£100 a shot
Many years ago I complained to my wife that any unpleasant bills, which let’s face it occur with monotonous regularity, were always for £100; now they are £500.
That’s inflation for you, or perhaps it is more a sign of a badly performing market. Yesterday I got my renewal letter from my current insurer and the price has risen by exactly 50%.
I have made no claims for 7 years and still the price goes up by 50%, in one year. Now, can anyone thing of some huge inflationary bubble in the insurance industry, has the price of building materials or labour increased by 50%? Admin costs have soared have they? The cost of paper hit a new high?
No, me neither.
I am told that the fact that the insurance industry has been forced to offer the same introductionary price to existing customers, rather than just ramping the cost every year and hoping no one would notice, is having an effect.
But that just means they are being forced not to fleece their customers secretly.
So may be that is the answer, the fleecing is just more noticeable. I will have to shop around I suppose, any one want to take a bet on whether I can find a lower offer from my current insurer, if I compare the market?
Economics, trade and Brexit, not necessarily in that order but the dog always comes first.
By Jonty Bloom Media
IMO the motor insurance industry lost control of its liability costs. In the name of "efficiency" it has contracted out claims handling to third parties. These third parties have commercial relationships with specific repairers and car hire firms and the resulting lack of competition and pigs in trough mentality has led to massively inflated repair costs, hired cars being pushed for short duration, the parts suppliers charging what they want and it all being passed on to the captive market of drivers.
I bloody HATE 'shopping around', and I also bloody hate the assumption that it is what rational people do. I have many better and more fulfilling things to do with my time. I want a settled arrangement and then not to be progressively ripped off. However, it now seems that's too much to hope for :-(