Adrian@TORQEN Posted July 27, 2013 Share Posted July 27, 2013 (edited) The cost of car insurance is falling at a record rate in the UK, according to the insurance arm of the AA. The average annual comprehensive car insurance quote fell to £594.84 this month, it said, down 9.8% from £659.53 last July - the biggest decrease since the AA insurance index began in 1994. It said the dip was thanks, in part, to clampdowns on fraud and restrictions on claims management companies. Despite the fall, premiums remain much higher than they were six years ago. Third party, fire and theft quotes also fell between July 2012 and this month - down 4.8% to £820.58 on average, AA Insurance's research suggested. BBC business correspondent Joe Lynam said the 9.8% fall in comprehensive cover quotes follows a 6.4% fall over the course of 2012 - itself a record. But he adds that the cost of insuring the average car is still twice as much as it was in 2007. Gender equality At the start of April, a ban on referral fees was introduced. They were paid by lawyers and claims management firms to breakdown firms, brokers and the insurers themselves, in exchange for providing information about accident victims. Also, anyone suing for accident damages with the help of a no-win, no-fee lawyer - known as a conditional fee arrangement - now has to pay their lawyer's success fee from their own funds if they win their case. It was previously added to the bill of the losing party. This has made claims more expensive to pursue. And new gender equality laws have lowered premiums of men by far more than expected while women's premiums have remained static, according to AA Insurance's research. Fraudulent claims - especially for whiplash which is often difficult to disprove - are also down. AA Insurance director Simon Douglas said insurers previously faced "a fast-widening gap between premium income and claims costs - largely driven by whiplash injury claims and fraud, which saw very sharp premium increases between 2009 and 2011". "That gap is closing and premiums are falling again thanks to competition, as well as improved fraud detection by the insurance industry and tightening of the law that is beginning to curb the number of spurious new whiplash injury claims," he said. 'Treated unfairly' "The news that hundreds of rogue 'no-win no-fee' claims firms have been reined in is welcome and, in part, falling insurance premiums reflect that." Earlier this month, City regulator the Financial Conduct Authority launched an investigation into insurance companies for overcharging customers when they renew their car and house policies. The FCA says automatic renewal can lead to customers being treated unfairly. BBC Radio 4's Money Box revealed in March that loyal customers often pay much more than new ones for insurance. The insurance industry says consumers can shop around for the best prices in a competitive market. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23474426 Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk 2 Edited July 27, 2013 by octet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted July 27, 2013 Share Posted July 27, 2013 However, you may or may not have noticed that the Admiral group have no disappeared from the comparison websites. The reason? Their prices have rocketed up about 30%, and are no longer the go-to bargains they used to be. One can only assume this is because, as I said a couple of years ago after someone pointed it out to me, that they've now got their massive market share they were after and are now targeting the I-don't-bother-searching-at-renewal-time people more than ever. Look lively kids, insurance is about to get much more expensive for those that relied on Admiral group for reasonable sports car insurance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gsexr Posted July 27, 2013 Share Posted July 27, 2013 We looked at a multi car with Admiral and it was more than two seperate policys so didn`t bother. I still think the biggest denominator is age and then the post code where you live. It seems that once you get to a certain age you think it will be cheap but the post code still goes against you. You pay over the top for insurance but your house is worth a lot so its a trade off i guess.....lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fellsteruk Posted July 27, 2013 Share Posted July 27, 2013 I am with them for my zed only took it out last month and was cheapest around by far!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john180 Posted July 27, 2013 Share Posted July 27, 2013 However, you may or may not have noticed that the Admiral group have no disappeared from the comparison websites. The reason? Their prices have rocketed up about 30%, and are no longer the go-to bargains they used to be. One can only assume this is because, as I said a couple of years ago after someone pointed it out to me, that they've now got their massive market share they were after and are now targeting the I-don't-bother-searching-at-renewal-time people more than ever. Look lively kids, insurance is about to get much more expensive for those that relied on Admiral group for reasonable sports car insurance. I am with admiral and I am useless at shopping around. I am coming up for renewal though and I did do a quick confused.com search. Turns out I can nearly half the amount I currently paying Admiral! They will be getting an interesting phone call when its my time to renew. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
