Another Scott212 Insurance Rant?

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Soldato
Joined
20 Jul 2008
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4,434
Hi,

I've been driving for 2 years, 10 months and I have to take out an insurance policy in 1 months time.

At 2 years, 11 months - £1,080 :rolleyes:
At 3 years - £890.:o
At 3 years, 2 months (I turn 21) - £500!!! :mad: :confused:

Now you can sit there all day and tell me that because I've been driving 3 years I'm put into a different bracket and I'm less of a risk, blah blah blah, but FFS. I respect statistics but I don't know whether to laugh or cry that, apparently, the second I turn 21 I am a much better driver.

So basically can I take out my policy at 2 years, 11 months... cancel it within 30 days and take it out again when I hit 3 years? To be honest even if it costs me I'll still be saving around £200.

I don't understand why the insurance companies have to do everything like this. Why can't they gradually reduce the premium the longer you've been driving instead of having these sodding milestones.

I guess that's life but I'm sure you've all been in similar situations :D
 
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scott212 said:
I don't understand why the insurance companies have to do everything like this. Why can't they gradually reduce the premium the longer you've been driving instead of having these sodding milestones.
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Because it would be infinitely complex?

Its the same for everyone so I dont really see the problem, its not like you're being treated unfairly or differently. If its such a problem and you're convinced the figures are right, cancel the policy and get a pro-rata refund, then take out a new one.
 
Yes. You get a reduction at 21 for no longer being a young driver, then you get a bigger reduction at 25 for being well out of young-driver territory. You are not yet 21. You pay more.

I'm not going to explain why they use milestones because you wont listen or understand. You already dismiss the idea of it making any sense just like with the rest of your arguments.
 
iaind said:
Because it would be infinitely complex?

Its the same for everyone so I dont really see the problem, its not like you're being treated unfairly or differently. If its such a problem and you're convinced the figures are right, cancel the policy and get a pro-rata refund, then take out a new one.
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He wouldn't get pro-rata. He'd get short rate.
 
Aye it's fair enough that it affects all of us in the same way but when you're my age the differences in the premiums are enormous. I wouldn't care less if the difference was a mere £30, £50 quid. Furthemore, I'm not trying to be one of these young drivers getting behind the wheel of something too fast... we're talking an IG 7 car. Yes a 20 year old paying almost a grand to drive a chained walrus.
 
DampCat said:
I'm not going to explain why they use milestones because you wont listen or understand. You already dismiss the idea of it making any sense just like with the rest of your arguments.
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Why did you feel the need to lower the tone?

I would like you to explain (seeing you work in insurance) why they use milestones. I'd appreciate it.

Do statistics honestly reveal that as soon as a driver hits 21 they are less likely to crash, even within the first month. I would have expected the risk to gradually decrease over time. You are more qualified to explain this though.

Cheers
 
scott212 said:
Aye it's fair enough that it affects all of us in the same way but when you're my age the differences in the premiums are enormous. I wouldn't care less if the difference was a mere £30, £50 quid. Furthemore, I'm not trying to be one of these young drivers getting behind the wheel of something too fast... we're talking an IG 7 car. Yes a 20 year old paying almost a grand to drive a chained walrus.
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Note how the insurance on some motorbikes drops by over £1500 in a few months just because I'm 18 and have 2 years NCB as opposed to 17 and 8 months with a year and 8 months NCB.

Gawd, life is so unfair y0!
 
Because as a whole, a 21 year old male is less likely to have an accident than those who are younger. Insurance cannot be calculated on an idividual basis so even if you're a very mature 20 year old, it is unreasonable to treat you differently to everyone else.

What would they use other than milestones? Discounts are applied in many ways. Some use big milestones, some appear gradually. NCB = Gradual. Age = Milestone (for young drivers, it's gradual afterwards). Exprience = gradual.

Again it comes back to the same thing we've talked about in every other thread. People have to be lumped together in order to efficiently treat everybody fairly. Under 21's are high risk. 21+ are slightly lower risk. 25+ are lower again.

It's just the way it works. Dont blame insurance. Blame the under 21's hooning around causing damage.
 
scott212 said:
Why did you feel the need to lower the tone?
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You'll probably find that complaining about something that affects absolutely everyone, like you're being hard done by, will annoy people. It happened to me when I was your age but like everyone else I just accepted it.

I know very little about these things, but its immediately obvious to me that making pricing that granular would be far too complicated. If you dont like it, nobody's forcing you to drive.
 
DampCat said:
Because as a whole, a 21 year old male is less likely to have an accident than those who are younger. Insurance cannot be calculated on an idividual basis so even if you're a very mature 20 year old, it is unreasonable to treat you differently to everyone else.
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Well of course they are, as a whole, and I fully appreciate that is how insurance companies work, but if we did consider drivers who were 21.1, 21.2, 21.3 etc then the risk of an accident surely decreases with age. Is this true or not?

It's just the way it works. Dont blame insurance. Blame the under 21's hooning around causing damage.
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Beleive me I do, I forgot how awful younger drivers can be. My brother and his mates have just started driving and they are all morons behind the wheel.

It's a shame that sensible drivers are punished but I'll accept it and pay up. Personally however I still think that car insurance can never be fair purely because it is not cost effective to tailor car insurance to specific individuals. Thus in all cases of car insurance through all age ranges, it is still unfair to drivers who are more sensible.

I really really hope you can understand where I'm coming from on that last point instead of resorting to insults. I honestly cannot understand how anyone can disagree with that logic :)
 
iaind said:
What's the difference? I've only had to cancel a policy once midway and the refund I got was about 50% of what I paid (it was 6 months into a 12 month policy), so I assumed it was done on a pro-rata basis
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Difference is that pro rata would be you paying them for the amount of time you've been on cover, and getting the rest of the year back. Short rate is a lump payment usually in 25%, 50% 75% and 90%.

Pro Rata is only offered if the insurance company no longer want you on their books for whatever reason. Say you insure a fiesta then 3 months later you buy a Ferrari, and they think that's an unnaceptable risk. Since it's their choice to disown you, they'll pay you back the rest of the year (so you'll only pay for the 3 months you've been on cover).

Short Rate is when you choose to cancel or move or whatever for reasons best known to yourself. 3 months in, you cancel for whatever, they'll likely only give back 50% (or 40% or whatever the rate in your policy book states), meaning you're out of pocket for 2 or 3 months of insruance you havent used. It gets more and more expensive for you as time goes on too. so after 8 months and you cancel, you might not get anything back.
 
scott212 said:
It's a shame that sensible drivers are punished but I'll accept it and pay up. Personally however I still think that car insurance can never be fair purely because it is not cost effective to tailor car insurance to specific individuals. Thus in all cases of car insurance through all age ranges, it is still unfair to drivers who are more sensible.
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Everyone understands the frustration, but what you are talking about would amount to practically doing individual personal assesments of everyone who purchases insurance. Of course thats not cost effective - if they did it, your insurance premiums would be a damn sight higher than they are now anyway.

I think insurance is a lot more complicated than you seem to think
 
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