I simply do not understand how my car insurance renewal quote can be £200 more than I paid last year.

No points, no accidents, no convictions, nothing untoward. Car worth less than it was last year.

'Low-risk' job and living in low-crime area. Inflation is running at next to nothing.

Even after ringing the company and having a chat, they still want £70 more than they did last year.

How is this justified when we are constantly told our roads are safer than ever, and huge reforms to personal injury claims procedure mean that legal fees (and thus the cost of insurance payouts) have been cut drastically?

Even the best deal on offer through the price-comparison websites still asks for £20 more than I paid the previous year.

The explanation on TV this morning was that "These things are cyclical".
As if that was an explanation.

Because the insurers got the law so you had to have car insurance so they have a monopoly situation that they exploit with gusto.
They can charge what they want and this spiv government condone this kind of monopoly, it's part of their nasty dogma of screw the many for the benefit of the few.

I was once told by someone on the inside that there is massive collusion in the insurance industry, something along the following lines:

Insurers A & B offer cheap policies for 18-21 year-olds.
Insurers C & D offer cheap policies for 30-40 year-olds.
Insurers E & F offer cheap policies for high risk areas.

Two years later they all swap, then later they swap again. So yes, it's cyclical, but it's planned.

Unfortunately you've got to check every single time something comes up for renewal as to whether they're ripping you off or not.

The OP being a good example. His renewal letter of +£200 was trying to rip him off because after a phone call it reduced by £130.

I've just persuaded my parents to get into the habit of checking and not being afraid to switch. They've come from an era where the price was the price and so aren't used to switching or phoning up. But in the last 3 months they've saved over £700 by either switching or phoning up from car insurance, home insurance and energy than if they'd just sat there and allowed the renewals to happen.

For the last two years my car insurance renewal letter has come through with an increase of around £150 each time. I go straight onto the comparison sites and the same company always comes in as the cheapest quote, and it's always cheaper than what I've been paying to start with! A quick phone call to the company telling them this and they hastily give me a quote better than my current payment, my renewal, and the comparison quote! In the last two years my car insurance has gone down around £70 a year. Same car, same miles, same use, same parking situation. I think they rely on people just taking what they're given.

The insurers are lying, cheating con men with no scruples. The government is in their pocket, and that's because those concerned are lined up for nice cosy jobs once out of power.

Even this week they have been trumpeting how their reforms mean insurance premiums are 20% down but the fact that it is an outright lie is ignored. The fact is that the Tories and their acolytes have nicely lined the pockets of their chums in big business and there is no secret about it.

Anyone with half a brain fscking well knew that the insurance companies would easily find any number of bogus reasons why prices still go up and up, while they and their lackeys laugh all the way to the bank. We have a country of gullible and supine mugs, and as such get what we deserve.

I can find some resonance in this, and its not always the price comparison sites that provide the cheapest deals although they are a great place to start - what you will find is that somewhere out there is one insurer who this quarter is signing up as much new business as possible, there is always one and your task is to find them before they turn off the tap and decide that they don't need any more - someone else will then take on that task.

Last year I was trying to find a deal for my youngest daughter for her first car and her first solo insurance, I wanted her to have her own policy, the car was three years old with only 6000 miles on the clock and was a 1.6 diesel, a nightmare you may think and yes we got some ridiculous prices on the price comparison sites - rather than quote several thousand pounds I don't know why they don't just answer "fsck off", it would save us all a lot of reading.

We almost accepted one quote but then I rang our own provider Aviva who don't appear on comparison sites, they added her to our multi car policy but as a policy in her own right, they almost matched the very lowest price we'd been quoted and then they gave us a discount because we have other insurance products with them - the result is that she is paying less than a grand for her first policy having just passed her test - just one other tip, add yourself as a named driver on your childs policy and buy the newest car that they/you can afford, it all points to being more responsible (in their eyes anyway).

It's rubber banding. With renewal quotes they are banking on the fact that you are too busy or too lazy to get quotes from other providers, hoping that you don't realise how much it's increased by and just let it renew. Hundreds of thousands of people do exactly that. My Mum did exactly this for ten years with her car insurance. She was paying £923 in the end, I got her insured for £264 and I'm trying to get her some money back from the company she was with.

