If it were a cartel, the prices would all be the same, surely?
Whilst, the UK motor insurance market needs a shake-up (not least as some of its practices, would see me drummed out of the Brownies) the simple truth remains that, for the vast majority of the buyers, it just about works.
Your definition of ‘works’ must be different from mine then Richard.
Firstly it’s a legal requirement, so if you have a vehicle, you are obliged to enter the circus ring of insurance, you don’t have any alternative, unless you lodge squillions with the treasury.
I think that the industry is often merely mediocre and sometimes very good when it comes to handling claims.
It is biased towards themselves when it comes to accident claims, often preferring the cheaper option of settling 50/50 when clearly that isn’t the case.
For those (fingers tightly crossed and touching wood) who rarely, if ever, have to claim, their main interaction with insurance companies is renewal.
I don’t know anyone who thinks that this is anything other than an over complicated game, again biased in favour of the industry.
How many times have folks been given a renewal figure, only to find the same company offering a cheaper deal through another route, cynical profiteering in my book.
That’s without the ‘let me see if I can get the price down’ ruse.
Here’s a thought that might just make the dreaded merry-go-around of renewal a little easier.
About 90% of the info required for a quote from different brokers/companies is standard.
Name
Address
Age
Full/prov licence
How long held
Any convictions
Yadda yadda yadda
Why don’t they all use a common template that you fill in just once at each annual renewal and you upload it to each broker/company portal and obviously add any supplementary answers required.
Considering that a significant number of brokers seem to work for the same partnerships it should be a doddle to do.
Individual insurance broker staff are very helpful, but the actual business plans are often not there to make life easy for the customer.
As a legally required obligation, the buggers have us by the short n curlies.
Good? Sometimes, but most often mediocre.
