Car Insurance conundrum.

[Jocko]

My car insurance is due shortly so as usual, I went to a couple of price comparison sites and got a range of quotes. The cheapest was Sainsbury's Bank, my current insurer.
Yesterday I received my quote from Sainsbury's Bank and it was about £85 dearer. I phoned them up and here is where the story gets strange. My Sainsbury's Bank policy is with their OLD underwriter and now they have a NEW underwriter (Zurich to be precise). The girl was able to knock £10 of the price but I said "no thanks".
The outcome of it all is I am now insured with Sainbury's Bank (AGAIN), Fully comp, no voluntary excess, 12,000 miles a year, protected NCB for £201.67.

[sparky Paul]

Last year, I had the relatively unusual experience of being unable to find anything through the comparison sites that was as cheap as the Esure renewal, which actually went down a few quid. It's coming up in August, so we'll see what happens this time. I think the other half's Jazz is due end of July, she's with quotemehappy.

I could have swapped for some cashback and saved a little bit, but it wasn't worth the bother. I had £45 back from Esure when I swapped to them 2 years ago, and it was the cheapest quote I could find anyway.

[peteo48]

I've had similar experiences with Tesco Bank. Renewal comes in with price increase then they undercut themselves on Go Compare!

I'm with General Accident now because Tesco couldn't beat their quote this year but it just shows how many companies rely on inertia to keep profits up.

[Jocko]

Didn't make my original post clear. When I phoned up it was the old underwriter I was speaking to. So I cancelled and signed up with the new underwriter online.

[sparky Paul]

Didn't make my original post clear. When I phoned up it was the old underwriter I was speaking to. So I cancelled and signed up with the new underwriter online.

Surely you were dealing with the same broker? If they were any good, they would offer to swap you to the cheaper policy with a different underwriter.

Insurers are always chopping and changing underwriters, I suspect it's more likely to be something to do with the 'new business' merry-go-round that Pete described above.

[springswood]

Martin Lewis's money savings expert says you get the cheapest quotes 3 weeks before renewal is due. I inadvertently tested this a year or two ago. I'd got quotes 3 weeks ahead but when it came time to buy realised I'd left out some bit of information. I forget what but I didn't expect it to make much difference still it did trigger new quotes which were definitely higher.

[Jocko]

Surely you were dealing with the same broker? If they were any good, they would offer to swap you to the cheaper policy with a different underwriter.

I don't deal with a broker. I originally signed up with Sainsbury's Bank, online, when I bought the car, and all my dealings since have been phone calls at renewal time. Sainsbury's Bank is technically the broker I suppose and, when they changed to a new underwriter, myself and countless others were still insured with the original.
The paperwork I received the other day is Sainsbury's Bank though the underwriter is UK Insurance Ltd. I now have Sainsbury's Bank insurance but the underwriter is Zurich.
See why I say it is a conundrum?

[123Drive!]

It happened to my friend's insurance, Brightside. Gone up and wouldn't drop to their website price. The guy said we can just buy the cheaper one. Do check quotes on Directline and Aviva who are not on Comparison sites.

[Jocko]

I got the website price from Sainsbury's Bank. Just had to change to their new underwriter.

[sparky Paul]

I don't deal with a broker. I originally signed up with Sainsbury's Bank, online, when I bought the car, and all my dealings since have been phone calls at renewal time. Sainsbury's Bank is technically the broker I suppose

Sorry Jocko, that's what I meant by broker - Sainsbury's Bank. I don't see why they couldn't transfer you to the new policy over the phone, unless this policy has the 'new business' discounting built in, which will probably be the case.

Swinton were terrible for this, I remember swapping to them a few years ago for a £136 quote, the renewal was over £250, whilst they were still offering competitive quotes for new business. A bit of an extreme example, the usual MO is creep the renewals up bit by bit so you're more likely to accept it.

At the end of the day, it doesn't matter how you get it, just make sure you get the best price for the cover you want. I go with the cheapest I can find, avoiding BISL companies if I can.

[Jocko]

The number I have to phone (on the paperwork), is the Underwriter, not Sainsbury's Bank.

[VicW]

Similar to my experience Jocko, My insurance is brokered by Tesco but covered by Aviva. Tesco use several insurance companies but how they select which one they put you with I have no idea, perhaps it's governed by the type of risk you appear to be such as age.

Vic.

[Jocko]

Similar to my experience Jocko, My insurance is brokered by Tesco but covered by Aviva. Tesco use several insurance companies but how they select which one they put you with I have no idea, perhaps it's governed by the type of risk you appear to be such as age.

Vic.

I think it is just the one they are using at the time you sign up with them. Sainsbury's was the cheapest when I bought the car and they were the cheapest this year hence my change of Underwriter.

[sparky Paul]

The number I have to phone (on the paperwork), is the Underwriter, not Sainsbury's Bank.

UK Insurance Ltd. is an underwriter and direct insurer using the Direct Line/Churchill/Green Flag brands.

Your new insurance from UKI looks like a white-label operation for Sainsbury's Bank, seperate from the existing brokerage - that's why they couldn't transfer you, it's a seperate insurer - different contact details, online access, etc. I wonder if Sainsbury's are gradually winding up their brokerage, and going to a white-label model, as many other banks and supermarket branded insurers already are?

[Jocko]

Old insurance was UKI. Sainsbury's Bank dropped them a couple of years ago and started using Zurich which is my new insurer.