The best thing to do when you get your renewal quote is go on the price comparison sites and put your existing insurance in and see how much your current provider quotes you. Then ring them and kick off saying you are disgusted that they are trying to rip you off with the renewal quote. Then quote them the cheapest price on the comparison sites and ask them to match it. A lot of the time they will. If they don't, go with the other quote.

Yep. I've had my own policy for about 6 years now and still add both my parents on. Though the effect isn't much now as my price has steadily fallen to around £270 now, but adding them both on still seems to knock off about £70.

Pretty much what I do, for the last four years Swiftcover have been pretty competitive, not the cheapest but enough little extras to keep me renewing. This year they were a good £160 worse than AXA (their parent company) a quick phone call later and the price was matched and a good £60 cheaper than last year.

I've never stayed with the same insurer at renewal. Every year I find a much cheaper quote by browsing the comparison sites, Although now I'm with Hastings I may find come my renewal date that they will rebroke and find me a good deal.

Working for an insurance broker I see all to often how underwriters tend to offer poor value at renewal. The difference between new business and renewal rates can often be staggering and it amazes me that some people just can't be bothered to shop around. However You could argue that loyal customers shouldn't have to shop around in the first place.

You're not a "loyal customer" though, to them, you're a mug or a potential fraudster, or both, who is in all probability trying to do them. They will offer you cover if you pass the basic criteria but will do their best to wriggle out of it or screw you down to the floor if you're unlucky enough to have a claim. And then rip you off in future premiums to some tune to get even that back.

Be careful with Hastings. They didn't send me any reminders at all, electronic or paper. I kicked off about it and they agreed to reduce the premium to what they were offering on the price comparison sites, but they were very sneaky in not sending any renewal notice.

I've been with QuoteMeHappy for 3 years+ now and been pleased with them. Admittedly I've not had to make a claim so I don't know what they'd be like in that respect but their mobile app is very useful and easy to use and at each renewal they've given me lots of notice and plenty of email reminders. Crucially their renewal quotes haven't been trying to screw me over. They've been slightly lower each year and have always been at or very close to the best price available on price comparison sites.

Isn't this now a (fairly recent) legal requirement?
Hastings have never been close to being cheap when I search.

I renewed mine this week. It had gone down from last year but I found much cheaper quotes through a price comparison site. I phoned my insurer to see if they could price match. They knocked a bit off but couldn't match it. However when I looked into it I was getting far more benefits through my current insurer, (Legal cover, breakdown cover etc.) which were add-ons from the cheaper insurers. If I'd have opted fore these with the cheaper ones (AXA, Swift, etc.) it would have cost more than what my current insurers were quoting.

Check if these perks are included and if you don't think you'll need them get them knocked off.

Mmm, I'm not sure the legal cover is worth much if anything and from past experience the breakdown cover is best described as basic, if you are doing lots of miles for work then it wouldn't cut the mustard at all. I know Swiftcover's claim process and glass cover is first rate from using it.

Legal cover used to mean no more than they'd sell your details to their pet lawyers, and trouser the fee without telling you. I'd bet it still works on similar lines.

Legal cover is a complete con and I always advise clients not to bother with it.

pay £30 so that if you have a non fault claim the insurer will forward your details onto a solicitor to recover your uninsured losses...

should you be unfortunate enough to have a non fault claim solicitors/amc's will be falling over themselves to offer their services anyway not forgetting the fact that if you claim through the third partys insurance ( it is the TP's fault afterall) they will pretty much give you everything you ask for within reason to avoid you going to a solicitor or accident management company in the first place. Absolute waste of money.

I thought the legal cover may come in handy when the blame for an accident is disputed.

I don't cover many miles at all in my own car, around 5,000 miles a year and see myself as a very competent driver. I work as a delivery driver driving vans and am covered by works insurance for that. Although I've only been driving for 11 years I think I am quite experienced. I have never made a claim nor has anyone ever claimed against me. I think the insurance premiums are too high. Sure companies need to make money but I am low risk. Trouble is there are that many false claims and people crashing on purpose to then blame the other party. I think I might buy a dashboard camera, you never know when you'll need the evidence.