House & Contents insurance up…

[Spike]

…from £280 to £415, a 48% increase.

Is this normal these days? Why?

Please don’t mention ‘climate change’.

[Chris Hogg]

Motor insurance is similar. Mine went up by 30% recently. When I queried it, I was told that my increase was on the low end of the scale!

[Spike]

Are you talking about the 3.2% and reducing galloping inflation reported today?

[Andy Burns]

It's been normal from what my various insurers (car, house and business liability) have all tried-on this year, turns out they all lost my business and I've ended-up with only a marginal increase for the car policy and actual reductions in the other two.

[alan_m]

My car insurance went up by 42% early this year and the comparison sites showed I could better the renewal quote by less than £10. Most companies were quoting a higher premium, and some by a large amount.

My building and contents insurance renewal is due in about 2 months time :(

One thing to watch out for with a renewal quote is the company increasing the excess amounts which can be the hidden price rise if you have to make a claim. Also if you have optional legal protection on a car policy you probably don't need to have optional legal cover on your house insurance (or visa versa) because the cover is for any claim. Read the T&C carefully to see what is covered.

[Andy Burns]

I know this year there have been various "hot" factors for car insurance (e.g. EVs and Land Rovers).

I'd been with LVE for 6 years with only slight increase in that time, this year they tried to jump it from £420 to £685, so I found a replacement for £470.

That car is an Audi A5, and I have been trying hard *not* to think about replacing it, but the thought does keep entering my head of a Q5 PHEV, I got as far as getting a quote from existing insurer for one over the weekend ... That'll be an extra £1000 premium for the remaining 10 months of the policy, plus a fee for changing it ... same story from specialist insurers and comparison sites ...

All similar plugin hybrid mid-size SUVs seem the same story, so I think I'm suitably put-off changing for now.

[Spike]

Did you use a broker or online comparison sites to find your new insurers?

[Andy Burns]

comparison site for car and house, I chose hiscox directly for liability insurance.

Oddly when I was thinking about changing car, adrian flux seemed to try hard behind the scenes but didn't get within £700 of comparison sites.

[Rod Speed]

There has not been any galloping inflation

And hardly anyone has seen a 48% increase.

[Ian Jackson]

As I said, a PERIOD of galloping inflation (didn't it hit around 11%?). Don't make the mistake of confusing a reduction in prices with a reduction in the rate of inflation. I guess it's pretty unlikely that many of the last four years' price rises will ever be reversed.

[Rod Speed]

That's not GALLOPING.

[mm0fmf]

My home insurance renewal was up to nearly double the previous price. I found a better deal with a comparison site. Strangely my car insurance renewal was up by £60 to £340, I checked the comparison sites and none could find a quote better than £620!

My current insurer was found by the Meerkats in 2023 and is no longer featuring on the Meerkats comparisons. As they had the best price I renewed with them.

[brian]

In message [e-mail]>, Spike [e-mail] writes

My motor insurance price went up by about that amount. I complained after shopping around and got a substantial reduction . I expect the same runaround when I renew my home insurance. They're maybe boiling the frogs too quickly this year.

Brian

[mm0fmf]

It's all those pint bottles of wine and gammon that has pushed up your price.

[Spike]

So we’re now in a PERIOD of galloping inflation reduction?

That is how it is being reported.

I can remember when beer was 2/- a pint. I don’t expect we’ll see subsequent price rises reversed.

Do you have a point in being so silly?

[Andy Burns]

I don't play those games, find cheapest replacement then cancel renewal.

I think they are, and hope they get the message by next year.

[Spike]

But they will have had two to three years of 50% inflation in premiums by then, and there’s little chance of them falling back as there’s too much money to be made. Rather like the Renewables industry’s prices.

[Ian Jackson]

In message [e-mail], Rod Speed [e-mail] writes

OK - but would you accept "One giant leap for UK-kind"?

[Ian Jackson]

We both can remember was £2 a pint. But tell that to the young folks of today (etc, etc ,,,,,,,,).

[Rod Speed]

Nope, nothing even remotely like a giant leap