LV hiking insurance prices?

[spon88]

Just had my renewal quotation for an M3P from LV and it's gone up around £40 - not a great deal but against the apparent fall of car insurance prices of av. 12% compared to this time last year, it seems a bit sneaky.

I called and managed to get the increase down to £20 but they wouldn't go further and definitely won't price match. It seems the loyalty penalty may be in play or is their story about underwriters increasing fees for certain vehicles reasonable?

I don't pay much (£299 fully comp) but those small increases soon stack up if you don't challenge. Is anyone else seeing similar with LV please? Just wondering how far to chase up with alternative quotations. I've also got full PPE which narrows the field a little. I quite like LV but it's not great if they insist on the sneaky increases each year and now seem reluctant to budge when challenged.

Cheers

 

[Nick77]

Sounds like a standard price bump for existing customers. It's one of the crafty ways insurance companies make money, by relying on people forgetting or being lazy.

When I checked LV two weeks ago when I bought the Model 3, they we're comparable to Churchill/Direct Line. In fact IIRC they were slightly cheaper.

If you do a price comparison no doubt you'll find a cheaper price for LV on there!

 

[speedyranger74]

Never had the same insurance for two consecutive years. If you are loyal you will pay more.

 

[Peter 224]

I have a recollection of reading that consumer law was being changed so that renewal and new customers would get the same price: I have no idea if this has happened. I also have no idea how it would be enforced.

 

[benken]

Looks like the "loyalty penalty" ban will come into effect 1st Jan 2022:

The FCA’s new rules will stop firms price walking. Insurers will be required to offer renewing customers a price that is no higher than they would pay as a new customer.
...
The pricing, auto-renewal and data reporting remedies come into effect on 1 January 2022.

fca.org.uk

 

[spon88]

Cheers folks. I'll drop on to the comparison sites and see how their new client quotes compare. I'll move if necessary but I guess they know that a lot of folk will stick around for the sake of "a few quid". Annoying innit! Good to see that new legislation coming but I guess they'll figure out a way to maintain profits.

 

[Nick77]

No doubt they'll just raise prices slightly to cover what they'd lose.

 

[Jason71]

Never had the same insurance for two consecutive years. If you are loyal you will pay more.

I always get quotes every year. Money supermarket saves all my details so it takes seconds. Then I take the best price to my existing insurer and often they will not only match it but beat it. They have done for the last 3 years with Admiral.
I am sad that the govt is banning loyalty penalties. It means less good deals for the people who do the work to get lower quotes currently subsidised by the ones who cant be bothered.

 

[speedyranger74]

I always get quotes every year. Money supermarket saves all my details so it takes seconds. Then I take the best price to my existing insurer and often they will not only match it but beat it. They have done for the last 3 years with Admiral.
I am sad that the govt is banning loyalty penalties. It means less good deals for the people who do the work to get lower quotes currently subsidised by the ones who cant be bothered.

Admiral was the first my insurer... don't want to match the new price and almost £200 remaining in my bank account
The same with direct line... now I have Churchill. Next year will see who is the best.

 

[Durzel]

I pay nearly 3 times that amount with Novo. I don't know your circumstances but £299 on a M3P (basically supercar acceleration) sounds criminally low.

I'm jealous

 

[Peter 224]

LV charged me £262 for my M3 LR, I have a clean record and am over 65.
The policy includes my business use and SDP for my wife and Daughter.
LV also offer a ride to a compatible charger if you run out of electricity...!!

I thought that for a £49k performance saloon it was really rather good, given both Aviva and NFU both quoted £1200 on the same data, clearly they don't want EVs. I complained and NFU told me that their. underwriters consider EVs unproven and they cannot properly predict repair costs.
I think they need to re-consider their position! In every other way NFU are a stunningly good insurer.

 

[MrT3]

underwriters consider EVs unproven and they cannot properly predict repair costs.
I think they need to re-consider their position! In every other way NFU are a stunningly good insurer.

Thatcham also didn't give the M3 a Superior rating, pushing up the insurance group which some insurers seem to take more notice of that others. Just a basic thing such as no locking wheel nuts can reduce the rating.

 

[MrAliG]

Having used Admiral multiyear for quite a few years I just changed to Churchill who were substantially cheaper than my quoted renewal.

£365 on a 2017 Model X 75 D with £35 cash back. Very pleased.

 

[GlynG]

Every year I use confused.com to check prices and cover and have done so for many years, I am aware Admiral group own Confused.com so the best prices always seem to be from Admiral group companies - like Bell, Elephant and Diamond and latest acquisition is USwitch.

I changed to the M3P just three months ago and with three months left on my policy with LV i paid LV just £28 in addition - this was from a Focus Mk3 RS - at that time they confirmed the change, the additional payment and what the full years premium would be if I took a full years policy out on the day - £333 they quoted.

So three months later I received my quote for renewal and that was £368, fully comp, self and wife driving, full NCB and age 65 - living in a low risk postcode too.
However, I used confused.com to get a quote prior to receiving the renewal notice from LV - It was 4 days earlier than the site allows for a quote (They allow 29 days in advance) so i set the date for insurance to start 4 days earlier than needed - The best quote was from LV at £271, I tried again 4 days later and the new quote was again LV but at £368 - so i decided to renew at the £271 quote and start my new policy 4 days earlier.
As a bonus I also got a £20 voucher from confused for renewing via them - so my insurance actually cost me £251, no other insurer was anywhere near LVs quote - I believe the next nearest quote was £580 - so perhaps next year I'm in for a hefty rise - and i expect all insurance rates will increase just because of the governments ruling that insurance companies are no longer allowed to quote different prices to new customers than existing customers from Jan 2022.

