# Car Insurance Quote



## SausageStick (Apr 15, 2008)

Just got a renewal letter through quoting me £311 fully comp from Hastings Direct, bearing in mind its only a 1.9tdi and Im 40 I thought I'd quickly check a compare site.
Well interesting results, out of about 30 quotes 25 were cheaper and the cheapest was..... yep you guessed Hastings Bloody Direct coming in at £206.
Im going to call them in a while but was just wondering how insurance companys can justify such a mark up on loyal customers(mugs).

Anyone in the insurance business who could shed a little light it would be appreciated.

Regards,

Jason


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## chrisc (Jun 15, 2008)

phone your insurance back up i bet they beat it


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## marley12 (Aug 2, 2009)

As Chrisc says above! Phone them ,tell them youll not renew, as youve got a far better quote elsewhere! Id be amazed if they dont beat their original quote. Also look on somewhere like supermarket.com or confused .com etc etc,Spend a few minutes and youll find a better deal! OR! just look in yellow pages, phone a few places up and shop around!
I shop around for ALL! my insurances! (cars, house, dog, travel etc!) and save hundreds!
Im guessing insurance companies just presume that customers cant be arsed shopping for better deals .so charge what the think theyll get away with!


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## colarado red (Jun 5, 2008)

SausageStick said:


> Just got a renewal letter through quoting me £311 fully comp from Hastings Direct, bearing in mind its only a 1.9tdi and Im 40 I thought I'd quickly check a compare site.
> Well interesting results, out of about 30 quotes 25 were cheaper and the cheapest was..... yep you guessed Hastings Bloody Direct coming in at £206.
> Im going to call them in a while but was just wondering how insurance companys can justify such a mark up on loyal customers(mugs).
> 
> ...


that quote would be for a new customer as soon as you phone hastings it would show you have a policy with them.my partner works in insurance and she get this all the time with customers using comparison it sites trying to get a better deal.


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## Shiny (Apr 23, 2007)

Watch the excess with Hastings, last quote i looked at was £500+ iirc, may have even been more.

Renewals should be cheaper than new business, as a large portion of a new business involves set up costs, policy issue etc, where as renewal costs to insurers are minimal in comparison. It always used to be a case of loyalty was rewarded with cheaper premiums at renewal than the new business rate.

But car insurance is a joke these days, often a loss leader so Direct companies can bombard you with more profitable business (household, travel etc). Online quotes mean the Insurers rely on Joe Public to having enough knowledge of insurance to enter all the correct details and then they only underwrite the risk when a claim occurs - far too late in my opinion. We are heavilly regulated and I have to justify/demonstrate competence and continued professional development to the FSA before i can give anyone a car quote, but on these public online sites none of that matters.

Structured rating has disappeared with some insurers quoting "your best rate less 5% etc", bearing no thought to profitably based on underwriting factors and relying on volume (quantity not quality) of business instead.


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## SausageStick (Apr 15, 2008)

Just a quick update with Hastings Direct.
Apparently if I want the £206 quoted on a comparison site rather than the £311 renewal with the same company then I will have to cancel current policy and take up the new policy even though there both with the same  company. Something to do with different underwriters on each quote but I started to lose the will to live by the time this was being explained to me.

Regards,

Jason


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## S-X-I (Sep 6, 2006)

The insurance companies must make a fortune when people just automatically renew their policies.

When ever I get my renewal through the post I'm straight on the phone to negotiate a better price. In doing this I have saved money every time!


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## Grizzle (Jul 12, 2006)

S-X-I said:


> The insurance companies must make a fortune when people just automatically renew their policies.
> 
> When ever I get my renewal through the post I'm straight on the phone to negotiate a better price. In doing this I have saved money every time!


yeh i do the same and recently i done it for my mum she had one claim recently own fault no one involved  anyway her renewal came in it was £230 its not £760 for a 2008 1.1 Hyundai Getz GSI shes only done two thousand miles in a year :lol: straight onto compare the market got it down to £330 baring in mind she had a claim and also got free Green flag breakdown cover.

It pays to shop around. :thumb:


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## Stumper (Apr 5, 2009)

It's worth looking on a cashback site like Quidco when you're getting car insurance. I took mine out last year via Quidco and managed to get £100 cashback off what was my cheapest quote. I only paid about £150 fully comp for the year!


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## MATT ST (Aug 19, 2009)

Im with esure i pay £400 a year for me and my partner on my r26 and shes a terrible driver to lol. Try them they do price matching to.


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