Your opinion about high car insurance premiums in B2-B12 postcodes

[sean24]

Hi there,

I was recently given a quote for my car insurance, the quote was £3400 for insuring a fiat punto. I have 10 years no claims, no convictions, high voluntary excess, etc but just because I live in a B9 post code my insurance premium has gone through the roof. Now, who do I complain to, no one, the fact that I am a good driver with no previous claims goes unnoticed. I can understand that there is certain criteria when insuring someone, age, risk, convictions, crime rate, etc. I then realised that the situation was the same for the residents of B2-B12 postcodes, that is probably around 50000 drivers paying overpriced premiums.

 

Are you in similar situation and had same experience? What can be done if anything and I am not talking about lying in order to bring the cost of your policy.

[honeybee13]

Hello and welcome to CAG.

 

Have you tried more than one insurance company or the comparison sites please?

 

My best, HB

[sean24]

Hi,

thanks for the reply. Of course I tried different options, comparison sites, brokers, etc. I am quite savvy when it comes to purchases etc but the real question here is why is this method applied, why are people overcharged and the ones that cannot afford it being forced to lie on their insurance policies, effectively criminalizing themselves...

[kabukiman]

This could be one of the reasons

 

 

https://www.keoghs.co.uk/News/Birmingham-remains-top-UK-hotspot-for-motor-fraud-in-Keoghs-6th-annual-motor-fraud-index

 

 

To any insurer you're probably a safe bet but because you live in a certain area you are more likely to become the victim of fraud and the insurance company having to bear the cost.

[SuperVillain]

I'm in B42 about a mile from the border with B6 and I pay around £650 with zero no claims discount, and a 5 year old driving license on a 4 year old Alfa Romeo....

 

Remember insurance premiums are a risk assessment so you insure yourself against the risk of an incident occuring. But at the end of the day they need some way of drawing the line otherwise it would be impractical and inefficient to administer. I think if I lived in B6 my premium would be a few hundred pounds higher even though, in my opinion, I'm no less likely to be a victim of fraud or theft/vandalism.

 

But there's no doubt other things which lower the premium in my favour - car is kept off street overnight and in the day, usage/annual mileage of the car, employment status as well as having no accidents/convictions etc.

[sean24]

I agree with everything said, insurance company has to make money, fraudsters have to commit fraud, Birmingham central is expensive to insure and so on. But what happened to the way that insurance used to function, you have no claims and every year they lower your premium, it seems that some kind of method is being used, the only way I can describe it is probability method where by no matter how many claims are made we are still covered because we are overcharging everyone else, therefore there is no way we loose out. Insurance policies can be tailored if the insurance wanted to tailor them, for example, no whiplash claim included in your policy, higher excess, no fire and theft, passengers not covered, etc. I am sure that like anything else insurance can be tailored

[rebel11]

Hi sean

 

Car insurance premiums have supposedly dropped.

 

http://www.mirror.co.uk/money/car-insurance-price-fall-aa-3051719

[Slimm]

Not sure who you're trying to insure with but every insurer I know applies NCD as a percentage. Insurance policies cannot be tailored not to include passengers or whiplash. The law requires that any and all third party losses are covered as the bare minimum of third party only insurance. £3400 for a Punto with 10 years NCD seems excessive - is this a modified car, an import, supercharged or something along those lines? Or have you had a policy cancelled in the past?

[sean24]

it is a 1.4 litre fiat grande punto, standard car, not an import and I have not had a policy cancelled.

[sean24]

Of course they can drop the insurance by 13 % after increasing it by 50%, so in the end what comes across is that actually they are lowering prices and giving you a great offer..

[unclebulgaria67]

I would not think of Birmingham as being particularly high risk compared to Bradford/Leeds, Newcastle, Manchester, Nottingham, parts of London.

 

Suggest going to a local Insurance brokers that is not part of a large chain e.g Swintons. If you can find local brokers who are independet/long established, they may have found cheaper underwriters, as they have to be able to obtain business in their area. If you go to Swintons or a large chain of brokers, because they have branches all over the country, their local branches won't have been able to negotiate with underwriters, as it is all controlled by head office.

[obiter dictum]

Insurance premiums are on the increase because of a high percentage of uninsured drivers. Double edged sword that. An extra £50 is now added through insurance Fraud such as whiplash, staged accidents to claims management companes. The insurance companies themselves do it, that is sell accident details onto their own claims management companies.

 

My own subjective notion will be, the insurance industry has been hit hard by claims as to the recent flood damage, they have to make their money back some how, who better than the poor motorist who has no choice as he has to have insurance cover. But the insurance industry will never admit to that

[sean24]

I totally agree with you, there are so many things that we are overcharged for...

[2ltr16valve]

Car insurance really needs some quick regulation ! Day light Robbery as you must have it to drive. Not like you have a choice. I'm sure there was a price fixing investigation a while ago also. As prices were all very similar.

[afcwben]

Must admit I have found my car insurance changes very little each year, I get my renewal notice shop around and renew at basically the same price, it may be my area but it works for me. But there is obviously something wrong when people as the OP gets a quote of £3400 for a punto and I pay £225 for a much larger engine car. It isn't proportionate.