Irish operation. I think there has been a major change in their business plan and the number crunchers have decided that less salaries plus higher premiums plus less customers is more profitable.
I called today and cancelled my house insurance policy 4 months early. They said they will send me a cheque for EUR69.
My new house insurance is about the same with a different company and my taxi insurance is 11% more than last year.
 
Liberty Insurance in Ireland is related to the U.S.A. insurer Liberty Mutual. They bought Quinn Insurance a few years ago and have now decided that they are a big fish in a small pond, and so they raise premiums and cut staff numbers.
My question is : Why can I not get motor or house insurance from E.U. insurance companies ? We are E.U. and Eurozone. What is blocking this ?
 
Re: Liberty... they are exiting the UK motor insurance market which was serviced by Irish staff. If anything, this could help to make them more competitive in the Irish market if they are not carrying a loss making sector. Assuming they use the savings for premiums and not profits though...

David Cameron is actually pushing for a common EU services market as one of his negotiating points with the EU.
 
Maybe my renewal has come up at the wrong time !
Perhaps they are exiting U.K. because it's more competitive than Ireland. They maybe just want to fleece us because we are stuck in this small market. It sounds to me that they see that the Irish pay more for everything else, and they want to be part of that game.
I always remember a Hungarian real estate agent who admitted that his properties for sale had three prices : Hungarian price, Foreigner price and Irish price.
I got that smell from Liberty Insurance today. And they will send me a cheque for EUR69 !
Thanks for the information (odyssey) about David Cameron.
 
Liberty Insurance in Ireland is related to the U.S.A. insurer Liberty Mutual. They bought Quinn Insurance a few years ago and have now decided that they are a big fish in a small pond, and so they raise premiums and cut staff numbers.
My question is : Why can I not get motor or house insurance from E.U. insurance companies ? We are E.U. and Eurozone. What is blocking this ?

Consider levels of compensation in Ireland v other EU countries. That's probably the main reason why other companies are not rushing to come in to Ireland.
 
Ravima, thanks for your response. I could discuss these answers better in a new thread.
I wanted to tell my story about Liberty and their possible change of direction, and how its existing customers will react or be affected.
Your point about compensation in Ireland and odyessey's reply above suggest a new thread about insurance policies in a small country within the E.U.
David Cameron has a lot to offer in an E.U.-wide debate on our future ... so a new thread ?
 
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