Had a renewal quote from Direct Line for my home and contents insurance the other week... £403, which is an increase of around £30 from last year. Thought I'd shop around, so looked at Halifax Insurance (I bank with Halifax and get a bit of a discount) - £263, with £50 cashback after 70 days. The Halifax cover is not 100% the same as Direct Line, but it was very close and covered our needs more than adequately.

So I rang Direct Line to tell them that I wasn't going to renew - and after some discussion they offered a reduction to £253! Same policy, no changes. As they include travel insurance in this policy I went with them after all.

When will insurance companies realise that a bit of loyalty and fair play towards their customers will improve their image and keep customers loyal to them?

dl;dr - don't accept automatic renewals, challenge them to improve the quote.

I've had that happen several times, going back to the original normally gets £5 or £10 cheaper than the cheapest 'other' quote. But now I actually pay that extra bit of money and go for the new supplier, just so they don't get my repeat business. I know it seems petty, but I am fed up of having to hunt around every year despite the fact that it's completely within their power to give a good quote.

same story here last car insurance renewal went up from 350 to 405. did a online search got a quote for 260 from a different company. Rang current company to complain and they dropped their renewal quote to £230!!!!

"£403, for buildings and contents "

wow Dave, you must live in a 30 bedroom mansion !!

I did some quotes last night as my insurance is due in feb, and the best quote were £133 for a 4 bedroom semi
and that is with a £20k garage fire payout on file 4 years ago

steve

But your actions (which I would imagine is the same as most peoples) means they are doing the exact right thing as a business. They didnt upset you enough to not stay with them, but took a punt on earning more out of your business. Win win for them.

I usually use the tactic of doing a quick GoCompare first to get an idea of the lay of the land then phone my existing insurer and tell them they have one chance to give me their best quote before I start shopping around properly. I tell them the best quote from the comparison site and as long as they get close then I renew otherwise I cancel the automatic renewal (if present) and go elsewhere. Usually the cheapest quote on GoCompare is with some unknown insurer who I wouldn't use anyway so this tends to get me a good deal.

I'm currently on Admiral multi-car - make sure you check all the various Admiral sister-companies as they will price match within the group so save the hassle of cancellation and re-application. I got a better quote from "Diamond" as my wife and two daughters are insured and our daughters are the highest risk. When I told Admiral that last time they matched the price so I was able to just pay and continue rather than having to cancel and reapply. I've done the same before between Bell Insurance and Admiral who are also the same group as is Elephant.

Oh last bit of advice re Admiral - if you're calling them, do it in the evening and you get to chat to their Nova Scotia call centre who are always a pleasure to talk to and very friendly and efficient. It's freephone too.

Cheers,
Craig.

ps. I realise you were talking about home insurance not car insurance but the same technique applies.

[Edited on 8/1/2015 by craig1410]

It's a tiring game. In today's society anyone that's loyal is a mug. Be it electricity, car insurance, mobile phone provider, breakdown.

My current method is to use compare.com to get an idea of who's cheapest, then go to quidco to see which of the top 4 give the best cashback, then buy via quidco to get a further £30-£50 discount from the price quoted by the comparison site.

The annoying thing is that life is getting too busy, and I'm struggling to find the time nowadays so I think I might have to be a mug for the next five years...

I'm prepared to pay an increase of up to £30 to stay with the same insurer but any more and I'm off. Some companies try and get away with adding a couple of hundred on. I had insurance with the AA years ago on an old Toyota Camry and they keep sending me letters saying I could insure that for £70 but when I ring them to try my current car it's always hundreds and when I had insurance with them it was always hundreds so I think they are just at it.
Loyalty is for donkeys as far as insurance is concerned, you are punished not rewarded for being loyal so the comparison site check every year is compulsory.
I always try and play them off against each other, I try for the best deal I can get but always have another company selected so if they won't budge on price I'm off.
RAC breakdown will lower your premium every time if you threaten to leave them, on renewal you just tell them you are considering taking car insurance that has breakdown cover included and they will lower their price or send you M&S vouchers or both every time.

[Edited on 8/1/15 by Scuzzle]

I shop around with every insurance renewal I get. All the big comparison sites have my details, so it takes very little time. I then go back to my current insurer and ask them if they can price match. If they can't, I don't renew and go with a cheaper provider. The only insurer I've found that doesn't take the pi$$ at renewal is Direct Line (for home insurance).

Phil

It was Direct Line taking the wee this time!

(I hate auto-censorship - I wrote 'p-i-s-s' and got 'w-e-e' )



[Edited on 8/1/15 by David Jenkins]