Are Insurance Companies ripping us off?

[dodgyrog]

Having gone from a nice but very old C220 CDI estate IRAC insurance around the £400 mark) to an ML (again old but immaculate) which I've yearned for, I found the insurance at £900+ for the year! 10 years plus no claims WTF
WHY???

 

[Smart320]

Sounds crazy to me. We had a multicar policy for a Smart Cabriolet (£200 ) and a w211 E320 cdi ( £ 370 approx with 3 yrs N/c bonus ) 8 k miles p.a
Just traded the E. For a 2007 ML320 cdi . Cost was extra £105 for the remaining 7 months.
Still a lot less than £ 900. Mind you we do live in West Wales and are retired

 

[fabes]

Life's too short.....

Move insurer and enjoy the new car

 

[brucemillar]

^ This.

I had the exact same (posted on here somewhere) when my wife bought an X5. It was almost un-insurable with the price and clauses. I wrote to the Customer Services Director at my Insurer and it was fixed to my satisfaction within minutes.

Be very wary of swapping for that 'new deal'. Year one, insurers will drop their pants to get you in the door knowing that they will claw it back year two - been there.

 

[markjay]

I have a multi car policy with Aviva for several years now.

I find their prices very reasonable and I get a further discount each year for completing the Aviva Drive app

 

[MancMike]

Queue a load of posts by those who think 500 a year is extortionate. I was paying nearly that a month a few years ago, including a £900 first payment.

Insurance is expensive. That was 6.5k a year to be insured. Stop winging that you've bought one of the most stolen cars on the road and are now paying a bit more for it.

 

[GeeJayW]

Short answer: Yes they are rip-off merchants.

Shop around and find a better deal.

 

[Deleted member 113659]

Stop winging that you've bought one of the most stolen cars on the road and are now paying a bit more for it.

Get down off that fence Mike.

 

[Alex225]

Queue a load of posts by those who think 500 a year is extortionate. I was paying nearly that a month a few years ago, including a £900 first payment.

Insurance is expensive. That was 6.5k a year to be insured. Stop winging that you've bought one of the most stolen cars on the road and are now paying a bit more for it.

I think it's all relevant though mate. I mean if someone has 7+ years NCB you'd generally expect them to be able to insure a car for a reasonable sum.

£6.5k would be beyond what a lot of people would even consider.

As for the OP, it does seem like a big jump compared to what it was. Was this the overall price to transfer the existing policy? I've always found that works out very expensive as a yearly premium.

Have a rummage round on some comparison sites and see what they come up with.

I'm 35 with 10 years no claims and insured my CLS63 on an agreed valuation for £400 with Adrian Flux. Limited mileage admittedly.

 

[gunning]

Queue a load of posts by those who think 500 a year is extortionate. I was paying nearly that a month a few years ago, including a £900 first payment. Insurance is expensive. That was 6.5k a year to be insured. Stop winging that you've bought one of the most stolen cars on the road and are now paying a bit more for it.

Must be a reason for you paying such crazy amounts, area, previous issues etc. £6500 is madness.

I paid £1700 fully comp for my cls55 at the age of 21.

In terms of OP yes you are being quoted too much for an ML with that level of no claims. Even your c200 sounds expensive

 

[MancMike]

Yeah, almost all Manchester postcodes are the highest risk area for insurance. I used to live in Hulme which is very close to Moss side and very much the same, with the postcode M15. I then moved to M22, my hometown and while it's a bit rough, it's a leafy paradise by comparison, although my insurance went up further when moving there!

Some of you lot don't realise the value of your postcode. Re-run the comparison searches using M15 6xx and you'll get an idea of just how much your postcode is saving you.

The reason I paid that amount was because insuring any car (had a Ka previously) was well into the thousands. So I thought I might as well insure something a bit nicer. So I got an RX8. Was lovely, but cost a fortune to run. The insurance, and 11mpg I averaged over the year of ownership cost me £850 a month in running costs.

I wouldn't dream of paying that much now as priorities in life have changed and I'm more mature now. Last year's insurance for my C280 was around 140 a month IIRC and this year's is 69/month which i'm delighted about.

