insurance

[b4u2]

Not sure why but every single Lexus model I get an insurance quote on comes out very expensive, does this make sense or is there something wrong?

I have checked different years and different models, the cheapest I have is about another £500 because I already paid £1000 for my policy with current car which is a Honda civic . Any ideas why this is so?

I've got 3 years no claims bonus and 25 years of age.

[cruisermark]

One of the main factors is insurance group - Lexus are quite high up - could be because of parts prices

[royoftherovers]

10 minutes ago, b4u2 said:

Not sure why but every single Lexus model I get an insurance quote on comes out very expensive, does this make sense or is there something wrong?

I have checked different years and different models, the cheapest I have is about another £500 because I already paid £1000 for my policy with current car which is a Honda civic . Any ideas why this is so?

I've got 3 years no claims bonus and 25 years of age.

Keep trying ,but change your name, address and Postcode and add a named driver  let us know how you get on  please.

[b4u2]

@cruisermark

I am well aware of that but still think my quotes are astronomically high!

[b4u2]

@royoftherovers

I have tried everything including brokers, comparison sites etc

The cheapest always seems with my current provider but still very expensive

Absolutely ridiculous some of the quotes I have been getting.

[royoftherovers]

Just now, b4u2 said:

@royoftherovers

I have tried everything including brokers, comparison sites etc

The cheapest always seems with my current provider but still very expensive

Absolutely ridiculous some of the quotes I have been getting.

The common denominator is you, so just try what I have said as it might prove fruitful towards solving the problem B4.

[b4u2]

@royoftherovers

Not sure what you mean by change name, address, postcode?

I can't as that would be providing false information.

[Phil xxkr]

2 minutes ago, royoftherovers said:

The common denominator is you, so just try what I have said as it might prove fruitful towards solving the problem B4.

Try Martin Lewis's site, he has some one great tips 

[johnatg]

They are relatively expensive and complex cars (compared with Civics etc) - expensive to fix. Ergo, expensive to insure, especially when you're under 30.

[b4u2]

@johnatg

I know but like Lexus. They are beautiful and the most comfortable.

Of course most reliable too!

[royoftherovers]

8 minutes ago, b4u2 said:

@royoftherovers

Not sure what you mean by change name, address, postcode?

I can't as that would be providing false information.

You are merely trying to obtain a quotation, you are not going to use it other than to report to the Forum, so that we might evaluate it and help you. Use a post code that is close to you.

If you are not comfortable with the suggested approach, then do not use it.

[b4u2]

@royoftherovers

Any other suggestions?

[mikey2001]

As Phil has mentioned above, try the Martin Lewis site - there are some good suggestions on there. One example is tweaking your job title to another than is similar and could apply to the role you are in currently, this could help reduce your premiums.

[royoftherovers]

4 minutes ago, b4u2 said:

@royoftherovers

Any other suggestions?

Check the Martin Lewis site as other have said, but the Principle component is the driver. His age, his driving record, his postcode.

My experience tells me that adding a named driver (parent, uncle 40+ in age will tend to reduce the premium B4

I will watch this subject with interest. Good luck.

[Linas.P]

1 hour ago, b4u2 said:

Not sure why but every single Lexus model I get an insurance quote on comes out very expensive, does this make sense or is there something wrong?

I have checked different years and different models, the cheapest I have is about another £500 because I already paid £1000 for my policy with current car which is a Honda civic . Any ideas why this is so?

I've got 3 years no claims bonus and 25 years of age.

That sounds correct. I would say £1000 for Honda Civic was rather high, but obviously it depends on what Civic it is.

For reference my first insurance on IS250 @24 years old was £2800. First insurance on RC200t when I was 30 was £1400... Overall, £500 increase in insurance from Civic to GS sounds about right.

Insurance in UK is fraud, so nothing surprises me.

[b4u2]

@Linas.P

What do you mean by insurance in uk is fraud? 

[Linas.P]

5 minutes ago, b4u2 said:

@Linas.P

What do you mean by insurance in uk is fraud? 

Exactly that - it is government supported and legally enforced fraud. Insurance companies can do anything they like, they have 0 oversight, 0 transparency, they pay 0 taxes and they are the only ones who decide whenever you will drive on the roads or not. 

In short in UK it is not the government on DVLA which generally decides who are allowed to drive, but the privately owned for profit business who does. And government legally compels and heavily penalises everyone to accept whatever unfair price insurance companies vomits out. 

What is worse is that whenever you actually come to claim, they will always use all possible tricks to pay as little as possible... and even after paying you absolute minimum they can get away with they will still increase your premium as such that everything you got you going to pay them back in next 5 years, even if it was not your fault.

[serbarry]

I think he meant that it is unreasonably too expensive like in Ireland. I got a quotation for a GS of around 400 euros, but I am 50 and been driving since I was 18 and never made a claim. With the Prius I paid 280 euros.

[johnatg]

Also, 25 year olds in near 400 bhp cars are not popular with insurance companies. Bit of a far cry from all but the most powerful Civics. 

[Linas.P]

1 hour ago, serbarry said:

I think he meant that it is unreasonably too expensive like in Ireland. I got a quotation for a GS of around 400 euros, but I am 50 and been driving since I was 18 and never made a claim. With the Prius I paid 280 euros.

Yes + not only it is too expensive, but there are no transparency whatsoever how they come-up with price, leaving a lot of space for market manipulation which insurance companies definitely do. For example it is generally illegal to create cartels and rig the price, but insurance companies 100% does exactly that. They admit and even advertise that they have private databases which they share with other insurance companies - in any other industry this would be illegal, but for insurance in UK that is "absolutely fine".

