Churchill or Privilege?

[AMGeed]

Just putting out feelers for my renewal early next month.
Got quotes from both companies and both are less than I paid last year with Hastings Direct.

Anyone had dealings with either company, especially if a claim was made?

I have seen the reviews of both and neither are great when it comes to the claims dept.
Price isn't the be all if neither deal with claims properly.

 

[Dryce]

Anyone had dealings with either company, especially if a claim was made?

They're the same underlying insurance company - basically one of the same family as Direct Line.

We've used Privilege for several years. We've had two small household claims that were handled satisfactorily. Not had any motoring claims in the time we've used them.

 

[dinoy]

try peter best and ask for classic insurance with agreed value better than market value and usually cheaper if mileage is limited and car is garaged

 

[daveenty]

Never had a claim with either of the aforementioned, though was with Privilege for a good few years.

Every renewal involved a hike in premium, which was usually brought down to a reasonable figure again, though only after a phone call and a negotiation of policy excess. They were OK to deal with, in that you can speak to a human, though their phone lines can get busy. No charge for administrative things like swapping cars or number plates over, and they're fine with modifications, though only up to a finite point (21% increase in power I think it was)

This was the reason I left them as I went over their limit unfortunately and, after a bit of shopping around, I ended up with A Plan who have been fine so far, even managing a better quote than my previous insurer and with all mods stated (25%+ increase). I'm actually waiting for them to phone me this morning as the renewal from Privilege on my Jeep, which arrived in the post on Saturday was frankly ridiculous.

 

[ioweddie]

Do the meercat compare site, get a toy and insure with LV

 

[AMGeed]

That is my next port of call.
Got the Meercat toy with the wifes recently renewed insurance.

LV are quoting me £391 v Privilege £216

 

[Codger49]

Got 2 meercats this year, one of the lower quotes taken up was from the current insurer (LV).

Called them to check it out and they just said take the new quote and we won't action the automatic renewal.

 

[StuartK]

I've been with Churchill before....


Ohhhhhhhh yes!

 

[automaniaman]

Try Aviva online, they are very competitive on price

 

[french]

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.privilege.com

Not great but better score than Swiftcover...they are a nightmare!

 

[moonloops]

I've been with Churchill before....


Ohhhhhhhh yes!

Dirty boy

 

[zipdip]

Used Privilege before the cheap side of Admiral,so is Elephant,it is a crazy old world when all three quote for the same business and are all one company.

 

[m2287]

Privilege are the cheapest for me by a mile this year too, I'll be looking to renew with them!

 

[addbuyer]

Used Privilege before the cheap side of Admiral,so is Elephant,it is a crazy old world when all three quote for the same business and are all one company.

Admiral are a bloody Joke.
Stayed with them again this year even though they hiked my premium by some £60, mainly because of the breakdown cover they have as a bolt on.
So two months in I decide to change the car and they quote an extra £371 on top of what I'm already paying.
I tell them that I can buy an identical new 12 month policy with another provider for £307 (excluding the breakdown cover) so why would I want to carry on paying the original £420 premium plus the extra £371?
In fact there are many providers cheaper but they won't have it?
So canellation is £52 plus the new premium of £307 and a separate breakdown cover of £88 total £447 for 12 months as apposed to their £791 for running out the current policy over 10 months??

What planet are these companies on, want new business but sod those customers they already have.

 

[E55BOF]

I've just renewed with Privilege; the quote was more than I expected up on last year, but comparison sites revealed it was competitive, so I stayed with them.

I totally agree with the last post about Admiral.

 

[Dryce]

I've just renewed with Privilege; the quote was more than I expected up on last year, but comparison sites revealed it was competitive, so I stayed with them.

We've found that even if the comparison sites are indicating the renewal is 'competitive' it can be worth getting a brand new quote from Privilege - even if the comparison site listed them.

I have a horrible feeling that their systems maybe adjusting renewals to meet market expectations - and the comparison sites are one of the measures used to guage that expectation.

 

[Dryce]

What planet are these companies on, want new business but sod those customers they already have.

Actually it makes sense.

Suppose they renew 1000 policies a month at an average £250. Now suppose the underlying cost of those policies is £200.

So 1000 renewals at £250 represents a profit of £50 per customer so a total of £50,000.

Now suppose they increase the renewals to £300. OK so some customers cancel. But suppose 60% of customers are sticky and renew.

So 600 renewals at £300 represents a profit of £100 per customer and £60,000 vs say 1000 renewals at £250 and a profit of £50 per customer and £50,000. And also bear in mind that even at £250 the renewal rate is likely to be less than 100% anyway.

What about the 40% you lose? Well you may have lost some of them anyway. But maybe 10% phone to cancel you can keep them at £250. So that's your profit up to £65,000.

And meanwhile you figuire you can catch new customers wih any entry price of £225 - after all you've got plenty of profit or yield over your 70% retention. So you get 300 new customers on a 12 months for the price of 10 deal at £225 and bring in another £7500 taking your profit to £72500. Moreover the 12 for 10 months deal means those customers have implicitly acknowledged their next year renewal will be at an average level £270 - and of course you'll tell them next year it's £300 because of industry price increases.

So on that imaginary model hiking the renewals gets you £72500 vs £50000.

 

[wongl]

Actually it makes sense.

Suppose they renew 1000 policies a month at an average £250. Now suppose the underlying cost of those policies is £200...

Actually this make a lot of sense. Insurance underwriting is about calculating the risks and minimising the underwriter's exposure to the liabilities on its books. It is a well know fact that Underwriters will cut the premium for new business (this is one of the key metrics on how worthy an insurance company is doing). It is also a well know fact in the trade that the wealthier you are, the less you will shop around for your insurance.

So there isn't a lot of incentives for the insurance company to give great discount to existing customers. In fact, those who give the greatest discounts to new customers are the worse, since they are under pressure to make a higher margin from their existing customers.

 

[addbuyer]

I hear what your saying guys but wheres the logic in my case?
I take out a policy 2 months ago on monthly payments and they want to virtually double it to change cars. So they've had two months installments plus a cancelation fee of £52.
They loose ten months plus a reasonlable hike to change (say £75) and a customer?
Like i said i can buy a 12 month policy for less than they want to increase it by

 

[AMGeed]

Ended up staying with Hastings after calling them the day before renewal and telling them their quote wasn't competitive. When I told them what Privilege and Churchill were quoting they asked me to hold whilst they made some enquiries.

On resuming the call I was offered the same deal as the other companies. Asked why they didn't offer it to me first time around I got the stock bullsh1t answer of the premiums change daily!

Anyway, reinsured for another year and the game will start again next renewal.