350 Russ Posted July 27, 2013 Share Posted July 27, 2013 However, you may or may not have noticed that the Admiral group have no disappeared from the comparison websites. The reason? Their prices have rocketed up about 30%, and are no longer the go-to bargains they used to be. One can only assume this is because, as I said a couple of years ago after someone pointed it out to me, that they've now got their massive market share they were after and are now targeting the I-don't-bother-searching-at-renewal-time people more than ever. Look lively kids, insurance is about to get much more expensive for those that relied on Admiral group for reasonable sports car insurance. I was with admiral for my zed and her Peugeot, but when renewal came our prices had gone up by about £400, after a bit of shopping around we saved a grand in total! Just goes to show how much more expensive they were Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KyleR Posted July 27, 2013 Share Posted July 27, 2013 However, you may or may not have noticed that the Admiral group have no disappeared from the comparison websites. The reason? Their prices have rocketed up about 30%, and are no longer the go-to bargains they used to be. One can only assume this is because, as I said a couple of years ago after someone pointed it out to me, that they've now got their massive market share they were after and are now targeting the I-don't-bother-searching-at-renewal-time people more than ever. Look lively kids, insurance is about to get much more expensive for those that relied on Admiral group for reasonable sports car insurance. Funny enough I noticed that when I did a gocompare the other week, never crossed my mind that they removed themselves due to increasing premiums, though. It's gonna be scary for me next March Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lincolnbaggie Posted July 27, 2013 Share Posted July 27, 2013 I'm with admiral and premiums this year have gone down by 30% for me, £450 total for both cars with protected no claims. Now paying more for tax than insurance for both. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisB Posted July 27, 2013 Share Posted July 27, 2013 After many years of paying around the £250 mark via various companies by shopping around online, with my Subaru (twin turbo), a couple of years ago I paid £665 to Swinton as I still had the Subaru as well as the Zed. Then last year when down to only the Zed, I paid Admiral £279 which seemed good at the time. Admiral wanted a similar (£50 cheaper IIRC) for auto renewal back in May, but I then used the Money Supermarket app on the iPad and this year's insurance came in at £162.86 with the AA including free AA breakdown. Fully comp too. The crack down on the crazy insurance/legal/repair cartel is one of the best 'real difference' things thats happened in years Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackLandels Posted July 27, 2013 Share Posted July 27, 2013 You guys are lucky, I'll be paying near 4000. Obviously because of my age but still and lack of no claims (only 1) it's crazy! I can get insured on a 4.2 Range Rover Sport Supercharged for 3k which makes no sense! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john180 Posted July 27, 2013 Share Posted July 27, 2013 You guys are lucky, I'll be paying near 4000. Obviously because of my age but still and lack of no claims (only 1) it's crazy! I can get insured on a 4.2 Range Rover Sport Supercharged for 3k which makes no sense! £4000 FOR INSURANCE!!! you must be nuts! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scobie140 Posted July 27, 2013 Share Posted July 27, 2013 £4k on insurance! you must have a good job to be wasting that much on insurance rather than saving for a house etc 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JetSet Posted July 27, 2013 Share Posted July 27, 2013 Got both the Zeds for around £700 from Sky, Admiral wanted around £1130 this year, £750 for the roadster alone. I'm now paying roughly the same as when I bought the Zed in 2007. Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timmytuck Posted July 28, 2013 Share Posted July 28, 2013 I've just had a requote from admiral £211 £50 cheaper than last year . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rabbitstew Posted July 28, 2013 Share Posted July 28, 2013 Well i believe this when i see it. My insurance has increased every year without fail, even after shopping around and going through the annual game with the insurance companies. Ive now got 20 years NCD and it makes no difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilscorp Posted July 28, 2013 Share Posted July 28, 2013 Admiral wanted over 500quid for my hyundai i10 went on a price comparison website to get a quote of 250, contact admiral to see how close they can come. . . . 'Best we can do sir is 450' lol after this year, I wont ever go back, hope they fail badly due to their own stupidity and 'lack of training' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S1 HNK Posted July 28, 2013 Share Posted July 28, 2013 You guys are lucky, I'll be paying near 4000. Obviously because of my age but still and lack of no claims (only 1) it's crazy! I can get insured on a 4.2 Range Rover Sport Supercharged for 3k which makes no sense! What's your car worth!!?? That sounds utterly crazy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoff-r Posted July 29, 2013 Share Posted July 29, 2013 I paid £450 on my renewal this year. It's a sad state of affairs when insurance is cheaper than tax. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ddcboyle Posted July 29, 2013 Share Posted July 29, 2013 I always used admiral and elephant and was cheapest. This year they werent on comparison website and cheapest was like 2k. Phoned elephant up and turned out to be 800quid. So worth a phonecall Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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