Checking through some paperwork last night I came across my house insurance documents and found, to my horror that it had expired on the 19th May! Cue a blind panic, and a frantic search online to find cover brought up the Co-op with a quote of £230 which seemed reasonable, so after fifteen minutes filling in their forms I was duly insured again. I wondered why Esure hadn't reminded me when the old policy was due to expire, but still blamed myself and thought I had really better get my paperwork in order so such a thing could never happen again. Sifting through the paperwork files and putting everything where it should be I found - The policy documents showing I had actually renewed and the cover had not in fact lapsed at all.
That led to a red faced phone call to the Co-op this morning to cancel the policy I had taken out twelve hours previously, where I was dealt with by a very polite and understanding Irishman who was no doubt shaking an imaginary Coke bottle as we spoke. I could hardly complain about the 63p he deducted from the refund for one days cover.
A lesson learned, keep that blasted filing cabinet in order so the same thing does not happen again, or even worse if I really did forget to renew something so important.
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A good reason to tick that automatic renewal box. You still get the opportunity not to renew and go elsewhere but you fail safe
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...well yes, until your credit card expires (date only) and the insurance company fails to "roll it over", and doesn't deign to tell you.
(For a Continuous Payment Authority, they should be able to raise the charge against the old card, or receive details of the new, updated card automatically, but they didn't do either. This is a financial institution that should be entirely on top of these things).
So "Caveat Emptor".
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Happened to me with car insurance. I received a couple of auto generated reminders then I checked my account and it stating it was renewing. It fell off my radar and 3 months later I had a letter from MIB stating my vehicle was shown as 'uninsured'. (Good job I hadn't been using it)
A phone call to Direct Line revealed that they couldn't auto renew it, presumably because card details had changed. and that was it. They left me exposed so to speak.
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I had exactly the same issue with the same insurer.
They sent me the renewal notice and said it would renew automatically.
Subsequently they started badgering me to pay but as it was automatic I ignored them. No notice to say (eg) your card is expired or no longer extant. POssible it was the latter as I bank with Santander who are moving accounts from Visa to Mastercard.
I had a bit of a pop at DL over it as I was potentially left uninsured.
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As a slight variation on a theme, my son is about to insure his house,he has no practical skills,
Does any insurance company offer emergency cover for the type of skills that he doesn’t possess.
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Emergency cover often packaged wiht household policy asn an add-on. can be pruchased seperately.
www.gocompare.com/home-insurance/home-emergency-cover/
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>> As a slight variation on a theme, my son is about to insure his house,he
>> has no practical skills,
>> Does any insurance company offer emergency cover for the type of skills that he doesn’t
>> possess.
Sure I've seen policies advertised where you can get a plumber or maybe electrician on the policy.
My son is similar in practical skills. Can we compare notes on their blind spots :-P
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Received my renewal quote by email this morning. 52% more than last year despite no claim.
I suspect that they've had some feedback from other punters because this afternoon I received another email -
"Dear Mr K.
We have just sent your renewal invitation by email.
At XYZ Insurance, it’s important to us that we keep you informed and so we want to provide an explanation of why your price may have increased this year."
Followed by a load of guff blaming it on the price of building materials, extreme weather and 'external factors'.
I replied to their contact email addr saying "You're having a laugh"
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>> I replied to their contact email addr saying "You're having a laugh"
The acid test, I guess, is whether you can find equivalent or near match cover at lesser price elsewhere.
Not impossible. After my Roomster was written off - own fault - existing insurer LV bumped me up a chunk
Direct Line quoted me a lot lower.
The cash price of my policy now is, in cash terms without faffing with price index, less than I paid as a new bug driver in 1982.
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Just had email from Esure
My policy will automatically renew.
Last year price £242
This year £257.60.
On the basis of that I will more than likely auto renew as it’s not worth the hassle of going through more quotes. I find car insurance quotes all ask the same questions whereas house you sometimes get different questions eg locks, nearby trees, distance to water etc.
Unless I have an evening bored watching the football I might power up the laptop and see if any cheaper quotes that Quidco give cash back for. That’s how I ended up with Esure I think.
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Glad to see some sanity from E-sure
I was with them for 15 years - 2 cars, House & contents No claims whatsoever.
2017 they increased the premiums by 50-70% on the previous years. They did the same for my son who had 2 cars & the house insured and again no claims.
I noticed their prices had fallen back BUT I would not go there even if they were cheaper than anyone else. Once somebody tries to overcharge / short change me, I never go back to them - Currys, Esure, Aviva, British Airways, Vauxhall ................ quite a few more.
BA goes back to November 1971 when they took my money for a Middle East ticket - direct flight to London then Edinburgh taking under 11 hours.
Took 36 hours 6 planes, 4 airlines and arrived in Glasgow - no hotels, no food, no refund / compensation of any kind.
Dhahran, Jeddah, Cairo, Athens, Munich, Frankfurt, Heathrow and Glasgow
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Ha ha my dad will never buy a Ford again cos his Cortina struggled to start in the wet and damp….
