Ridiculous insurance renewal costs

[sportse]

So, why do you suppose the insurance costs for a Jazz are far more than many other makes of car with similar specifications?

It's likely due to driver profile unfortunately - the average age of a Jazz driver must be around 75, so bumps could be more likely. Certainly at the local dealer, I've never seen anyone under 50/60 come in with a Jazz.

The earlier Jazz suffered catalytic converter theft, which would bump up the premiums, but the Jazz since 2018 I believe don't suffer from this. Maybe the insurers just think Jazz = cat theft.

I was surprised a Polo GTI would be cheaper to insure than the Jazz.

[Saycol]

The insurance does seem to be higher for a Jazz than “equivalent “ small cars such as VW Polo and Ford Fiesta, both of which are in much lower insurance groups. Any weighting due to driver age, postcode, annual mileage etc would be the same for all three cars.

Where the Jazz differs is being a hybrid, battery in boot means car is potentially more expensive to repair after a rear end shunt. Apart from that, as I don’t think theft would be a differentiator, my hunch is it parts. Availability and price of parts and potential complexity of repair. The “hub cap” saga for EX owners is an example.

[Pine]

Jazz: insurance group 20,  Yaris: insurance group 14.  Why is there such a difference?

 Recently renewed the insurance on my Corolla, group 15, with LV.  Age 70, Comprehensive, Car Hire, Protected NCD, £100 voluntary excess - £306.82.

[sportse]

Although the Jazz is officially group 20, Aviva told me they class it internally as group 40!

A Polo GTI is only group 26.

A hybrid Toyota Corolla with the 2 litre 180hp engine is only groups 19-21.

There is something funny about Jazz and insurance.

[Worthingmike]

I have just got a quote with LV to insure my jazz with my wife on the policy. £308. I am 72 and full ncb. Living in sussex. And 12k limit. I have already insured with SAGA  for less. I checked as other peopel were geting very high quotes. 

[Lord Voltermore]

I think I read somewhere  that premiums have ,on average, gone up  for older drivers since the change in  regulations about new customer discounts.   IIRC it was about 13% 

So unless we old codgers  have suddenly changed in our driving ability ,or  become confounded by new technology (a possibility  ) or are the only ones still able to afford fuel , I can only conclude that previously, older drivers tended to be more brand loyal and less likely to have benefitted  from new customer discounts.   

[sportse]

I’m not surprised at the cost of Jazz insurance…

I had a new infotainment control unit fitted today, a small ‘black box’ behind the screen. Not the screen itself, just the control unit.

I’ve had mobile phones with more processing power and features that cost £50 new.

How much do you think one infotainment control unit for a Jazz costs if it’s not covered by warranty? (mine was, luckily)

It’s £1700!!!

[sportse]

Even worse - looking at the warranty invoice in detail it looks like £1700 was the discounted internal price without VAT.

Standard price £1900+VAT!

So, 10% of the cars new list price just for an infotainment module!

[John Ratsey]

As noted elsewhere, Honda's engineering skills don't percolate through to the infotainment systems which are subcontracted. It probably doesn't help that the unit we get is probably specific for the relatively small European market.

Getting back on topic I've just renewed my insurance with LV for under £200. Maximum NCD, max 7k miles/year, car parked on driveway, some additional excess.

[Kremmen]

Before my renewal was due I investigated possible companies by entering very close info, but not enough to identify me.

The quotes were all considerably higher.

When I queried this with my broker friend he said that insurance companies have access to lots of info about you that is taken into account. The thought that your driving record and the quote form is all that is used is wrong.

He was right and my LV renewal was considerably lower than my anonymous quotes.

[olduser1]

Another example of the lobbyists winning making cars their entry point for complications added month on month to EU laws for the motoring money tree. We need uncomplicated manufacturing not multi electronic features to aid driving. Remember Chapman's approach build in less to gain performance

[R2D3]

I'm more than happy with my premium with NFU Mutual.  You won't find them on comparison sites but you will find them at the top of Which? recommended insurers.

[Lord Voltermore]

Before my renewal was due I investigated possible companies by entering very close info, but not enough to identify me.

The quotes were all considerably higher.

When I queried this with my broker friend he said that insurance companies have access to lots of info about you that is taken into account. The thought that your driving record and the quote form is all that is used is wrong.

He was right and my LV renewal was considerably lower than my anonymous quotes.

When I last changed insurers  I accidentally entered my wife ( as named driver ) with a birth date that was wrong by one day.    All other  details (month and year  of birth,) how long licence held,how long a named driver,  lack of previous claims etc were correct .  After I  had recovered from the marital consequences of getting her birthday wrong (and making her a day older    )  I phoned the company to correct it.       The premium came down by about £10  .
The call handler was not sure of the reason   (computer says yes)  , but it seems likely the insurance industry even record the history of  named drivers on their  database.  A single day was enough to change her from a known history, to an unknown one that would probably be questioned in more detail in the event of any claim. 

[Kremmen]

I'm more than happy with my premium with NFU Mutual.  You won't find them on comparison sites but you will find them at the top of Which? recommended insurers.

I haven't tried recently but as soon as I put my greater London postcode into NFU they can't quote.

[FarNorthJazz]

NFU are quite picky about who they will cover  (NFU - National Farmers Union).  They are really only interested in customers in rural areas,  so anyone with a city postcode is likely to be rejected.  They won't even quote for me,  and I live in as rural an area as you can get,  but my postcode is shared with my nearest big town.

The Jazz is insured with LV  (also a Which? recommended insurer) for £230.  That includes maximum no claim discount, Mrs FarNorthJazz as additional driver, car kept in driveway, driving about 8K miles per year and with a protected NCD and Motor Legal cover.   That is about the same price we paid for it's predecessor - a Fiat Panda