Car and home insurance providers hitting loyal customers with higher charges
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When we tell you to compare prices for your car or home insurance to save money, we aren’t talking out of our backsides.
Not comparing prices leads to higher bills. Loyalty, when it comes to insurance, does not pay And now, you don’t just have to take just our word for it (although that should be enough). The helpful folks over at Consumer Intelligence have conducted research confirming this. Analysis by the group found that customers who were loyal to their insurance provider can end up paying up to £1,000 extra per year. Auditing 9000 motorists and 8000 homeowners, Consumer Intelligence found that every year customers were hit with higher renewal prices. 
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In some cases, premiums doubled without any justifiable change in circumstance.
We’ve had experience with that: earlier this year one of our community told us how Ageas doubled his car insurance premium; when he asked why, the insurance giant blamed “high crime", even though he'd lived in the same area for 13 years. Customers who stick with their insurance provider without shopping around are effectively being a charged a 'loyalty levy'. Loyalty with insurance companies is a one-way street. Your loyalty, rather than rewarded, results in you being charged extra. |
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The good news is that finding out how much extra your insurance company is charging you, or rather, how much they are charging you for your loyalty, is now set to become easier.
New FCA rules now mean that insurance companies must clearly list the auto-renewal price next to what you paid last year. So pay attention to the auto-renewal letter, check the price rise and get yourself onto our price comparison tool if it's gone up (it will have done) and there's no explanation (there won't be). |
