- Joined
- Nov 6, 2007
- Messages
- 13,424
- Location
- North Oxfordshire
- Car
- His - Denim Blue A220 AMG Line Premium / Hers - Obsidian Black R172 SLK55
Just had an enlightening (and ultimately money-saving) interaction with Aviva Customer Services.
I recently received my renewal invitation and, as I wished to reduce the estimated annual mileage, had to call to do that rather than just renewing online. As always, before calling I looked at alternative quotations from other companies and found I could obtain similar cover for rather less elsewhere. Nothing new in that, but most interestingly I also ran a quotation on the AvivaPlus scheme which they describe as a "subscription-style insurance product" which you pay for monthly. The policy differs slightly from the regular Aviva motor policy which may or may not be important, but the key point is that it doesn't offer an annual payment option, it's always paid monthly from a debit or credit card as a recurring payment.
Anyway, the equivalent annual premium for an AvivaPlus policy was significantly cheaper than my "regular" policy renewal invitation and comparable with quotations from alternative insurers so, with my interest piqued, I clicked on the button that took me to a quotation for their regular motor policy, based on the details I'd given as I prefer to pay annually. To my surprise, that was slightly less than the AvivaPlus product. I checked thoroughly and the policy that was the subject of the new quotation was identical to that I currently had (even down to the reference number on the last page!), and I also confirmed that all the optional cover elements and excesses were identical.
Armed with all this info, I called Aviva to find out what was going on.
The operator I spoke with was extremely helpful. After listening to what I had to say she revealed that the difference between my renewal offer and the new quotation was because they are different "internal" products, with different rating schemes. She confirmed that the policy, cover provided, optional extras and excesses are all identical, but the different rating schemes result in different premiums - some customers will see an increase, while others a decrease as in my case.
So, the lesson is to run a quotation online to see if the new scheme results in a lower or higher premium and go with whichever option gives the lowest price as you are buying exactly the same policy, with exactly the same cover and terms. In my case I saved almost 16% by letting my original policy lapse and taking a new one under the new rating scheme.
I recently received my renewal invitation and, as I wished to reduce the estimated annual mileage, had to call to do that rather than just renewing online. As always, before calling I looked at alternative quotations from other companies and found I could obtain similar cover for rather less elsewhere. Nothing new in that, but most interestingly I also ran a quotation on the AvivaPlus scheme which they describe as a "subscription-style insurance product" which you pay for monthly. The policy differs slightly from the regular Aviva motor policy which may or may not be important, but the key point is that it doesn't offer an annual payment option, it's always paid monthly from a debit or credit card as a recurring payment.
Anyway, the equivalent annual premium for an AvivaPlus policy was significantly cheaper than my "regular" policy renewal invitation and comparable with quotations from alternative insurers so, with my interest piqued, I clicked on the button that took me to a quotation for their regular motor policy, based on the details I'd given as I prefer to pay annually. To my surprise, that was slightly less than the AvivaPlus product. I checked thoroughly and the policy that was the subject of the new quotation was identical to that I currently had (even down to the reference number on the last page!), and I also confirmed that all the optional cover elements and excesses were identical.
Armed with all this info, I called Aviva to find out what was going on.
The operator I spoke with was extremely helpful. After listening to what I had to say she revealed that the difference between my renewal offer and the new quotation was because they are different "internal" products, with different rating schemes. She confirmed that the policy, cover provided, optional extras and excesses are all identical, but the different rating schemes result in different premiums - some customers will see an increase, while others a decrease as in my case.
So, the lesson is to run a quotation online to see if the new scheme results in a lower or higher premium and go with whichever option gives the lowest price as you are buying exactly the same policy, with exactly the same cover and terms. In my case I saved almost 16% by letting my original policy lapse and taking a new one under the new rating scheme.
