Insurance rises?

Perhaps I should get on to my insurance company first but I thought I'd put it to you guys and see if the same is happening to others. Basically I have a 65.7% hike in my renewal statement. Seems a bit excessive. Anyone else experiencing such large increases?

wow! I would certainly shop around, unless anything has changed to warrant an increase (claims, change of bike, change of address, etc) then I would certainly say your insurers are taking the P--s! Mine actually came down slightly this year, although I have heard that some insurers have increased premiums but not by that much.

Mine's been REDUCED by £78 without me even asking .

It's very common for them to hike the price when you renew - usually driven by two trends, a) they gave you a discount to get your business and now they're charging you the going rate and b) the going rate is high in the hope people are too lazy/gullible to shop round.

It annoys me that existing customers get ripped off. The number of times I've had a renewal, shopped round for a cheaper quote, then rung my current insurer to tell them I'm not renewing with them - and then they say they can do it for cheaper. Well, it you can do it for cheaper why did you ask me for more?

Mine was half what it was last year but that's due to me coming back to biking after quite a few years. I managed not to fall off it or damage anything or anyone so the premium was a lot less and the excess about 25 percent less.

Hi all. Okay so there hasn't been some revelation I've missed regarding motorcycle insurance rises then! The insurers website says there could well be rises of 20/25% for some motorcyclists but that's a fair bit away from the 65.7% I've been quoted! I'll give them a ring tomorrow and let you know what the score is. I'll have to check if there is a cancellation fee as my last cancellation with another insurer cost me £60.

Insurance are the robbing bast*rds, all of them,

Hi all. Okay so there hasn't been some revelation I've missed regarding motorcycle insurance rises then! The insurers website says there could well be rises of 20/25% for some motorcyclists but that's a fair bit away from the 65.7% I've been quoted! I'll give them a ring tomorrow and let you know what the score is. I'll have to check if there is a cancellation fee as my last cancellation with another insurer cost me £60.

They shouldn't be charging a cancellation fee if your annual renewal is due and you choose not to renew with them. It only applies if you cancel part way through the year.

anything to do with motor vehicles is a licence to print money

Something like this happens every year to me: a hike of somewhere between 30% and 50% on the previous year, along with a paragraph saying why they've unfortunately have had to put their prices up this year.

The way I deal with it is: I go online, get a couple of quotes, and buy the one I like the look of more. This is always enough to get the price back to roughly I'd paid the year before, and sometimes this is with the same company who sent me the renewal with the explanation of why they had no choice but to put their prices up.

That's the first time I've had to ring an insurer and play games over an insurance renewal! The end result was that they got it down to 'almost' what it was last year. Which of course begs the questions ... why not offer that deal in the first place? ... and what if I hadn't checked the renewal statement? ... not impressed, told them so, but still decided to stay with them!

wow! I would certainly shop around, unless anything has changed to warrant an increase (claims, change of bike, change of address, etc) then I would certainly say your insurers are taking the P--s! Mine actually came down slightly this year, although I have heard that some insurers have increased premiums but not by that much.

wow! I would certainly shop around, unless anything has changed to warrant an increase (claims, change of bike, change of address, etc) then I would certainly say your insurers are taking the P--s! Mine actually came down slightly this year, although I have heard that some insurers have increased premiums but not by that much.

is the kestrel company just a broker over there

Yes just a broker .... OK for some things but I didn't find them competitive for bike insurance

That's the first time I've had to ring an insurer and play games over an insurance renewal! The end result was that they got it down to 'almost' what it was last year. Which of course begs the questions ... why not offer that deal in the first place? ... and what if I hadn't checked the renewal statement? ... not impressed, told them so, but still decided to stay with them!

Your renewal quote was generated by a computer.. and I believe these are automatically higher (almost every time) because a number of those insured will simply renew without challenging the quote. Inertia is a powerful thing. Its the same reason that people tend to stay with a power supplier despite the fact that moving is very simple and can lead to significant savings. Banks are the same. ISP's even worse. Its called a "loyalty penalty".

You mentioned a cancellation fee. they cannot charge this at renewal time if you choose not to renew.

My own renewal is coming up in November and I am expecting a reduction. If this does not appear then I will definitely move insurers.

First off i worked at an Insurance for about ten years, not in the insurance side of it but we had our monthly meetings and it was very enlightening.

They put up their insurance quotes every year as there is ALWAYS some who will just cough up as it it the easy way to go. They rely on that.

If you go to a compare site get a quote and contact your existing insurance company and ask if they match quotes you have got online. You will be surprised how much they drop their previous quote!!

If they don't just tell them they have lost a customer, it will be their loss not yours. They do not do you any favours after all.

I just got my renewal and the premium has halved. Mind you, last year I had just passed my test at the end of October and was buying a brand new T100 and insuring fully comp at the start of November so they understandably saw me as high risk. The premium last year was about £750 but this week they quoted me £330 for a renewal (fully comp again). Best offer on compare the meerkat was about £450 (from my current insurer!) so I went with the renewal.