I'm 28. I've got 3 years NCB, not because I've had accidents, just because I've moved insurance companies before earning another year once or twice. My licence is clean. It's the postcode, trust me.

 

[219]

Queue a load of posts by those who think 500 a year is extortionate. I was paying nearly that a month a few years ago, including a £900 first payment.

Insurance is expensive. That was 6.5k a year to be insured. Stop winging that you've bought one of the most stolen cars on the road and are now paying a bit more for it.

£500 a year IS extortionate . I pay just over £200 a year each for my SL and my 190 , both with unlimited business use , and the latter declared as a modified car with upgraded engine and several other changes declared .

I can insure older cars on classic policies for under a hundred , and when I started driving at 17 , my first insurance , with no NCD , was £26 for my W115 220/8 , which was six years old at the time .

The prices some people pay now IS a rip off , and I don't know how they afford it . It is precisely because of the prices asked that so many choose to drive without insurance , because the penalties are actually less !

 

[MancMike]

Yes but you live somewhere much lower risk and are urm, much more experienced in life.

A neighbour has an 06 plate fiesta, he's 32, clean licence, driving nearly ten years with 5 years ncb and he pays 750/year. Mine's nearly a grand, which checks out. I'm a bit younger, less NCB and driving years with a more expensive more powerful car.

It's mainly the postcode. Derek, run your details through with a less pleasant postcode and you'll choke on your cocoa.

Anyway, I've derailed this thread enough now. I hope at least I've put things into perspective a bit.

 

[moonloops]

Stop winging that you've bought one of the most stolen cars on the road and are now paying a bit more for it.

That class of car probably the most vandalised also.

 

[Rory]

Having gone from a nice but very old C220 CDI estate IRAC insurance around the £400 mark) to an ML (again old but immaculate) which I've yearned for, I found the insurance at £900+ for the year! 10 years plus no claims WTF
WHY???

Mine is around £250 and, in a wild moment, I looked at leasing a new Jeep Grand Cherokee so checked the insurance cost with my existing insurer. Quote was around £500, so a similar sort of ratio to what you've seen. I know the Jeep is expensive, but I don't think value affects the premium much.

 

[Deleted member 113659]

If you move to a DG postcode the insurance company will actually pay you for annual insurance.

 

[219]

Yes but you live somewhere much lower risk and are urm, much more experienced in life.

A neighbour has an 06 plate fiesta, he's 32, clean licence, driving nearly ten years with 5 years ncb and he pays 750/year. Mine's nearly a grand, which checks out. I'm a bit younger, less NCB and driving years with a more expensive more powerful car.

It's mainly the postcode. Derek, run your details through with a less pleasant postcode and you'll choke on your cocoa.

Anyway, I've derailed this thread enough now. I hope at least I've put things into perspective a bit.

Oh , I've moved around a few times during my life , and lived in some less salubrious places than where I am now , but have NEVER paid stupid prices for insurance .

 

[Deleted member 6183]

They price according to risk, if your risk is increased then your premiums will increase.

I was told that a new car is a risk as you won't be used to driving it and will become more likely to have an accident.

Premiums have increased due to massive claims, inflated repair costs and punters insisting on like for like hire cars.

 

[Meldrew2]

Having gone from a nice but very old C220 CDI estate IRAC insurance around the £400 mark) to an ML (again old but immaculate) which I've yearned for, I found the insurance at £900+ for the year! 10 years plus no claims WTF
WHY???

Where are you situated? My ML is a 3.8 petrol - 12 years old - and I'm paying just under £300.

 

[Alex225]

Some of you lot don't realise the value of your postcode. Re-run the comparison searches using M15 6xx and you'll get an idea of just how much your postcode is saving you.

I admit I was skeptical but also intrigued thinking, "Surely the post code can't make that much difference". So I headed over to Gocompare to see what difference it made.

So, CLS63, 1,000 social miles a year with 10 NCB. I put in my post code and Esure came up with £490 a year. Not bad for the kind of car it is.

I did the exact same quote again, changing the postcode to an M15 address and Esure came up with......£3,146!!!

The cheapest quote was still £1,860.

Genuinely staggered by that, considering I insure four cars (3x agreed valuations) for around £1,200 a year.