Every purchase you make, someone somewhere is overcharging you!
I refused to go to Spoons for 3 years since start of Covid but their prices have ground my morals away!
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A girl who used to visit our local had a laugh that sounded like a MkI Cortina starter motor on a cold damp morning.
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>> A girl who used to visit our local had a laugh that sounded like a
>> MkI Cortina starter motor on a cold damp morning.
Yeah but the Mk1 cortina would eventually shut up/
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Overcharging is charging you more than the previously agreed price. Increasing a renewal premium substantially at renewal with the option of accepting it or declining it is not overcharging. It is simply how a free market works.
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>> Overcharging is charging you more than the previously agreed price. Increasing a renewal premium substantially
>> at renewal with the option of accepting it or declining it is not overcharging. It
>> is simply how a free market works.
Obviously that's factually correct but if it walks like its gouging and quacks like its gouging it's gouging.
Attempted overcharging.
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No one twists your arm to renew an insurance policy. You have a clear choice and there are plenty of alternatives.
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>> No one twists your arm to renew an insurance policy. You have a clear choice
>> and there are plenty of alternatives.
Agree no arm twisting but why do you think people stick with existing policy even if, by degrees, they're being boiled like a frog?
If current company pushes it to far and you bail to one of the alternatives then it feels like they're trying to rip you off.
I guess the crux is the word trying. If I think, say GRE, raking my premium by 50% when NU can give same cover for close to old one I'd think GRE were trying to rip me off and give them a wide berth.
Never fly Ryanair becuase I fear they'll try to rip me off.
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I don't fly Ryan Air because they lie about their destinations.
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I would have thought an intelligent guy like you in possession of Google maps would be capable of finding exactly where an airport was located.
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>> I would have thought an intelligent guy like you in possession of Google maps would
>> be capable of finding exactly where an airport was located.
Let me rephrase. I wont fly by an airline that blatantly tries to misrepresent its services. Even to the extent of making up fake IATA airport codes to try and cement the lie.
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>> I don't fly Ryan Air because they lie about their destinations.
>>
ALC is ALC. Friends use them all the time. £35 next week…I prefer jet2 but sometimes their fares are too cheap to miss
Appreciate their destinations are sometimes not what they would seem ( understatement).
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“Agree no arm twisting but why do you think people stick with existing policy even if, by degrees, they're being boiled like a frog?
Because they can’t be bothered to spend 10 minutes researching alternatives?
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l>>Will never buy from again...
Just married. First house. Skint. Owned a battered Datsun Sunny.
It was misfiring on the way to work so I pulled in at an independent garage and asked for a quote after the mechanic had spent a few minutes looking at the engine. It was more than I earned in a month, and probably more than the car was worth - I was crest fallen.
Said I would have to struggle on and passed a mechanic who worked out of the garage at the front of his house. He had been there for years.
He took a look and charged 2 quid to fix it - 2 pints at the time and it took him 5 minutes - it was a frayed wire in the distributor which he replaced. Sadly he's passed away now.
I have never been back to the rip off merchants since.
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Last Aug I renewed my BMW GS insurance with Bemoto on a 19 plate bike at a cost of £263. At the time I could have sourced a much cheaper policy but not with not the same benefits.
Couple of weeks ago I PXd for a 23 plate model. £5800 to change. I got £9500 for my old bike.
Contacts Bemoto and they want £144 to change. (No vehicle change fees on policy).
Thinking in terms of cancelling policy and starting again, comparison sites show over £429 for cheapest policy !!!
So its better the devil you know. But what was mentioned was that they have thrown in another in another scale to calculate premiums and that is the length of time you've owned a vehicle. The longer the time of ownership the bigger the discount. You'd think this would be factored into vehicle age and value. Just another way of being able to wring more money out of you.
Last edited by: Fullchat on Tue 22 Oct 24 at 15:36
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I noticed a few BMW GS bikes on the ferry back from Bilbao last Tuesday.
I know nothing about bikes but assume it’s a lovely touring bike, and Spain, especially Basque Country, is as good a place as any.
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Very popular for touring as its an all round and comfortable load lugger. Spain and Pyrenees are very popular biking destinations.
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>> Very popular for touring as its an all round and comfortable load lugger. Spain and
>> Pyrenees are very popular biking destinations.
>>
And rightly so.
My two 2025 6 weeks motoring trips with Brittany Ferries to Santander are already booked. Mid May to end of June, and early September to mid October.
More exploration of Basque Country and Cantabrian coast & mountains, plus several
Points south..maybe as far as Cádiz this time.
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>> Thinking in terms of cancelling policy and starting again, comparison sites show over £429 for
>> cheapest policy !!!
Careful. If you cancel will they charge the period 'on risk' at a higher rate?
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Also be very careful about changing small details if you do multiple comparisons, you get flagged as possibly fraud risk.
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Well That Was Silly - CGNorwich
