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Insurers should be upfront about last year’s premiums, says Which?

Joanna Faith
Written By:
Joanna Faith
Posted:
Updated:
20/02/2014

A new campaign calling on insurers to show last year’s premium alongside renewal quotes has been launched today by consumer group Which?

Without this information, people lack the incentive to shop around as they’re not able to easily see if they’re paying more and why, Which? said.

Research by the group found that two-thirds (68%) of respondents said having last year’s premium would prompt them to look for a better deal with other insurers, and around the same (64%) said they would be more likely to haggle for a discount with their current insurer if they had this information.

A separate Which? survey revealed that people who haggled and switched providers on their car insurance managed to save an average of £131 on their renewal offer while those who did nothing paid just £4 less. Those who switched providers saved £105 on average.

The campaign group is also calling on insurers to provide customers with their number of years of no-claims-bonuses and make sure renewal letters are received by the customer at least three weeks before the insurance is due to renew.

Swiftcover is the only major car and home insurer to provide last year’s premium on car insurance renewal reminders, Which? said.

Which? executive director, Richard Lloyd, said: “Our research shows it pays to shop around when renewing your insurance, and that’s good for all consumers too as it helps keep the market competitive. But it’s not easy to find a good deal if you don’t know what you paid last year.

“People have told us that if insurers made it easy to find out the cost of their old premium it would prompt them to look for a better deal or haggle for a discount. So we’re asking people to support our campaign calling for all insurers to be more upfront when they send out renewal notices by showing customers the premium they paid last year and explaining any differences.”


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