My insurance is normally circa £300, never claimed, full NCD, two bikes and one garage, live in Bucks, early sixties. Been with Bennetts for years. Got an email from Bennetts saying my insurance had run out, straight on the phone, charming young lady, No problem sir, have your details in front of me, all the same as last year, yep, jolly good, that's four hundred and something Sir, that's a lot more than last year, said I, premiums have gone up said the charming young sales lady, all the cover I had before, legal, leathers, RAC, yep yep. Begrudgingly I part with the card details, all good......until this morning. A letter fom Bennetts, obviously lost in the post, arrived, your insurance is about to run out and to renew is renewable for about £300, actually cheaper than last year, the cheeky bastards have done me for £125 more for exactly the same cover one day later. I have emailed them to point out the error of their ways, took the survey on trustpilot too. I have no idea where this is going, no doubt there's a perfectly good reason for this, but until they come back to me i will assume they are taking the piss.
Slightly diff circumstances but had something similar happen with LV for the car insurance. Phoned up customer care on the weekend who were v helpful and agreed refund on the spot and the £ was back on the credit card in a day or two. Hope you get sorted without too much trouble.
As I understand your account, the insurance had lapsed when you contacted them, so the £400-odd was for a new policy, whereas the premium in your belated letter was for the renewal of an existing policy. My guess is that this would explain the difference. Not defending it by any means - they’re all a bunch of scheisters. The obvious action for any self-respecting company to take would be to refund the difference. Be interesting to see if that’s what happens.
You're right, what a difference a day makes, if she had my details to hand surely she could see what they had quoted.
I never understood insurance in this country. How much is your no claims bonus worth for example. Nobody knows. I insured a extra bike last year. It wasn't economical to add it to my existing policy covering 3 so I took out a new policy online. I said I had 10+ years no claims. Price was £ 134 which I was happy with and paid. It then dawned on me that I had no no claims as this was a extra contract. I rang the insurers to confess and braced myself for the extra I would have to pay. The chap said" no problem, let me have a look for you Sir, it shouldn't make much of a difference." He was right, the difference was all of 6 pounds.........LESS. Yes, No no claims was 6 pound less than 10+ years no claims.
You have a cooling off rights I think as you made the purchase online. Though you would be liable for an admin fee and any insurance you've used so its not strictly a refund. Call them back, tell them you are going to cancel and that you have been offered your insurance for £300. They will very likely change their minds and offer to match. If that fails, demand to speak to the boss. They will say there isn't one, but insist. There is always a boss.
I’m fairly confident that insurers make it up as they go along. I got a quote the other week on a 2014 Aston Martin Vantage. My missus is 27 and has a few claims on her licence. Thought it would be funny to see how much she rocketed my insurance .... both of us fully comp for £400 ish a year haha. She pays £700 for a vw polo!
I never pay to cover my no claims as it's a con. Make a claim and your premium will rocket up just the same.
Yep , they sure do tend to make it up as they go along .... eg. We could insure him at £300 ( if we have to match or beat a valid quote ) ..... so let's try him at £500 and see if he bites . As for no claims .... in theory I have well over 20 years , so in normal practice that equals 10 ( max ) but in "reality" I had ZERO ..... because I hadn't held a UK policy in my own name for over two years , which as everyone knows , automatically turns the driver into a crash-happy imbecile ..... instantly . Having said that , has anyone tried insuring their bike in another EU country .... eg. Spain ? It's going to cost you a " bag " , just for starters , and they will not entertain any NCD even if it's from the same company in another EU country ! And another thing ... Some of the T&Cs are a real shock ..... eg. the huge excess payable on any type of claim ..... but just my dos pesetas worth ....
Just re this. Last time I renewed my insurance company stated no claims held/retained dormant for 5 years might be worth a look
Both my and the other halves insurance costs are less when we put each other on the policies. Which is madness if they knew what her driving is really like. Actually, that’s not fair at all, more the other way round. parking is my kryptonite. Not that I can’t do it, just kind of get carried away, I can get another 5cm closer, just 2cm more......
That puts it into perspective, a £35k car for £400 per annum or a motorcycle with a value of just £10k or lower for the same premium price or in some cases much more."Crooks & liars in suits".!
I'm just playing Devil's Advocate here .... but they don't know diddly about how your better half drives . They only know about claims she may have made , or claims made against her .....
I had a very different experience in Germany. I could transfer my NCD there and then back again. They even have a clear NCD system. They give you a price which is 100%. Then they apply the no claims discount which is a certain percentage per year of being claim free. It's something like 5 percent a year. Maximum years is 13. They deduct the discount and that is your price.
NCB only really helps access some underwriters who won’t quite for less than a number of clear years. These then have more competitive rates. Inhave fun and games with my cars. Add my wife to my 911 and it saves me 30%! My 435 quoted as £330 last year 25 days before, required 3 days to go and it was £500 plus everywhere! Lesson learned on that one!!
