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1

General Discussion Area / Re: Car insurance

« on: 19 May 2010, 16:52:28 »

glad to hear you've found a better deal Neil.
i'm nervously waiting on my renewal premium for early june ....if mine rockets I may have to look at selling mine, i can just about to put petrol in it these days
and didnt mean to teach you suck eggs (proverbially) re: the insurance model - you are right, insurers do reinsure to spread their risks and can improve their profitability that way, like all businesses ...they have to generate a profit in order to satisfy a shareholder and remain financed to continue trading. there are a few industries out there under the spotlight on profit levels such as oil companies, banks etc. not sure that insurers are viewed the same way (yet) but maybe if the cost keeps rising then they will. its a tough business to be in but I'd rather be in insurance than tax inspection, traffic wardening or law

2

General Discussion Area / Re: Car insurance

« on: 19 May 2010, 16:27:37 »

neilr - sorry you feel that way
its true that insurance companies have a pretty bad rep....almost as bad as banks and I know it'll be no consolation but the UK car insurance industry has been run at a loss for about the last 10 years....the vast majority of insurers have lost money based on the prices charged vs the cost of claims and running the business.
still doesnt make premiums feel any cheaper and with a heavily modified astra I share your pain but i can assure you that there isnt anything like the profit in car insurance that you might think.
i'm all for consumer action though but please dont not insure though ....all those claims which are caused by uninsured drivers still have to be paid for and that means everyone elses premiums go up even further

3

General Discussion Area / Re: Car insurance

« on: 19 May 2010, 16:13:39 »

thanks Andy

4

General Discussion Area / Re: Car insurance

« on: 19 May 2010, 14:42:04 »

Hi Andy,
I can definitely empathise with that point about insurers not helping themselves. often the time when you need them to be slick and efficient the most, during a claim, is when things start to go wrong. and its usually because they try to overcomplicate or do things which they think are saving them money but which simply dont make sense for the customer.
and the issue with personal injury claims has come from the fact that in the past insurers havent proactively managed third party injuries which created a gap for these 'accident management' companies to exploit. There is legislation coming through which will make insurers act much faster on  claims and hopefully mean that claimants get quicker decisions.
Ihope that your wife's bad claims experience wasnt with Zurich Connect, I'm sorry if it was. We are also seeking feedback from our customers about when things go wrong so if it was then I'll certainly pass it on.
regards
Ben

5

General Discussion Area / Re: Car insurance

« on: 19 May 2010, 14:22:43 »

it may still be worth going through the quote again to make sure that all the details are correct but even if its too high for you this year then please don't write us off forever, insurers are constantly looking at their rates and very often an insurer who is uncompetitive one year can then become competitive the following year.

I hear what you are saying about the overall price though, insurance premiums are on the increase generally, and pretty significantly too.....sadly this is as a result of a couple of things which are happening across the industry
- the number of people claiming for bodily injury (whiplash etc) has risen quite dramatically over the last couple of years
- there are a lot of accident management groups actively trying to 'help' customers get more out of their claim and earning commission from hire car companies and solicitors etc for referrals
this has meant that the cost of claims has increased a lot and the insurance industry is losing a lot of money.
there is a link here if you are interested in reading a bit more about it
http://www.zurich.co.uk/home/mediacentre/generalinsurancenewsreleases/retail/Zurich+leads+the+market+on+personal+lines+motor+rating+action.htm
and in the general press
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/car-insurance-premiums-rise-26-per-cent-as-legal-bills-soar-1976358.html
the leading insurers are always looking at ways to try and stop any fraudsters that stage accidents to make money and also to try and get people involved in an accident the right treatment as quickly as possible to keep the costs down, its definitely something we are looking at at Zurich Connect but its such a big problem that companies and consumers need to work together in order to keep the prices down.

p.s. its definitely always best to declare the modifications. My VXR has uprated exhaust, cooler, springs and remapped ECU plus a couple of other toys and I told my insurers because I couldnt bear it if it got totalled and they didnt pay out. And to be honest I got a pretty good deal using a specialist broker that deal with modified cars.

anyway...hope this helps

regards
Ben

6

General Discussion Area / Re: Car insurance

« on: 19 May 2010, 13:39:31 »

Hi Welung,

I'll certainly raise the idea with the relevant department. Can't promise anything but I'll certainly post an update back here when its been looked into.
regards
Ben

7

General Discussion Area / Re: Car insurance

« on: 19 May 2010, 12:20:37 »

Hey Bertie,
my names Ben and I drive an Astra VXR myself so I spend quite a bit of time on Vauxhall owners forums but I also actually work at Zurich Connect.
Sorry to hear that you got such a high quote from Zurich Connect. 
I actually had a look at a quote for your postcode myself using a v6 Omega and it came out at about £1500 so I think that maybe something went wrong when you did the quote first time..
Please feel free to try again and if it still doesnt look right then there are ways you can get in touch to and get help.
Either way I hope that your previous experience doesnt put you off considering us in the future.
regards
Ben R