Other thing which I hate is that they avoid all the income taxes in UK and claim they make no profit despite charging one of the highest premiums in Europe.

Just for example in most countries in Europe the only 2 things you provide to insurance companies is you driving license number and car registration number. That is it - not other questions and they not even allowed to ask anything else. From VRN they know ~value of the car and how powerful it is and from diving licences they get age and experience... and that is all they need - you can drive unlimited miles, you can keep car anywhere you like, you can have as many as you like kids and work anywhere you want as none of that is related to driving or insurance company business. And importantly if you have speeding fine, you pay it to government and the government decides when you can drive or when you can't. If you can't drive then you won't have driving licences. In UK you may have a license and the car, but you may get insurance quote of £9000 and that means private company will decide you civil liberties here. Disgusting!

[serbarry]

One thing which surprised me when I first got an insurance in Ireland is that the drivers are insured and not the cars. In Ireland (and probably also in UK) you must declare which people are driving which cars and, as you said, you have to declare your occupation, where the car is parked overnight, if you are commuting to work, etc. In most European countries including Italy cars are insured and not the drivers, and this means that anyone who has a valid driving licence can drive any car without problems and you do not have to tell insurances all the information above because they only need the registration of the car and the details of the person who is buying the policy but they do not even need to know the details of the driving licence. I go back to my parents in Italy once a year and I drive my dad's Toyota without any restrictions and the same when I go to Slovakia to my wife's relatives and I drive my mother-in-law car.   

[Linas.P]

Exactly - that is how insurance normally works around the world, but not in UK and not in Ireland. Here insurers are above the law and above the government when it comes to deciding who can and who can't drive and they don't need to explain anything at all.

Real story - when I came to UK in 2008 and quoted for insurance just for fun to see how much it would costs I got quote of £36000.... and it wasn't even Bugatti... I think it was something like BMW 320 or 325... something rather "average", I think I quoted that car because it was parked outside of our house with sale sticker for £850 or maybe £1850. What was the funniest thing is that I got call from insurance company and the guy said "so do you want to go ahead with the quote" 😁 and I was like "seriously, £36000?!" and started kind of negotiating to see what it would cost realistically thinking that maybe he going to say "no this is just mistake, it is actually £3600" even thought I would not pay even £360 on that old crappy BMW... but the guy was like dead serious and said "well if you don't want don't insure" and hang-up.

And that is basically the point - they don't need you, you are the one who needs them... simply because you have no options, either you pay whatever or you don't drive -the are the kings here, they tell you what you have to pay and you will pay. And they can afford that because in UK fines for driving without insurance are very high and police are going to great lengths to enforce them (yet they won't even investigate hit and run). In other countries no insurance is like £50-£100 fine... end of story. As such insurance itself is maybe £250-500 i.e. the fine in the country is proportionate to the price of insurance (or vice versa) - if the person has an option to get insurance for £500, then they won't risk £100 fine. But in UK when fine is £3000 + 6 points + confiscation of the car, then suddenly it is OK to quote people anything, if they would try to do that in any other EU country people would simply drive without insurance and pay fines - would certainly work out cheaper than insuring in UK.

[serbarry]

I think in other countries the fine for not having an insurance is much higher than £100 and maybe also includes the confiscation of the vehicle. In southern Italy there are plenty of vehicles with fake insurance discs on the windscreen because some people simply don't want to or cannot pay the insurance costs. 

[johnatg]

I can understand Linas's frustration with insurance companies, but really, you can't get away with things which are simply untrue. Apart from Sergio's point re other countries, let's take 'they pay 0 taxes'. The accounts of public insurance companies are available for all to see - eg in 2019 Aviva paid £378M in Corporation tax. LV is owned by Allianz (basically a German company) and their corporate structure is extremely complex but they certainly pay a lot of tax in a lot of countries - too much to quote here. I expect those two cover quite a lot of people here but similar is the case for other insurance companies. Tax rates are set by the Government and are based on profits. Insurance companies do not claim to make no profits - just read the annual reports.

Insurance companies are not the only ones who decide who can drive - (the courts have quite a say) - they might charge a lot for some people but insurance costs are based on statistics. They show that particular people in particular cars are more or less likely to incur accidents than others and insurance costs are set accordingly - it's perfectly reasonable that a 50 year old experienced driver in a Seat Mii should pay a lot less than a 24 year old in a modified BMW. Insurance costs are so high because people crash cars and sometimes they do a lot of damage or cause devastating injuries where the courts award enormous compensation to pay for the ongoing care needed for victims. Someone has to pay.

And in some areas of the country there are a lot of scroats about stealing cars and causing damage - that's why it costs a lot to insure a car in London or Manchester but a lot less than in Devon or wherever.

It is perfectly reasonable for insurance costs to be based on statistics - a driver's history and the history of drivers in a similar circumstance - age, previous offences, occupation, car they want to drive and so on. Re sharing of information - people lie. If they didn't, insurance companies wouldn't need to share information.

Some things are a bit of a mystery (eg why does it cost less if you name your wife as a driver, rather than if you don't) but overall I think insurance companies are fairly reasonable - even if it pains me to say that!

[serbarry]

I understand your point John but for me it is still unreasonable that a new driver must pay over 3,000 euros or pounds to get a policy only because he/she is a new driver. Even though they are more likely to cause an accident, insurances do not review this on the basis of the claims every year to see if prices can be reduced but instead they keep charging a lot, and I do not think that consistently every year new drivers cause a lot of accidents.