Uk Car Insurance A Joke And A Scam?

jackcramerr · August 13, 2015

The subject line was to vent my anger :)

I am learning a lot about UK car insurance how it is not connected with any system and how easy it is to drive without insurance, forever. But I won't discuss that here just now.

My problem is ;

I got insurance and paid in full for it. days later I get an email saying it increased and I have to pay x amount in a week due to motoring offense. Thing is there is no motoring offense. Better half for some knowledge sake wanted to check the effect of motoring offense so just got an online quote. This alerted our insurance company and they put the premium. A hefty premium.

I tried to clear it up with insurance company that a quote is a quote and one changes things just to see effects. one might want to buy a car but would change mind due to insurance. and to know insurance one needs quote. But nah... talking to a wall.

I personally think we let these insurance companies off too much. I am so much disappointed after making 5 calls now that I do not have the energy even to explain things here .

Has anyone here dealt with such situation ?

milleplod · August 13, 2015

Insurance companies exchange/share information via a common database, which is why they'll have spotted the 'offence that isn't'. The bottom line is that you haven't got an offence recorded - evidence for that is kept at DVLA. I think you need to somehow get to speak to someone higher up the food chain rather than a call-centre drone....then suggest a conference call with DVLA (ie a 3-way 'chat' with you, insurance rep, DVLA rep) so that the 'offence' can be shown to be non-existent. The insurer will know how to set up the call. Tbh, it smacks of some jumped-up idiot acting the fool with you....not good. Is it one of the major players? Use social media to 'shame' them - they respond quite well to that usually!

Pete

jackcramerr · August 13, 2015

The catch is while I have a full UK, the "offending license" is an EU and does not connect to DVLA database. There is no records on the system for this license.

How on earth does anyone deal with that? The only way is to exchange the EU license with a UK one but that will take months. And I will be charged the premium in a week... I know when money is taken away it never comes back, at least easily.

Admiral Group is the one I went with for multi car.

milleplod · August 13, 2015

If you've got a full UK licence, with no offences recorded against it, then that's the end of it. Presumably your EU licence is just an 'extra' to your UK one, and you took a test to get one here? If that's the case, don't bring the EU one into the issue - your UK licence is clean, DVLA will back that up. Or is the EU licence someone else's who is on the policy?

Pete

marko369 · August 13, 2015

I've had the exact same problem, with Admiral funny enough. They manufactured 3 points on my other halves license. Fortunately hers is a UK license so I simply went on the DVLA website to look at her licence and screen printed it onto a email to them, few days later sorted.

If you have the paper part of so called offending licence, without the points, scan it or take a photo and send to them.

Good luck pal

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jackcramerr · August 13, 2015

EU license belongs to better half. It does not come with paper part. EU license number is different than DVLA standard and does not work on their website.

Tip: if you want to trouble anyone, get a quote on their name and put a big offense. Let them sort it out. Keep on doing it till the break. Works good if it's a non UK license. I am sure it increases premium for future as well given insurance companies want to make money by hook or crook.

steve2006 · August 13, 2015

If you bought the insurance online you should have rights under the distance selling regulations in that you can cancel without penalty within 14 days of taking out the policy and expect to be refunded in full providing no claim is made during this tiime.

I did this a couple of years ago when the policy automatically renewed and I then discovered a better policy cheaper, I rang the current insurer and told them I wished to cancel,they told me I would be charged for the 10 days cover until I informed them of the DSRs, got a full refund with no deductions.

If you do cancel I would suggest looking at an online quote from another company, check the premium and then phone them to confirm that quote and get it confirmed in writing.

Finally I take it your search engine is nosey google ? Ditch the search engine :)

PhilipK · August 13, 2015

If you bought the insurance online you should have rights under the distance selling regulations in that you can cancel without penalty within 14 days of taking out the policy

The Distance Selling Regulations haven't applied since June 2014, when they were superseded by the Consumer Contracts Regulations.

http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/distance-selling-regulations

marko369 · August 14, 2015

If you bought the insurance online you should have rights under the distance selling regulations in that you can cancel without penalty within 14 days of taking out the policy

The Distance Selling Regulations haven't applied since June 2014, when they were superseded by the Consumer Contracts Regulations.

http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/distance-selling-regulations

But most STILL have a 14 day cooling off period, all you will pay for is the days that have already passed.

jack, phone them to cancel, when they ask why(and they will) tell them everything. Don't forget to mention the amount of car clubs you are a member of with access to 100s of members and you have highlighted it on each of them.

Good luck pal

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dave1 · August 14, 2015

The 14 day cooling off period is not normally chargeable provided no claim has been made during that period. There is so much that is misunderstood regarding insurance.

Regarding the offense it would be prudent to notify the insurance that you would like to see evidence that an offense has actually happened. Are you certain that you didn't take out the policy and then realised that an offense had not been declared?

jackcramerr · August 14, 2015

dave1 No offense took place, ever.

A simple quote was made after days of making purchase that triggered an alarm.

Insurance company confirmed to me they have no way of knowing if anyone has committed any offense. Reason IS DVLA due to privacy regulations do not share any information with insurers (thankfully).

I know someone who has a uk provisional license and has 3 year no claim bonus and had even a tracker fitted the first time he got insurance. He took test once and failed badly. Joke and a half. ha.

