Admiral Insurance

wingman · 27 Aug 2016 at 12:46

Renewal time coming up, lovely I thought, no more worrying about expensive insurance these days as I'm now 26 years old, and all the quotes I'd popped into the insurance comparison site recently were all circa £350.00.

Get the renewal quote through and comically, but not unexpectedly, the price for myself is £700.00. This is a multicar policy and my partners car was very reasonably priced, as per what we expected. It was simply mine that had miraculously doubled.

No bother, I'll just go back to Go Compare and rerun some quotes, I figured. Pretty much nothing has changed, except I've now been driving 9 years instead of 8, and have 9 years NCB instead of 8. Punch it all in, wait for it load...

Ah... Where's Admiral? Nowhere to be seen! :rolleyes:

I ring them up and ask what's the deal here, what is going on, as a month or so back (quotations that have since expired) the prices were dirt cheap. "What's the best you can do?" I ask, which they reply with £630.00.

So I mull it over and cancel my renewal, figuring I'll get it cheaper elsewhere, read up on it a little and decide to shorten my first name on the comparison site and add an extra letter to the end of my surname (a spelling some of my distant relatives actually use legally, however of course I do not). And voila, £350.00 quotations start popping up from Admiral.

I've since rang them, giving them THAT quote reference and asked them if they can match, which they have done (pending that the quotes match, which of course they don't, because of the name).

I'm not sure what I'm getting at here other than a little rant, but has anyone else had this? Can I be risked based on my name alone? Or is it just because they are trying to hemorrhage as much money out of me as possible despite my risk factor?

geekman · 27 Aug 2016 at 12:53

I had exactly that with them a couple of years back. They tried giving me some BS about running a credit check on me which is why it came back more expensive with my correctly spelled name. However, I have a perfect credit history so that clearly doesn't add up. I eventually got them to match it but it took several hours talking to managers etc.

wingman · 27 Aug 2016 at 12:59

Good to know I'm not alone, it always seems to be the way, that every year, there's another faff to conform to, more hoops to jump through etc. And it's normally just about worth doing, as the money saved is typically not insigificant.

I'm sure hoping this isn't the problem here, which Admiral advised was completely wiped from my records and will not effect my quotations or premium going forward.

Playing the cynical card, I reckon it must be. Having said that, quotes from a few months back were reasonably priced (i.e. after all that rubbish with the supposed "claim").

If Admiral aren't threatening me with claims of breaking the law due to modifications I supposedly had on my car (which I wasn't), being responsible for accidents in towns I've never visited (which I wasn't), they're absolutely raping me on premiums due to my name. Great company.

Skyboat · 27 Aug 2016 at 13:39

geekman said:
I had exactly that with them a couple of years back. They tried giving me some BS about running a credit check on me which is why it came back more expensive with my correctly spelled name. However, I have a perfect credit history so that clearly doesn't add up. I eventually got them to match it but it took several hours talking to managers etc.

Surely that's not even a factor if you opt to pay annually upfront anyway? But then this is the car insurance industry :rolleyes:

jamoor · 27 Aug 2016 at 15:12

I'd never insure a car with admiral I've ignored them even if they are the cheapest, as they have a shady business practice around every corner.

Aviva have been good for me.

rodenal · 27 Aug 2016 at 17:13

It's all just part of the game unfortunately, I done the same thing (slightly different surname etc) for a few years to check the price I actually should be paying from them.

Oddly though the other half is insured with Elephant who sent her what was a pretty reasonable renewal - about £20 more on a circa £200 policy than she ended up getting it for.

I was always the same as op though, my car was typically a £400 policy, renewal nearly double, actual quote same as the year before

Jokester · 27 Aug 2016 at 17:17

Skyboat said:
Surely that's not even a factor if you opt to pay annually upfront anyway? But then this is the car insurance industry

Depends if they ever need to recover costs from you.

snapdragon69 · 27 Aug 2016 at 18:34

What about if you used a variation of a letter like an e as é or o as ò?
It's still the correct letter - I wonder if it would 'fool' the computer without actually being incorrect.

*Moangroan* · 27 Aug 2016 at 18:51

That is why I hate certain insurance companies like admiral (which is also bell and another one i cant remember)

YOu rang up asking to get a better deal and they say the best they can do is £630.

So why not offer you that price from the begining for a renewal.

Robbing scum.

[TW]Fox · 27 Aug 2016 at 19:26

*Moangroan* said:
That is why I hate certain insurance companies like admiral (which is also bell and another one i cant remember)

YOu rang up asking to get a better deal and they say the best they can do is £630.

So why not offer you that price from the begining for a renewal.

Robbing scum.

It's a business - the keen deals for those who put the time in are in effect paid for by those who don't.

jamoor · 27 Aug 2016 at 19:40

*Moangroan* said:
That is why I hate certain insurance companies like admiral (which is also bell and another one i cant remember)

YOu rang up asking to get a better deal and they say the best they can do is £630.

So why not offer you that price from the begining for a renewal.

Robbing scum.

Exactly, why anyone would give money to a business with such shady practices is beyond me. What would happen when the need to make a claim arises?

[TW]Fox · 27 Aug 2016 at 19:48

jamoor said:
Exactly, why anyone would give money to a business with such shady practices is beyond me. What would happen when the need to make a claim arises?

What does that have to do with policy pricing decisions?

Pretty much every company does this - your mobile phone company does it, your TV firm does it, your utilities firm will do it. Good deals for fresh customers, mediocre deals for those who just accept whatever.

wingman · 28 Aug 2016 at 13:21

[TW]Fox;29947030 said:
What does that have to do with policy pricing decisions?

Pretty much every company does this - your mobile phone company does it, your TV firm does it, your utilities firm will do it. Good deals for fresh customers, mediocre deals for those who just accept whatever.

Exactly, and unfortunately you are correct.

I've had to put in a great deal of footwork, perhaps a few hours altogether, when I could have just let the renewal take effect and be charged £700 instead of £350. I wouldn't have had to lift another finger.

In my circumstance, however, £350 for three hours work is an exceptional deal... If I can get it.