I will of course check confused for the best prices and I'm not loyal to any insurer be that for Car, Home or contents insurance - I also check energy prices each year too and swap supplier if I find a better deal.

As governments introduce legislation to curb unfair practice insurance companies just find a way around the legislation and i think they are quite dishonest in their modus operandi.
As an example - A few years ago there was a lot of talk about increases in premiums due to a increases in claims and claim values - claim values were increasing substantially because of the ambulance chasing lawyers cold calling accident victims encouraging injury claims after even minor shunts - and some of those shunts involved parked cars where the driver wasn't even present - and if people sniff the slightest chance of some compensation they are likely to submit a less than accurate assessment of the accident to potentially swell the size of the compensation.

I discovered Admiral group were actually selling accident details to the ambulance chasers - so promoting the increase in claims and the value of the claims and at the same time raising premiums because of the increased cost to them.
In 2011 or maybe 2012 admiral made over 18 million pounds selling accident details to lawyers.
The government outlawed this practice of selling details outside of their organisation - so you think it would stop - not a chance, Admiral just bought out law firms and made them part of the group - and it was lawful to pass details internally to affiliated partners - so the practice continues. Aegis Law was one companies they bought but there were others - and i suspect all insurance groups did the same.

Lesson learned - Trust no one and use the A,B,C

A- Accept nothing at face value
B- Believe no one
C- Challenge everything

 

[Marvin03]

Anything below £300 is very good for such an expensive car (to repair/replace). Most will be paying double or triple that. You can follow the MSE guide on insurance comparison if you really want to get a full comparison, best time is three weeks before renewal date.

 

[Beady3647]

This is a post that I made a month ago and may be of interest, although I have to say some the events confused me:-

"I received my renewal from DL four weeks prior to renewal and they had increased on last year by £140.00

Did the rounds on the search engines and the cheapest (Swinton) was around last years premium, made a few phone calls to sites not on the searches - result. Phoned DL to see if they would budge and a flat no from them. Left it a few days phoned to cancel the automatic renewal and they asked if they could quote again, but no improvement. Went back on the search engine (through Top Cashback) and lo and behold Sainsbury (who didn't originally offer) came in £180 below last years premium - so £320 below DL.

I deliberately searched originally the recommended 23 days before renewal date but by the time I did my final search it was only a week before it was due.

On one hand I'm delighted at the new price, on the other I'm confused by the best price being offered so close to renewal."

 

[GRiLLA]

This is a post that I made a month ago and may be of interest, although I have to say some the events confused me:-

"I received my renewal from DL four weeks prior to renewal and they had increased on last year by £140.00

Did the rounds on the search engines and the cheapest (Swinton) was around last years premium, made a few phone calls to sites not on the searches - result. Phoned DL to see if they would budge and a flat no from them. Left it a few days phoned to cancel the automatic renewal and they asked if they could quote again, but no improvement. Went back on the search engine (through Top Cashback) and lo and behold Sainsbury (who didn't originally offer) came in £180 below last years premium - so £320 below DL.

I deliberately searched originally the recommended 23 days before renewal date but by the time I did my final search it was only a week before it was due.

On one hand I'm delighted at the new price, on the other I'm confused by the best price being offered so close to renewal."

Insurance premiums are an utterly arbitrary figure, largely based on collusion. Insurers don't really consider risk, just what they can get you to pay.

 

[Foucault]

Insurance premiums are an utterly arbitrary figure, largely based on collusion. Insurers don't really consider risk, just what they can get you to pay.

Do you have any evidence that car insurance premiums are based on collusion? The reason I ask is that insurers aren’t allowed to see each other’s premiums since an Office of Fair Trading ruling in 2012.

 

[Garry TheBiz]

The practice of getting a quote 23 days before renewal has been widely publicised and I would fully expect insurance companies to be taking advantage of that. Perhaps the best time to get a quote is a week before renewal, or perhaps it is as arbitrary as the premium calculation itself, and varies widely between insurers.

Maybe the best practice is to get a bunch of renewal quotes until there's one you're happy to pay, and go with that, as it seems impossible to know if waiting will get you a cheaper quote.

 

[phillcom3]

Just had my renewal quotation for an M3P from LV and it's gone up around £40 - not a great deal but against the apparent fall of car insurance prices of av. 12% compared to this time last year, it seems a bit sneaky.

I called and managed to get the increase down to £20 but they wouldn't go further and definitely won't price match. It seems the loyalty penalty may be in play or is their story about underwriters increasing fees for certain vehicles reasonable?

I don't pay much (£299 fully comp) but those small increases soon stack up if you don't challenge. Is anyone else seeing similar with LV please? Just wondering how far to chase up with alternative quotations. I've also got full PPE which narrows the field a little. I quite like LV but it's not great if they insist on the sneaky increases each year and now seem reluctant to budge when challenged.

Cheers

something I just read is that a tax has gone up (BA"£$$£%£trds) and all the other claim type things. one would have thought that no one driving would have driven it down. no looks like everyone claiming milage backs been passed down the lines this should be illigal! does anyone have an idea how to set up petitions to the gov?


this is almost making me think about selling the car.