Honestly I do not see much difference between insurance and extortion. That's another topic.

dave1 · August 16, 2015

"I know someone who has a uk provisional license and has 3 year no claim bonus and had even a tracker fitted the first time he got insurance. He took test once and failed badly. Joke and a half. ha.

Honestly I do not see much difference between insurance and extortion. That's another topic."

The person you mention is wasting money buying "insurance" as he is not covered unless he has declared provisional licence and is accompanied by a qualified driver at all times.

milleplod · August 16, 2015

There's nothing to say he hasn't declared a provisional licence. Apart from anything else, a driver (any driver) can buy a car, insure it, accrue no claims....without ever taxing it, MoTing it...or putting it anywhere near a road!

Pete

dave1 · August 16, 2015

Agreed Pete, but I didn't say it hadn't been declared. It does seem highly unlikely though.

milleplod · August 16, 2015

Yes, point taken!! I bet there's more than a few out there....

Pete

rayaans · August 19, 2015

Completely AGREE

UK car insurance is a complete rip off. I got hit by another driver on a car 3 years ago yet my insurance goes up. When queried, they say im at a higher risk - now how does that work exactly?!

Utterly idiotic excuse to raise prices and make consumers pay more. I had a Corvette insured in the US $20 for a month!

dave1 · August 20, 2015

I don't see the relevance of how much it cost you to insure a Corvette in the US. Just about everything is a different price in different countries.

rayaans · August 20, 2015

I don't see the relevance of how much it cost you to insure a Corvette in the US. Just about everything is a different price in different countries.

More performance = more dangerous in the insurance world. The only reason insurance is more expensive here is because the companies are extorting customers. As customers don't have a choice in whether to take insurance or not, an increase in prices across all companies leaves the consumer with nowhere to go.

Either that or us brits are just **** drivers

milleplod · August 20, 2015

Its interesting to see how various countries differ in insurance costs. Friends who've lived in France for 30-odd years have 3 cars. Their 'runaround' battered '03 plate Scenic costs £500 pa, their '12 plate Merc E350 estate costs £900, and their Porsche 996 Carrera costs £1100. They're both 70, with impeccable driving records. Anyone can drive any of their cars - that's standard, not an 'add-on', no-claims doesn't exist and the 'variable' is when a claim is made. Then, depending on age/driving record, the excess on a claim can be anywhere between the standard (from memory) £300 and a whopping £5000 for a younger driver, or one with a claim or two.

In contrast, my wife had a 996 Cabrio up until last year. She was 45 when she sold it - she paid £300 a year, with no convictions or prangs.

My 1200cc BMW bike costs me less than £70 a year. The same friend in France also has a 1200cc BMW - his costs him £600 a year.

So, I'm not sure we are getting ripped off in the UK. We have a risk-based system that works off rather a lot of different statistics. Sometimes it works in our favour - I'm 56, I ride a BMW, I am (or was!) a Class One Advanced Police motorcyclist for many years, I do less than 4k miles a year, I've no convictions or claims. I presume my ultra-low premium reflects my insurer's belief, based on the statistics available to them, that I'm less likely to claim than a similar rider who has, say, a couple of speeding tickets, an accident claim and a conviction for due care.

A neighbour has 2 convictions for mobile 'phone usage and one for speeding. His insurance on his '04 plate Focus is, shall we say, pricey! I have no problem with premiums going up for the sort of driver who gets caught concentrating more on his/her 'phone than on the road (or others who exhibit lower standards of care). They're a danger, end of - why exactly should they pay the discounted rate that I get? And, if you look at base premiums, they're eye opening, and on a par with what my friends pay in France.

We can't have it both ways. We either have a system that rewards 'good' drivers, and offers a discount for it, and similarly loads premiums back up to the base one for 'bad' drivers....or we all pay the ridiculously high base premium with no discounts offered and no penalties for naughtiness.

Pete

dave1 · August 20, 2015

I don't see the relevance of how much it cost you to insure a Corvette in the US. Just about everything is a different price in different countries.

More performance = more dangerous in the insurance world. The only reason insurance is more expensive here is because the companies are extorting customers. As customers don't have a choice in whether to take insurance or not, an increase in prices across all companies leaves the consumer with nowhere to go.

Either that or us brits are just ***** drivers

Very simplistic to state that. A lot more than performance is taken into consideration. Example Wife has Hyundai i30 with me named. I have GS430 with wife named. Both policies are the same for mileage, fully comp, NCD etc. Hyundai last year £148, GS430 £152 so on your criteria the GS is virtually the same as a 1.4 i30 !!!!!!!!!! The reason insurance costs more here (if it truly does) is not,as you state, that customers are being extorted. Too many fraudulent claims are certainly a major cause as is rising costs for repairs.

Just got the renewal for wife's car at £163 which I phoned about but they say it is almost their base price.

milleplod · August 20, 2015

Another thing to consider in the 'we're being ripped off' debate.

A few weeks ago, my 84-year old mum was clearing out some old paperwork. Amongst it was the receipt for her car insurance back in 2001, when her and dad had bought a brand new Focus 1.6 auto, priced, if I recall correctly, at £9995. They'd paid £234, with full no claims applied. Her premium for the very same Focus last year, just before she sold it? £218!

I think we do OK in the UK.

Pete