Just had my insurance renewal quote from the Halifax so went on line to the Meerkat for a better figure. Turns out the Halifax was second cheapest for better cover by almost 50%. So I went with the deal by phone to a very pleasant Geordie girl who I could actually understand.
Part of this deal, like last years is that I get a £50 cashback in six months. I arxed if I could opt out of this but she said it was company policy and she couldn't do anything about it. I tried to explain that it was my money anyway and they were just borrowing it from me to earn a bit of interest on it. I didn't want to lend it to them. It's not the end of civilization as we know it but do they really think we're all Muppets who came up the Manchester Ship Canal in a wheely bin ?
Grump conpleted ! Going down the workshop to sort out the camshaft end float on the Classic !
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Are there any conditions attached, like not making any claims, that go with this slightly odd premium structure? If not, I’d agree with you. Though I might well bite off my nose to spite my face and not do business with a company that had such a stupid pricing structure!
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In a way it's quite logical, even transparent, when you think about it. The £50 is the carrot for new business. So instead of charging you £150 this year, then £200 next year, they charge you a realistic £200 this year and subsequently (plus the usual 'tuning' by however much they can nudge it up every year of course).
Or do you get the £50 cashback every year? I got house insurance from Halifax a few years back with £50 cashback. I then got the cash back in following years, but they really shoved the price up so I went elsewhere in year 3. That, I thought, was just inexplicable.
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I had a fifty quid bung a couple of years ago from Halifax for house & contents insurance. At that time they were offering interest free drip, so I grabbed that, too.
I worked out that their premium, less the £50, was then cheaper than other, meerkat and opera singer, quotes so I took the deal.
The following year there was no bung and the premium had increased a lot, so I switched away.
I always look at the true cost of all my insurances, including any incentives. If an increase brings my current insurer within a tenner of the best competing quote, I'll stay: if not - I'm off.
There speaks a bloke who took out a Halifax credit card, (not needed) for the fiver a month Reward, for spending £300 a month on it. I always paid in full, often the day after a spend on the card, by internal transfer from my Halifax current account.
The day they ceased paying the £5 was the day I stopped using it.
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I once took a 'bung' from Swinton insurance. They kept 'phoning to sell me other insurance until the day I took a call along the lines of 'what will you do if your water tank springs a leak?'
Get wet I replied and told them to eff off. Next time I passed their office I went in and gave them a rant at volume. Never got any more calls and never used them again.
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I changed insurers for one of my dogs from John Lewis to More>than. Although John Lewis is underwritten by RSA and More>than is owned by RSA, there was a difference of ten pounds per month and £2,000 increase in cover. I also got a cheque for ten pounds after I had been with More>than for three months.
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Just got my insurance renewal for the Skoda - £267.44 from Tesco, done a quick Meerkat check and the cheapest they can find is £281, however the most expensive is almost £2k !! - comparing the "cover" offered by each there seems to be very little to justify the extra £1600 wanted by the more expensive Company, - what is that actually providing that the cheaper one isn't?
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Nothing. It just doesn't want your business. Your risk profile does not fit its portfolio.
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Sometimes, they don't even want ANY new business, car insurance is just a part of a balanced insurance and financial services portfolio.
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Insurance. - PeterS
