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Car Insurance Is A Joke !


dann2707

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Where is that extra £500 coming from though? I just don't understand it.

I *will* end up paying it. Like you say, i'm just having a moan haha

that's the 'what you going to do about it?' tax Dan.

Truthly, what ARE you going to do about it? after the moaning is over, chances are you'll man up and pay it, like everybody else, so yet again they've succeeded, and will continue to do so, as they can basically charge what they want!

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they can basically charge what they want!

This is basically the answer to this:

Well if you can afford it why bitch about it?

Although I've had my license for time, I've only been driving on my own insurance for the past 3 years which has unfortunately coincided with the dawn of insurance getting yet more rapey. I've had to pay more each year, despite not having claimed once. Part of my problem I guess might be that I've been doing 25-30k mileage per year, but even so, having to pay that much extra each year despite not claiming sucks. I pay monthly which also adds to it. The most annoying part is that my excess is greater than the value of my car. Before anyone tries picking anything out of that, I'm aware that insurance isn't just about paying for the value of my own car in the event of a crash - it's still frustrating though.

Ultimately, much like Dan I'm having to just deal with it and pay it, but that's not going to stop it from being frustrating/annoying, which is going to lead to me/Dan/other people I know who've ended up having to pay more despite having more no claims complaining about it. My sister, for example, had her insurance double last year despite having many years NCB. Again, she can afford it, but it's still going to lead to 'bitching about it'. Just because they can charge whatever they want doesn't mean it's right, which is essentially where the 'bitching' comes from.

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It is proportionate IMO, I don't think insurance companies do it for fun.

People underestimate how easy it is to write off a car these days, cars are made to be safe and the only way they can be safe is with sacraficial panels, pre weakened pressure points, airbags and SRS systems etc. A dashboard airbag is a grand to replace and repair if it goes off a modern car will have at least 4 airbags and up to 14.

There are more accidents happening, and the risk of motoring has gone up as we are reaching the highest number of vehicles registered on the road in history. Personally I know 4 people who have written their cars off this month alone. I've had two write offs myself.

You cannot look at personal circumstances and expect your insurance not to reflect the majority of motorists. It's shit I know, but it is just one of those things. :(

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I don't think insurance companies do it for fun.

No, they do it for profit: huge, massive profits.

People underestimate how easy it is to write off a car these days, cars are made to be safe and the only way they can be safe is with sacraficial panels, pre weakened pressure points, airbags and SRS systems etc. A dashboard airbag is a grand to replace and repair if it goes off a modern car will have at least 4 airbags and up to 14.

That may be true, but the question is why? It's easy to write off a car because of the extortionate amount car companies charge for components. You say an airbag costs a grand when it's a very simple component (obviously with some specialist internals) and should be a modular item and quick to exchange.

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It is proportionate IMO, I don't think insurance companies do it for fun.

No, I'd imagine they do it for profit? Much the same way that banks used to charge ridiculous overdraft fees. They were justifying them this way and that, and it was only when the law started siding in favour of the customer that they stopped being able to turn the screw on customers as much as they wanted. The banks argued it was the way they kept themselves safe (similar to the way that insurance companies argue they need to have huge increases in premiums, perhaps...), but that wasn't really the case.

There are more accidents happening, and the risk of motoring has gone up as we are reaching the highest number of vehicles registered on the road in history. Personally I know 4 people who have written their cars off this month alone. I've had two write offs myself.

You cannot look at personal circumstances and expect your insurance not to reflect the majority of motorists. It's shit I know, but it is just one of those things. :(

Surely personal circumstances are crucial to the whole situation? Otherwise they wouldn't bother asking your yearly mileage, where you live, the car you drive, etc.? Unless you mean specifically finances which wasn't what I was trying to imply before. Either way, you mention you've had two write offs and you know 4 people who have recently, but surely the circles you're in are going to lead to you knowing more people who are likely to write off their cars than other people in so much as you're involved in the whole 'fast cars' kind of scene? For example, I only know of one person who's written a car off in the past 3 years, and that was mainly due to it being an old car so the insurance company/garage involved just pretty much said 'f**k it' (which was probably the right decision).

Insurance companies themselves cited the rise in "No win/no fee" claims as being the primary cause for them increasing premiums, which is why the government were looking at intervening towards the end of last year (if memory serves, anyway - it was when I was trying to re-new my insurance). It seems that litigation culture - which could be minimised if the government stepped in - was/is the main cause, rather than it just being 'more dangerous on the roads'.

The insurers were also having it both ways in that they also used to make money from referral fees where they'd sell information of those who'd crashed to lawyers, who would then get in touch with this people to then try and instigate some kind of claim. That helped to inflate the 'litigation culture', which then in turn led to insurers being able to increase their premiums to counter that. If that system didn't work for them, they wouldn't have been involved with it so it'd suggest that they were happy with that situation being the norm otherwise they could've simply stopped referring information to lawyers.

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Insurance companies are covered by the FSA, the OFT and the CCD. So they shouldn't be able to make extortionate profits from insurance.

My own personal view of it is as I say, it's all just opinions. I would like to think that it is due to the safety elements in cars, st least that is what I use to sell GAP policies to customers all day haha

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Insurance companies are covered by the FSA, the OFT and the CCD. So they shouldn't be able to make extortionate profits from insurance.

I edited this in just as you were posting your bit, but I'd say it was pretty relevant to that statement.

The insurers were also having it both ways in that they also used to make money from referral fees where they'd sell information of those who'd crashed to lawyers, who would then get in touch with this people to then try and instigate some kind of claim. That helped to inflate the 'litigation culture', which then in turn led to insurers being able to increase their premiums to counter that. If that system didn't work for them, they wouldn't have been involved with it so it'd suggest that they were happy with that situation being the norm otherwise they could've simply stopped referring information to lawyers.

Banks are also covered by the FSA, etc., but they still charged huge fees and also managed to cause a global recession. I'm not implying that the two industries are comparable in the actual effects of their actions, I just mean that having governing bodies doesn't necessarily mean much in terms of the morals and ethics of huge, money-making companies...

EDIT: Just did some Google'ing and it seems that the referral fees are banned now. 5% of Admirals car insurance profits came from those referral fees in 2011.

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Did that make a big difference? I've got 3 points on my license from 4.5 years ago so I still have to declare them (even though my license is now clean after 3 years :angry:). Doing the online quote thing it seems to make ~£50/year difference. Not huge but annoying when you multiply by 5 years...

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Did that make a big difference? I've got 3 points on my license from 4.5 years ago so I still have to declare them (even though my license is now clean after 3 years mad.gif). Doing the online quote thing it seems to make ~£50/year difference. Not huge but annoying when you multiply by 5 years...

Well it did when I had an IN10 and sp30... plus obviously an extra years NCB :)

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Mine isnt too bad. For me to get insured on a 1.6 lupo gti(? my mates but the one with the centre exhaust) is 1400, and his is 1700 i've not drove but held my license for 3 years now, he has for 1 and a half years and got one years NCB.

But then again for what i want, which is a Honda Civic 1.6 v-tech im looking at 2k :(.

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how much does the pass plus save on insurance?

Saved me about 10%; but most insurance companies don't care about it and don't actually offer a discount for having one.

Doing the IAM advanced test helps though, that knocked a further 10% off and most companies register that.

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